# MCP

MCP is how an AI agent talks to Sputnik. Connect it once and your agent can search the corpus, read transcripts, look up people and publications, and manage alerts.

This is how most customers use Sputnik.

## Connecting

```
https://sputnikintelligence.com/mcp
```

In Claude, add that URL as a custom connector. You sign in through the browser once. After that your agent acts as you, for your team. Other MCP clients that support remote servers with OAuth work the same way.

The app has a **Connect MCP** page with screenshots.

> **MCP does not use API keys**
>
> The MCP server signs you in through the browser. An API key will not work against it. If your agent runs somewhere it cannot open a browser, such as a scheduled job or a container, use the [REST API](/docs/api) or the [CLI](/docs/cli).

## Tool names

Tool names follow one pattern, so you can usually guess them.

| Prefix | Meaning | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `search_` | A ranked list for a query. | `search_posts` |
| `list_` | A plain list. | `list_posts` |
| `get_` | One item, by slug. | `get_post` |
| `create_` `update_` `delete_` | Act on one item. | `create_alert` |
| `add_` `remove_` | Membership only: which publications sit in a collection. | `add_sources_to_collection` |

Every tool matches one REST endpoint.

## The tools

### Reading the corpus

- `search_posts` — full-text search across everything.
- `list_posts` — a chronological feed filtered by collection, publication, person and/or sponsor; filters combine, so a post must match all of them.
- `get_post` — one post in full.
- `get_transcript` — a podcast episode as readable Markdown, or as speaker turns with `format=turns`.
- `search_people`, `get_person`
- `search_sources`, `get_source`
- `search_topics`, `get_topic`
- `search_sponsors`, `get_sponsor`

### Collections

- `list_collections`, `get_collection`, `create_collection`, `update_collection`, `delete_collection`
- `add_sources_to_collection`, `remove_sources_from_collection`

### Monitoring

- `list_projects`, `get_project`, `create_project`, `update_project`, `delete_project`
- `list_alerts`, `get_alert`, `create_alert`, `update_alert`, `delete_alert`
- `list_alert_searches`, `create_alert_search`, `update_alert_search`, `delete_alert_search`
- `list_alert_destinations`, `create_alert_destination`, `delete_alert_destination`
- `list_team_webhooks`, `create_team_webhook`, `update_team_webhook`, `delete_team_webhook`
- `list_alert_hits` — what your alerts have found.

## Things worth telling your agent

**Search returns slugs. Use `get_` for detail.** A search result carries enough to decide whether a post is worth fetching in full.

**Link things by their `sputnik_url`.** Every item carries one. Use it as given rather than building a URL from the slug.

**A podcast's words come from `get_transcript`.** For a newsletter or blog post, `get_post` returns the text.

**Follow `next_cursor` until it is null.** The exceptions are `search_topics` and `search_sponsors`, which are capped at 100 rows.

## Usage

MCP tool calls count against the same daily allowance as API calls. Listing the tools is free. See [API intro](/docs/api).