ScrapingIsNotACrime MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server that lets AI agents read Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, App Store, GitHub, Hacker News, Bluesky, Twitch and Linktree data through the ScrapingIsNotACrime public API.

Get an API key

Create one at scrapingisnotacrime.com/dashboard/api-keys. Keys start with sinac_. New accounts get 100 free credits.

Install

Requires Node.js 22+.

Claude Desktop and Cursor

Add to claude_desktop_config.json (Claude Desktop) or .cursor/mcp.json (Cursor):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scrapingisnotacrime": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@scrapingisnotacrime/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SCRAPINGISNOTACRIME_API_KEY": "sinac_...",
        "SCRAPINGISNOTACRIME_PLATFORMS": "instagram,tiktok"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add scrapingisnotacrime --env SCRAPINGISNOTACRIME_API_KEY=sinac_... -- npx -y @scrapingisnotacrime/mcp

VS Code

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{ "servers": { "scrapingisnotacrime": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@scrapingisnotacrime/mcp"], "env": { "SCRAPINGISNOTACRIME_API_KEY": "sinac_..." } } } }

Pin a version for reproducible installs instead of always resolving to the latest release: npx -y @scrapingisnotacrime/[email protected].

Choose platforms

SCRAPINGISNOTACRIME_PLATFORMS is an optional, comma-separated, case-insensitive list of platform ids: instagram, tiktok, youtube, appstore, github, hackernews, bluesky, twitch, linktree. Leave it unset (or empty) to get all 34 tools.

Filtering matters because every tool definition sits in the agent's context: an agent that only ever calls GitHub and Hacker News tools does better with SCRAPINGISNOTACRIME_PLATFORMS=github,hackernews than with all 34 definitions competing for its attention on every turn.

Tools

Tool names are <platform>_<method>. Arguments marked ? are optional.

| Tool | Returns | Arguments | |---|---|---| | instagram_profile | Public profile: bio, links, follower/following/post counts, verification, business category | username | | instagram_contact | Public business contact details (email, phone, address, external URL) when the account exposes them | username | | instagram_latest_posts | Most recent posts, first page only | username | | instagram_posts | One page of post history (paginated) | username, count?, cursor? | | instagram_highlights | List of story highlights (ids, titles, covers) | username | | instagram_highlight | Stories inside one highlight, with media URLs | highlight_id | | instagram_media_by_id | One post's details, given its owner and numeric media id | username, media_id | | instagram_media | One post, video or carousel's details, from its shortcode | shortcode | | instagram_download | Every downloadable asset (videos, images, thumbnails) behind a post, reel or carousel | shortcode | | instagram_shortcode_to_id | Converts a post shortcode into its numeric media id (no call to Instagram, but still one API request) | shortcode | | instagram_id_to_shortcode | Converts a numeric media id into its shortcode (no call to Instagram, but still one API request) | media_id | | instagram_reel | One reel's details: views, likes, comments, caption, video URL, audio | shortcode | | tiktok_profile | Public profile: nickname, bio, follower/following/like/video counts, verification, privacy | username | | tiktok_video | One video's details: view/like/share/comment counts, duration, cover, audio | video_id | | youtube_videos | A channel's public videos plus the channel block (title, description, avatar) | handle | | appstore_search | Matching apps: id, name, developer, price, rating, icon | term, country?, limit? | | appstore_reviews | One page of an app's most recent reviews (paginated) | app_id, country?, page? | | github_profile | Public user profile: name, bio, company, location, blog, counts, creation date | handle | | github_followers | One page of the accounts following a user (paginated) | handle, limit?, page? | | github_following | One page of the accounts a user follows (paginated) | handle, limit?, page? | | github_repositories | One page of a user's public repositories (paginated) | handle, limit?, page? | | github_search_repositories | One page of repositories matching a GitHub search query (paginated) | q, limit?, page? | | github_trending | Currently trending repositories over a daily, weekly or monthly window (not paginated) | since?, language?, limit? | | hackernews_feed | One page of a feed — top, new, best, ask, show or job (paginated) | feed, limit?, page? | | hackernews_item | One item (story, comment, job or poll) with its full nested comment tree — can be very large for popular threads; prefer hackernews_search/hackernews_feed for an overview | id | | hackernews_search | One page of stories matching a search term (paginated) | q, limit?, page? | | hackernews_user | A user's karma, about text, creation date and submission count | username | | hackernews_submissions | One page of a user's submitted stories, newest first (paginated) | username, limit?, page? | | hackernews_comments | One page of a user's comments, newest first (paginated) | username, limit?, page? | | bluesky_profile | Public profile: display name, description, avatar, banner, follower/following/post counts | handle | | bluesky_posts | One page of a profile's posts with engagement counts (paginated) | handle, limit?, cursor? | | twitch_profile | Public channel: display name, description, followers, partner/affiliate status, live status | handle | | twitch_videos | A channel's recent videos (broadcasts, highlights, uploads) | handle, limit? | | linktree_profile | Page title, description, avatar, verification and every listed link | handle |

Credits

Each successful tool call costs one credit; failed calls (any 4xx/5xx error) are not charged, and calls rejected for invalid arguments never reach the API. Paginated tools (instagram_posts, bluesky_posts, appstore_reviews, the GitHub listings and the Hacker News listings) return a single page per call — the agent decides whether to fetch the next one, so no tool call auto-paginates behind your back.

Troubleshooting

• Missing SCRAPINGISNOTACRIME_API_KEY or unknown platform id in SCRAPINGISNOTACRIME_PLATFORMS: the server logs a clear message to stderr and exits before connecting — nothing reaches stdout. In Claude Code, run claude mcp get scrapingisnotacrime or use /mcp to check the server's status, or start Claude Code with --debug to see the MCP logs. In Claude Desktop, check its MCP log files (Settings → Developer, or the app's logs folder).
• "Out of credits": a tool call returned isError: true with a message pointing to https://scrapingisnotacrime.com/#pricing. Add credits or wait for your plan to renew.

Releases and changelog

Every merge to main is released automatically: the version comes from the commit messages since the last release, following Conventional Commits.

| Commits since the last release | New version (while in 0.x) | |---|---| | only docs:, chore:, test:, ci:, build:, refactor: | none | | at least one fix: | patch (0.1.0 → 0.1.1) | | at least one feat: | minor (0.1.1 → 0.2.0) | | feat!: or a BREAKING CHANGE: footer | minor while in 0.x |

The pipeline tags vX.Y.Z, publishes the GitHub Release with the notes, and publishes to npm with provenance. The changelog is the Releases page; the version in the repository's package.json stays 0.0.0-development on purpose.

Links

• Docs: https://scrapingisnotacrime.com/docs
• Pricing: https://scrapingisnotacrime.com/#pricing
• SDK: @scrapingisnotacrime/sdk
• Releases: https://github.com/ScrapingIsNotACrime/mcp/releases
• License: MIT