Upriver MCP server

Upriver MCP

Real-time context on creators, audiences, brands, trends, and sponsorships — for AI applications.

About Upriver

Upriver provides an API that turns what's happening online into real-time, reliable context for AI applications. It delivers evidence-backed signals — each grounded in real sources — across:

• Creators — relevant creators and profiles
• Audiences — personas, interests, language, and humor
• Brands — brands and how they're being discussed
• Products — product mentions and use cases
• Trends — topics and formats gaining attention
• Sponsorships — brand–creator relationships and placements

This repository is the home of Upriver's Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, which brings that context to any MCP-compatible AI assistant or agent.

Connect

It's a remote, hosted server — nothing to install or run. OAuth sign-in works in every client. The X-API-Key header is supported by Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Cline, Windsurf, Codex CLI, Goose, and Zed — but not by Claude's or ChatGPT's connector UIs, which are OAuth-only.

Claude Code (CLI)

claude mcp add --transport http upriver https://mcp.upriver.ai/mcp

To use an API key instead of OAuth, pass it as a header:

claude mcp add --transport http upriver https://mcp.upriver.ai/mcp \
  --header "X-API-Key: YOUR_UPRIVER_API_KEY"

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (per-project), then connect it in Settings → Tools & Integrations to sign in:

{ "mcpServers": { "upriver": { "url": "https://mcp.upriver.ai/mcp" } } }

For API-key auth, add "headers": { "X-API-Key": "YOURUPRIVERAPI_KEY" }.

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

VS Code uses a different shape — top-level servers and a required "type": "http". Add to .vscode/mcp.json (or run MCP: Add Server):

{ "servers": { "upriver": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.upriver.ai/mcp" } } }

For API-key auth, add "headers": { "X-API-Key": "YOURUPRIVERAPI_KEY" }.

Claude Desktop & claude.ai

In Claude, go to Customize → Connectors → "+" → Add custom connector, name it Upriver, paste https://mcp.upriver.ai/mcp, then Connect and sign in. (Claude's connector is OAuth-only — there's no field for an API key, and don't add a raw url entry to claudedesktopconfig.json; the desktop app rejects it.)

Cline

Use the Remote Servers tab (Transport: Streamable HTTP), or edit clinemcpsettings.json — the type field is required, or Cline falls back to legacy SSE and fails:

{ "mcpServers": { "upriver": { "type": "streamableHttp", "url": "https://mcp.upriver.ai/mcp" } } }

Windsurf

Edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcpconfig.json — Windsurf's field is serverUrl**:

{ "mcpServers": { "upriver": { "serverUrl": "https://mcp.upriver.ai/mcp" } } }

More clients — Codex CLI, ChatGPT, Goose, Zed

Codex CLI (OpenAI)

codex mcp add upriver --url https://mcp.upriver.ai/mcp --header X-API-Key=YOUR_UPRIVER_API_KEY

ChatGPT — Enable Developer mode (Settings → Apps & Connectors → Advanced), then Settings → Connectors → Create, name it Upriver, paste https://mcp.upriver.ai/mcp, choose OAuth, and sign in. (No custom-header field — OAuth only in the UI.)

Goose — add to ~/.config/goose/config.yaml:

extensions:
  upriver:
    type: streamable_http
    uri: https://mcp.upriver.ai/mcp
    enabled: true
    headers:
      X-API-Key: "${UPRIVER_API_KEY}"

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.