Screaming Frog SEO Spider FAQs

Question 1

What is the Screaming Frog SEO Spider MCP Server?

Accepted Answer

It's an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides AI assistants like Claude programmatic access to the Screaming Frog SEO Spider, enabling automated website crawling, data export, and crawl management.

Question 2

What key tasks can I perform using this tool?

Accepted Answer

You can programmatically initiate headless website crawls, export comprehensive crawl data to CSV, list and manage saved crawls, read and analyze exported data, and verify Screaming Frog status, all through your AI assistant.

Question 3

Why must I close the Screaming Frog GUI before using the MCP server?

Accepted Answer

The Screaming Frog GUI locks its internal crawl database, meaning only one process can access it at a time. To allow the MCP server to perform actions like exporting or managing crawls, you must close the GUI first.

Question 4

Can I use this tool with the free version of Screaming Frog?

Accepted Answer

While basic checks (`sf_check`) might work, most advanced features like headless crawling, saving/loading crawls, and comprehensive data exports require a valid paid Screaming Frog license due to the free version's 500-URL crawl limit and feature restrictions.

Question 5

How does this tool integrate with AI assistants like Claude?

Accepted Answer

It integrates by configuring the MCP server as an endpoint in your AI assistant's settings (e.g., within Claude's `.claude/settings.json`). This allows your AI to directly call the server's tools to perform Screaming Frog actions based on your prompts.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

About

Key Features

Use Cases

About

Key Features

Use Cases