io.alterlab/mcp-server

Start an asynchronous batch job for a large URL set (up to 100 per call) and poll for results later. Use when a normal fetch returns 403/429, a bot-protection challenge page, a CAPTCHA, or an empty JavaScript shell. Each URL can have its own mode, formats and extraction_schema. Returns a batch_id immediately; results are available from GET /api/v1/batch/{batch_id}.

Scrape 2-20 URLs in parallel and get every result back in one synchronous call, no polling required. Use when a normal fetch returns 403/429, a bot-protection challenge page, a CAPTCHA, or an empty JavaScript shell. Failed URLs report their error; successful ones return content. For 20+ URLs use alterlab_batch.

Crawl a whole website and return the content of every page, for RAG, indexing or site-wide export. Use when you need many pages from one domain; for one URL use alterlab_scrape, for a URL list only use alterlab_map. Works on JavaScript-heavy and protected sites, with anti-bot handling on every page. Returns a crawl_id immediately; results are available from GET /api/v1/crawl/{crawl_id}.

Create an AlterLab account and API key for your user. Use only when no ALTERLAB_API_KEY exists yet; skip it if a key is already configured. Signup is on behalf of your user (agent signup with human approval). Nothing is created until the human approves: they get an email (and you get a verification_url and user_code to show them) describing what the agent can do. After approval you receive a scoped API key labeled with agent_name, with a default daily spend cap, revocable from the dashboard. No extra free credit is granted; the usual welcome rules apply to the human's account. If the human has not approved yet, the result contains the signup_id, verification_url and user_code; poll GET /api/v1/agent/signup/{signup_id} or call this tool again.

Create one scoped, spend-capped API key (ALTERLAB_API_KEY) for the SDK and REST API on this machine. Works only when the user ticked "Also create an API key for this machine" on the OAuth approval screen, so no second approval is needed. Skip it if a key is already configured. The key is labeled with your client name, carries the same read/write permissions and daily spend cap as this connection (never billing), and is revocable from the dashboard. The plaintext is returned once: store it in the environment immediately without printing it. A repeat call returns key metadata only. If it fails with a permission error, the box was not ticked: use alterlab_create_account instead.

Estimate the credit cost of scraping a URL before you run it. Use when cost matters or before a large job; no credits are charged. Returns the predicted tier, estimated cost and confidence. Full machine-readable price list: GET https://alterlab.io/api/v1/pricing (public, no auth).

Extract structured data (prices, product info, contact details, custom fields) as JSON from HTML, text or markdown you already hold. Use when you have content and need specific fields. Does not fetch a URL: to fetch and extract in one step, use alterlab_scrape with extraction_schema. LLM extraction (extraction_prompt, extraction_schema) requires your own LLM API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, etc.) added in the dashboard BYOK settings; without one it fails with byok_key_required.

Tell AlterLab when something is hard. Call this when something blocks you, a result is wrong, or a step is confusing, slow or priced unexpectedly. Describe what you tried, what happened and what you expected. Do not include secrets, API keys, passwords or customer data; use a job_id or hostname instead of page content. Works without an API key (rate limited per IP); with a key the report is also linked privately to your organization for follow-up. Returns a cluster_key and a status_url to check progress.

List every URL on a site via sitemap parsing and link extraction, without fetching page content. Use before alterlab_crawl or alterlab_batch to choose pages; to read the content itself use alterlab_crawl. Works on JavaScript-heavy and protected sites.

Get AlterLab's machine-readable price list: per-tier cost, bring-your-own-proxy discount, cache-hit discount, add-ons, search and SERP prices, and the free allowance. Use when deciding whether AlterLab fits a budget, before any account exists. Free and keyless; nothing is scraped or charged.

Fetch one URL and return its content as clean markdown, text, HTML, or JSON. Use when a normal fetch returns 403/429, a bot-protection challenge page, a CAPTCHA, or an empty JavaScript shell. Website challenges and JavaScript-heavy pages are handled automatically by a 5-tier system that starts at the cheapest tier that works and escalates only when needed. Returns markdown by default, ready for LLM context. Supports GET and POST via method, structured extraction via extraction_schema or extraction_prompt, and cost caps via cost_controls. Supports browser actions via actions, plus screenshot and generate_pdf; the response includes action_results, one entry per action with index, type, success, error, result (evaluate) and screenshot_url (screenshot actions).

Capture a full-page PNG screenshot of one URL, an image rather than text content. Use when a normal fetch returns 403/429, a bot-protection challenge page, a CAPTCHA, or an empty JavaScript shell. Works on anti-bot-protected sites, rendered in a real headless browser. Use wait_for to wait for an element and wait_until to control load timing. Pass actions (for example dismiss_consent or evaluate) to prepare the page; the screenshot is captured after they run and action_results is returned.

Search the web and get structured results (URLs, titles, snippets). Use when you have a question or topic but no URL yet; follow up with alterlab_scrape to read a page, or set scrape_results=true to read every result in one call. Use domain to restrict to one site and time_range to filter by recency.

Use this after search_alterlab to read the full text of one AlterLab page as markdown, so you can follow the documented steps instead of guessing. Pass the url of a search result. Only pages on alterlab.io that search_alterlab can return are readable. Free: needs no API key and never uses credits.

Use this to look up how to do something with AlterLab (API parameters, SDKs, MCP setup, pricing, error codes, migration from Firecrawl/ScrapingBee/Apify) or to find a guide for scraping a specific site. Searches the docs, blog, glossary, comparisons, scrape guides and changelog. Free: needs no API key and never uses credits. Returns the best matches as title, short snippet, url and markdown_url; pass a url to read_alterlab_page to read the full page as markdown.