@stealth-code/backrefs-mcp

Connect your AI tools to Backrefs and run your backlink campaigns from chat.

You need a Backrefs account. The server is hosted at https://mcp.backrefs.com, so nothing runs on your machine. This package only adds that address to your tools' settings.

Install

npx -y @stealth-code/backrefs-mcp install

It finds Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, VS Code and Windsurf, asks which to set up, and configures them. Claude Desktop is the exception: it only takes remote servers through its own Connectors screen, so for it the installer prints the steps instead.

Then restart each tool and sign in. Only Cursor opens the browser by itself; the others wait for you:

The installer prints the same list when it finishes.

In a script or an AI agent's shell there is no terminal to confirm in, so the installer writes nothing unless you add --yes (the detected tools) or --only <tool>.

To check it worked, ask your AI: "How many tokens do I have left?"

Related MCP server: SEO Insights MCP Server

No browser on this machine?

npx -y @stealth-code/backrefs-mcp login

It shows a short code. Approve it from any device with a browser, even your phone. On that page you choose whether the tool may spend tokens, and how many per day.

What you can ask

• "What backlinks did I get this week?"

• "Read my pricing page and suggest a campaign for it."

• "Boost these guest posts. Price it first."

Reading is free. Tools that spend tokens refuse to run until the AI confirms the spend, and where an order has a price quote, until it repeats that exact total. They tell the AI to check with you first, but the AI is what confirms. The daily spend cap you choose when you sign in is the hard limit: the server enforces it whatever the AI does.

Set it up without the installer

Every tool can add the server itself. Run the command, or paste it to your AI and ask it to run it.

claude mcp add --transport http backrefs --scope user https://mcp.backrefs.com

Then run /mcp, pick backrefs, and approve in the browser.

Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector, and paste https://mcp.backrefs.com.

codex mcp add backrefs --url https://mcp.backrefs.com

If the browser didn't open, run codex mcp login backrefs.

Use the button above, or paste this to Cursor's chat. Then restart Cursor.

Add the backrefs MCP server to Cursor: merge { "mcpServers": { "backrefs": { "url": "https://mcp.backrefs.com" } } } into ~/.cursor/mcp.json, keeping any servers already there.

gemini mcp add --transport http --scope user backrefs https://mcp.backrefs.com

Then run /mcp auth backrefs.

Use the button above, or run:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"backrefs","type":"http","url":"https://mcp.backrefs.com"}'

Paste this to Cascade. Then restart Windsurf.

Add the backrefs MCP server to Windsurf: merge { "mcpServers": { "backrefs": { "serverUrl": "https://mcp.backrefs.com" } } } into ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json, keeping any servers already there. The key must be serverUrl, not url.

Add a remote MCP server named backrefs at https://mcp.backrefs.com.

Chat agents and servers

For Hermes, OpenClaw, or Claude Code and Codex running on a server, sign in to Backrefs and open Connect → By agent. It gives you one prompt to paste to your agent, which sets itself up and signs in with a code you approve.

Options

Remove it

Removing the entry doesn't revoke access. Do that in Backrefs under Settings → Connections.

Troubleshooting

Only backrefs_login shows up. The tool hasn't signed in yet. Ask it to call backrefs_login, or run npx -y @stealth-code/backrefs-mcp login.

Codex never asked me to sign in. Run codex mcp login backrefs.

"is not valid JSON". The tool's config file has comments or a typo, so the installer leaves it alone. Fix it, or add the entry by hand (see above).

Security

• There's no --token flag, because a key typed on the command line ends up in your shell history. Use login instead.

• A key from login is saved in plain text in your tools' config files. On macOS and Linux the file is made readable only by you; on Windows it keeps the permissions of the folder it's in. Codex and Claude Code read it from the BACKREFS_TOKEN environment variable instead.

• To report a vulnerability, see SECURITY.md.

Links

• Setup guide in the app (sign in first): backrefs.com/connect

• Issues: github.com/StealthCodeLtd/backrefs-mcp/issues

• Releasing: RELEASING.md