Allows reading Substack subscriptions, including listing newsletters, fetching recent posts from a feed, reading full post content, and searching within specific newsletters.
Click on "Install Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type
@followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@Substack Reader MCP Servershow me the latest posts from my subscription feed"
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
Substack Reader MCP Server
An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for reading your Substack subscriptions from Claude Code.
Installation
Features
list_subscriptions - List all newsletters you subscribe to
get_feed - Get recent posts from all your subscriptions
get_recent_posts - Get posts from a specific newsletter
read_post - Read full content of any post
search_newsletter - Search within a newsletter
Quick Start
This will:
Install Python dependencies
Guide you through exporting browser cookies
Configure your Substack username
Add the MCP server to Claude Code settings
Test the connection
Manual Setup
1. Install Dependencies
2. Export Substack Cookies
Install Cookie-Editor browser extension
Log into substack.com
Click Cookie-Editor → Export → Export as JSON
Save to
~/.config/substack-reader/cookies.json
3. Configure Username
Create ~/.config/substack-reader/config.json:
Your username is from your Substack profile URL (e.g., substack.com/@username).
4. Configure Claude Code
Run:
Or manually add to ~/.claude/settings.json:
5. Restart Claude Code
The MCP server will load on restart.
Usage Examples
After setup, ask Claude:
"List my Substack subscriptions"
"Get my subscription feed"
"Get recent posts from The Pragmatic Engineer"
"Read the latest post about system design"
"Search for 'microservices' in Engineering Leadership"
Testing
Troubleshooting
"No subscriptions found"
Verify your username is correct
Check cookies are exported properly (should include
substack.sid)
"Authentication error"
Re-export cookies from browser (they may have expired)
Ensure you're logged into Substack when exporting
MCP server not loading
Check
~/.claude/settings.jsonsyntax is valid JSONVerify the server path is correct
Restart Claude Code completely
Files
Security
Never commit cookies.json - it contains your session
Cookies expire periodically - re-export when auth fails
The server only reads content you have access to
License
MIT