NewsAPI MCP Server + Frontend POC

Two components:

• mcp\_server.py — MCP server (stdio transport), connects Claude to NewsAPI

• frontend.html — Standalone browser frontend, no install needed

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Step 1 — Get your free NewsAPI key

1. Go to https://newsapi.org/register

2. Fill in name + email — takes 30 seconds

3. Copy the API key shown on the dashboard

4. 7ac03af867104a6096d1e320f49d5896

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Related MCP server: mcp-newsapi

Step 2 — Install dependencies

pip install mcp httpx

That's all. No other packages needed.

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Step 3 — Run the MCP server

# Set your key
export NEWS\_API\_KEY=your\_actual\_key\_here

# Run the server
python mcp\_server.py

The server listens on stdio (standard in/out). You'll see no output — that's correct. It's waiting for an MCP client to connect.

To test it works:

NEWS\_API\_KEY=your\_key python -c "
import asyncio, json, sys
sys.path.insert(0, '.')
import mcp\_server
print('Server module loaded OK — 4 tools registered')
"

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Step 4 — Open the frontend

Just double-click frontend.html in your file manager, OR open it in your browser with:

# macOS
open frontend.html

# Linux
xdg-open frontend.html

# Windows
start frontend.html

Then:

1. Paste your NewsAPI key into the sidebar

2. Select a tool (search_news / get_top_headlines / get_sources / get_tech_briefing)

3. Enter a query and click Run

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Step 5 — Connect to Claude Desktop (optional)

Find your Claude Desktop config file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add this block (replace paths and key):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "newsapi": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": \["/full/path/to/newsapi-mcp/mcp\_server.py"],
      "env": {
        "NEWS\_API\_KEY": "your\_actual\_key\_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. You'll see "newsapi" appear in the tools menu.

Try asking Claude:

• "Search for the latest news on ServiceNow MCP announcements"

• "Get top technology headlines in the Netherlands"

• "Give me an enterprise AI briefing from the last week"

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MCP Tools Reference

Briefing topic presets

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Free tier limits

• 100 requests/day on the free developer plan

• Results limited to articles from the last 30 days (upgrade for 5 years)

• No commercial use on free tier

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Project structure

newsapi-mcp/
├── mcp\_server.py    ← MCP server (run this on terminal)
├── frontend.html    ← Browser UI (open directly, no server needed)
└── README.md

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Extending to other APIs

The pattern is the same for any REST API:

1. Add a new Tool(name=..., inputSchema=...) in list\_tools()

2. Add a handler block in call\_tool() that does await newsapi\_get(...) or any httpx call

3. Return \[TextContent(type="text", text=json.dumps(result))]