Give Claude (or Cursor) social-post metrics — one line, no API key.

If your agent runs in an MCP client — Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Windsurf — it can answer "how did this post do?" with real numbers from a link. The whole setup is one JSON block.

Install

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pulse": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "pulse-mcp"] }
  }
}

That's everything. No account, no API key, no environment variables. On first run npx fetches the package and you'll see [pulse-mcp] ready — tools: metrics, metrics_batch, history, profile on stderr. (Node ≥ 20. Also on the official MCP registry as io.github.patwalls/pulse-mcp.)

What your agent can do with it

metrics — paste any public post URL (YouTube, X/Twitter incl. view counts, TikTok, Bluesky, Mastodon, Instagram) and get { views, likes, comments, shares, quotes, bookmarks, publishedAt, title, author, thumbnail }. Short links (vm.tiktok.com, t.co) resolve automatically.

metrics_batch — up to 50 URLs in one call, posts and profiles mixed, order preserved, one bad URL never fails the batch.

history — the growth curve: every fresh read records a snapshot, and since returns only the new points. Ask "is this post still growing?" and the agent answers from the slope.

profile — a profile URL → followers, following, post count, verified.

Try it in one sentence

Ask your agent: "How many views does https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ have?" — it should call metrics and answer with a real number north of 1.78 billion.

How it works (and what it costs)

The server is a thin shim over the free public Pulse API, which reads each platform's own public pages from a residential IP — so it sees what a real browser sees where datacenter IPs get walled. Honest errors: deleted posts are content_unavailable, login-walled platforms say login_required, never fake zeros. Free for individuals; commercial/volume use has a $19/mo Pro plan (higher rate limit).

More: the blog · API docs · the server's repo (includes llms-install.md for agent-driven setup).