Apify MCP Server for Claude Code: Setup & Config

What you can do with Apify in Claude Code

Choose it when assistants need discoverable web-extraction tools backed by Apify Actors.

• Discover a scraper for a particular website from an assistant.
• Search the web and extract page content with the RAG Web Browser Actor.

Before you start: Apify in Claude Code

• Node.js and npx for the local launch
• An MCP-compatible client
• Apify API token for the documented local configuration

The command is the local stdio route. The recommended hosted alternative uses streamable HTTP at remote_url and supports OAuth. Do not append /sse; the old SSE endpoint was removed. Hosted output-schema inference is not available in local stdio mode.

Apify Claude Code configuration

1. Choose Claude Code configuration scope

   For Apify MCP Server, open Project scope: .mcp.json at the repository root. Project JSON: merge into mcpServers; user scope: use the CLI.

2. Add Apify MCP Server to Claude Code

   Use the actors-mcp-server entry below in mcpServers. Keep Apify MCP Server's documented stdio connection fields and your other Claude Code entries.

3. Check Apify MCP Server in Claude Code

   Apify MCP Server: Inspect claude mcp list and /mcp status.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "actors-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@apify/actors-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "APIFY_TOKEN": "<Apify API token for local access>"
      }
    }
  }
}

claude mcp add-json --scope project 'actors-mcp-server' '{"type":"stdio","command":"npx","args":["@apify/actors-mcp-server"],"env":{"APIFY_TOKEN":"<Apify API token for local access>"}}'

Apify tools available to Claude Code

Apify's stored tool list documents 19 tools; compare it with Claude Code's connected tool list, because the stored list is not a live check.

search-actors

For Apify's search-actors, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

fetch-actor-details

For Apify's fetch-actor-details, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

call-actor

For Apify's call-actor, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

Run an Actor with its expected input and retrieve results.

get-actor-run

For Apify's get-actor-run, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

Inspect the details of a particular Actor execution.

get-dataset-items

For Apify's get-dataset-items, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

Read dataset records with filtering and pagination.

get-key-value-store-record

For Apify's get-key-value-store-record, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

Retrieve a stored value by its key.

abort-actor-run

For Apify's abort-actor-run, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

Stop an Actor execution, optionally using graceful cancellation.

search-apify-docs

For Apify's search-apify-docs, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

fetch-apify-docs

For Apify's fetch-apify-docs, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

apify--rag-web-browser

For Apify's apify--rag-web-browser, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

get-actor-run-list

For Apify's get-actor-run-list, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

List an Actor's executions with optional status filtering.

get-actor-log

For Apify's get-actor-log, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

get-dataset

For Apify's get-dataset, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

get-dataset-schema

For Apify's get-dataset-schema, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

get-key-value-store

For Apify's get-key-value-store, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

get-key-value-store-keys

For Apify's get-key-value-store-keys, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

Enumerate keys in a selected store.

get-dataset-list

For Apify's get-dataset-list, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

List datasets available to the user.

get-key-value-store-list

For Apify's get-key-value-store-list, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

List the user's available key-value stores.

add-actor

For Apify's add-actor, review the permission request and arguments in Claude Code before approval.

Experimentally register an Actor as another callable tool.

Apify: full stored tool descriptions

Troubleshooting Apify in Claude Code

• If Apify MCP Server fails to start, check npx @apify/actors-mcp-server (Node.js/npm), the working directory, and Claude Code's selected scope; inspect claude mcp list and /mcp.
• Apify MCP Server: check APIFY_TOKEN; keep credentials out of shared .mcp.json.
• Apify MCP Server uses stdio here: Claude Code must keep the configured process running; protocol output belongs on stdout and diagnostics on stderr.
• Known limitation: Local stdio lacks some hosted features.
• Known limitation: Client support for dynamic tool discovery varies.
• Known limitation: Paid Actor execution needs an account token or a supported funded payment flow.
• General Claude Code troubleshooting lives in the /clients/claude-code guide.

Frequently asked questions