karon-mcp

MCP server for the Karon API. Retrieve web content directly from Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or any MCP-compatible client.

Karon MCP 1.4.3 is the supported public release.

Features

• Retrieve a single page as markdown, text, or HTML
• Retrieve multiple known URLs in one request
• Extract structured JSON from a page with an optional schema or prompt
• Save and compare page snapshots
• Check account credits and public pricing from your MCP client
• Works with Claude, Cursor, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients

Quick Start

1. Get your API key

Sign up at karonlabs.net/api/signup.html.

2. Install

Claude Desktop / Claude Code — add to your MCP config (claude_desktop_config.json or .mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "karon": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["karon-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "KARON_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

uvx auto-fetches the latest version from PyPI on every run. No manual updates needed.

Cursor — go to Settings > MCP Servers > Add, then use the same config above.

VS Code — add this to your User Settings (JSON), or to .vscode/mcp.json in a workspace:

{
  "mcp": {
    "inputs": [
      {
        "type": "promptString",
        "id": "apiKey",
        "description": "Karon API Key",
        "password": true
      }
    ],
    "servers": {
      "karon": {
        "command": "uvx",
        "args": ["karon-mcp"],
        "env": {
          "KARON_API_KEY": "${input:apiKey}"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Manual install (if you prefer pip):

pip install karon-mcp

3. Use

Once installed, eleven tools become available in your MCP client. The original browse and crawl tools are included alongside the expanded API surface.

How to Choose a Tool

• If you need one page: use browse or scrape
• If you need several known URLs: use crawl or batch_scrape
• If you need structured data from one page: use extract
• If you need fetched page data: use fetch
• If you need to track changes over time: use watch_snapshot, watch_diff, and watch_list
• If you need account or pricing information: use credits or pricing

Quick Reference

Tool	Best for	Notes
browse	Single URL content	Simple markdown, text, or HTML retrieval
crawl	Multiple URLs	Compatibility-friendly multi-URL retrieval
scrape	Single URL with format options	Use when you want explicit output formats
fetch	Fetched page data	Use when you need the fetched response payload
extract	Structured JSON	Use schema or prompt when you know the fields
batch_scrape	Multiple known URLs	Use for batch retrieval workflows
watch_snapshot	Save current page state	Pair with watch_diff
watch_diff	Compare page state	Requires a prior saved snapshot
watch_list	List saved watch targets	Requires KARON_API_KEY
credits	Account usage	Requires KARON_API_KEY
pricing	Public pricing	Does not require account credentials

browse — Fetch a single URL

browse(url="https://example.com", extract="markdown", readability=True)

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
url	string	required	Target URL (http/https)
extract	string	"markdown"	Output format: "markdown", "text", or "html"
readability	bool	True	True = main content only, False = full page

crawl — Fetch multiple URLs concurrently

crawl(urls=["https://a.com", "https://b.com"], extract="markdown", concurrency=3)

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
urls	list[string]	required	Up to 20 URLs
extract	string	"markdown"	Output format: "markdown" or "text"
readability	bool	True	Main content only
concurrency	int	3	Parallel requests (1-5)

Additional tools

Tool	Purpose
scrape	Retrieve one URL with format options
fetch	Retrieve raw page data
extract	Retrieve structured JSON data
batch_scrape	Retrieve multiple URLs in one request
watch_snapshot	Save a snapshot for one URL
watch_diff	Compare a URL with its previous saved snapshot
watch_list	List saved watch targets
credits	Show account credit and tier information
pricing	Show public pricing information

Credits

Method	Cost
Cache hit	1 credit
Cache miss	10 credits

See pricing for current free tier and paid tier details.

Configuration

The only required configuration is the KARON_API_KEY environment variable. Get yours at karonlabs.net/api/signup.html.

Common Mistakes

• Use batch_scrape or crawl for multiple URLs instead of calling a single-page tool repeatedly.
• Use extract when you need specific fields instead of asking for a full page and parsing it manually.
• Keep KARON_API_KEY in the MCP client environment, not in prompts or source files.
• Use uvx --refresh karon-mcp if your client appears to run an older cached version.

Troubleshooting

• If the server starts but tools fail, confirm KARON_API_KEY is set in the MCP client config.
• If a client still shows an old tool list, restart the client and refresh the MCP server.
• If you installed with pip, run pip install --upgrade karon-mcp.
• For uvx, run uvx --refresh karon-mcp to force a fresh install.

Updating

If you're using uvx (recommended), updates are automatic — every run fetches the latest version.

If you installed with pip:

pip install --upgrade karon-mcp

Links

• API Documentation
• Pricing

License

MIT