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MCP Server ​

Connect your AI assistant to the MCP (Model Context Protocol) server to search the News API in plain language. For example, ask "find me the latest AI news" to get matching articles.

What is MCP Server? ​

MCP lets assistants such as Cursor and Claude Desktop call external tools. After you connect APITube, your assistant can build search requests and read the results for you.

Use the hosted server at https://mcp.apitube.io/. You do not need to install a server.

Use cases:

  • Search for news articles directly from your AI assistant
  • Filter news by language, sentiment, topics, and more
  • Get breaking news stories
  • Research specific topics without leaving your IDE

Add the hosted server to your assistant's settings with your API key to get started.

How to Connect ​

Step 1: Get API Key ​

Get your API key from APITube:

  1. Sign up on apitube.io
  2. Get your personal API key
  3. Keep it secure

Step 2: Configure MCP Client ​

Add the MCP server to your AI assistant's configuration. The hosted server speaks HTTP JSON-RPC, so pass your API key in the Authorization header.

One-click install

On Cursor or VS Code you can skip the config file entirely — the Code Editors Setup page builds an install link with your key already in it.

For Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project):

json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apitube-news": {
            "url": "https://mcp.apitube.io/",
            "headers": {
                "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
            }
        }
    }
}

For Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS). Claude Desktop launches MCP servers as local processes, so bridge the remote server with mcp-remote:

json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apitube-news": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apitube.io/",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
            ]
        }
    }
}
TIP

Setting up VS Code, Windsurf, or Claude Code instead? See Code Editors Setup for per-editor instructions.

Step 3: Restart Your AI Assistant ​

Save the configuration and restart Cursor or Claude Desktop.

How to Use ​

After connecting, ask your assistant for news:

Basic Examples ​

Search for news:

text
Find me the latest news about artificial intelligence

Filter by language:

text
Show me news about Bitcoin in English

Get breaking news:

text
What are the breaking news stories right now?

Search with sentiment:

text
Find positive news about Tesla

Advanced Queries ​

The AI assistant can handle complex queries with multiple filters:

Multiple filters:

text
Find breaking news about climate change from verified sources published today

Specific requirements:

text
Show me long-form articles about SpaceX with images, published in the last week

Entity search:

text
Find news mentioning Elon Musk and Tesla

Available Features ​

The MCP server supports all News API features:

  • Search by title/keywords - Find articles matching specific terms
  • Language filtering - Filter by language (English, Russian, etc.)
  • Sentiment analysis - Filter by positive, negative, or neutral sentiment
  • Date ranges - Search within specific time periods
  • Media filtering - Find articles with images or videos
  • Source quality - Filter by verified or premium sources
  • Breaking news - Get only breaking news stories
  • Entity search - Find news about specific people, organizations, or locations
  • Topic/Category filtering - Filter by predefined topics and categories

Technical Details ​

How It Works ​

  1. You ask a question in natural language
  2. The AI assistant converts it to an MCP tool call
  3. MCP server translates it to a News API request
  4. Results are returned to the AI assistant
  5. The AI formats and presents the news to you

API Endpoints ​

  • JSON-RPC endpoint: POST https://mcp.apitube.io/
  • Protocol version: latest 2025-11-25; the server negotiates down to the version your client requests (older versions such as 2024-11-05 remain supported)
  • Server version: 1.0.0

Available Tools ​

The MCP server provides the following tools:

  • search_news - Search for news articles with advanced filtering by language, category, sentiment, entities, media content, and more
  • suggest - Resolve a name or prefix (e.g. "Tesla") to APITube entity/category/topic/industry IDs, so you can use them in the search_news filters (entity.id, category.id, topic.id, industry.id)

Available Prompts ​

Ready-made query templates (slash commands in MCP clients), built on top of the tools above:

  • monitor_company - Track recent news and sentiment about a company
  • topic_sentiment - Break down the sentiment of coverage about a topic
  • breaking_news - Get the latest breaking news, optionally filtered by subject and country
  • compare_coverage - Compare volume and sentiment of coverage for two subjects

Authentication ​

The client sends the API key from your configuration in the request headers.

Troubleshooting ​

Testing Server Connection ​

Check if the server is available:

bash
curl -X POST https://mcp.apitube.io/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "initialize",
    "params": {
      "protocolVersion": "2024-11-05",
      "capabilities": {},
      "clientInfo": {"name": "test", "version": "1.0.0"}
    },
    "id": 1
  }'

Expected response:

json
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "result": {
    "protocolVersion": "2024-11-05",
    "serverInfo": {
      "name": "APITube News MCP-Server",
      "version": "1.0.0"
    },
    "capabilities": {
      "tools": {"listChanged": true},
      "prompts": {"listChanged": true}
    }
  }
}

API Key Issues ​

If you see authentication errors:

  1. Verify your API key is correct on apitube.io
  2. Check the configuration file syntax
  3. Send your key in the Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY header. For Cursor, add it to headers. For Claude Desktop, pass it with --header to mcp-remote.
  4. Restart your AI assistant
  5. Try testing with curl to verify the API key works

Specific authentication errors:

  • 401 with code ER0230 — your API key has expired. Check or extend the key's expiry date in your API key settings.
  • 403 with code ER0603 — your API key is not allowed to call the MCP tools (search_news, suggest). Grant the key the matching permissions in its settings, or use a key that has full access.
  • 503 with code ER0900 means the server could not check your key. Wait a few seconds and retry. You do not need to replace the key.
  • 403 with code ER0706 — the MCP server is not available on the Free plan. Upgrade the subscription to use it.

Connection Problems ​

If you can't connect to https://mcp.apitube.io/:

  • Check your internet connection
  • Verify firewall settings
  • Try accessing the URL in a browser

Testing with a Real Query ​

Test with actual news search:

bash
curl -X POST https://mcp.apitube.io/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "tools/call",
    "params": {
      "name": "search_news",
      "arguments": {
        "title": "Bitcoin",
        "per_page": 5
      }
    },
    "id": 1
  }'

Alternative: Direct HTTP Access ​

You can also use the MCP server as a regular HTTP API without an AI assistant:

bash
curl -X POST https://mcp.apitube.io/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "method": "tools/call",
    "params": {
      "name": "search_news",
      "arguments": {
        "title": "AI technology",
        "language": {"code": "en"},
        "is_breaking": 1
      }
    },
    "id": 1
  }'
TIP

Use https://mcp.apitube.io/ directly without running your own server.

Next Steps ​

Support ​

If you encounter issues:

  1. Check the Technical FAQ
  2. Verify your API key on apitube.io
  3. Check the error message returned by your MCP client
  4. Contact support through the APITube website