Skim402 MCP server

skim-mcp

Skim is the complete web toolkit for AI agents—not just a simple page reader. Get a free card key at skim402.com/pricing; wallet/x402 is optional.

skim-mcp is the official Model Context Protocol server for Skim. It turns public pages into clean, agent-ready Markdown—typically ~4x smaller than raw HTML in Skim's measured comparisons—and exposes the full toolkit: clean reads, batch reads, JavaScript/browser rendering, structured extraction, crawling, PDFs, page-change watches, and curated Signals.

Default path: a card-plan API key. Get a free sk402 key at skim402.com (pricing). Paste it as SKIMAPIKEY. A crypto wallet is not** required.

Optional path: x402 wallet pay. If you prefer pay-per-call in USDC on Base, you can set SKIMWALLETPRIVATE_KEY instead. Ignore this unless you want it.

Tools in this package: readurl, readurls, extracturl, crawlurl, readpdf, watchurls, checkwatch, pollsignal.

Try before you integrate: use the Playground for a quick read or the Workbench to test batches, extraction, crawl, PDFs, watches, and Signals.

Quickstart (60 seconds)

Card API key (recommended)

1. Get a free key at skim402.com — it starts with sk402_. Card required at signup; 1,000 reads/month on the free plan. Details: skim402.com/pricing.

2. Add this to your MCP client. Claude Desktop — ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claudedesktopconfig.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claudedesktopconfig.json (Windows). Cursor — ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or Settings → MCP). Same JSON works in Cline, Continue, Zed, and other MCP clients:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skim": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "skim-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SKIM_API_KEY": "sk402_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Restart the client and ask it to read a URL:

Read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402 and summarize it.

Wallet / x402 (optional)

Only if you prefer pay-per-call ($0.002 USDC on Base) instead of a card key. You can skip this entire block.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skim": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "skim-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SKIM_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY": "0xYOUR_BASE_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Fund a dedicated Base wallet with a small USDC balance ($1 ≈ 500 reads). Setup guide: ****.

Use a fresh wallet, not your personal one. This private key lives in a plaintext config file on your machine — treat it like a hot wallet for $0.002 tolls, not a savings account.

FAQ

Do I need an API key? Yes for the default path. Get a free sk402_ key at https://skim402.com. A wallet is optional.

Is this wallet-only? Do I need crypto? No. Card API key is the default. x402 wallet pay is optional.

What tools can my agent call? readurl, readurls (batch), extracturl, crawlurl, readpdf, watchurls, checkwatch, and pollsignal.

Try it without an agent

With a card key:

curl -H 'Authorization: Bearer sk402_your_key_here' \
  'https://skim402.com/api/t/read?url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402'

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.