---
title: "MCP Server - Introduction"
description: "Connect Claude, Cursor and other AI assistants directly to Twitter/X data using the SocialData MCP server and your existing API key"
source: "https://docs.socialdata.tools/mcp/introduction/"
---

The SocialData MCP server lets you connect an AI assistant directly to Twitter/X data. Instead of writing code against the REST API, you ask a question in plain English and the assistant fetches the data itself.

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard for connecting AI assistants to external tools and data. Any client that supports it — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf — can talk to our server.

## What this looks like in practice

Once connected, you can ask your assistant things like:

-   _“What has @elonmusk posted in the last day?”_
-   _“Find tweets from the past week mentioning our product with more than 100 likes”_
-   _“Does @user\_a follow @user\_b?”_
-   _“Summarise the replies to this tweet”_

The assistant picks the right tool, calls SocialData, and answers using real data.

## Endpoint and authentication

```plaintext
https://api.socialdata.tools/mcp
```

The server uses **the same API key as the REST API**, sent as a bearer token:

```plaintext
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
```

You do not need a separate key, a separate account, or a separate subscription. See [Authentication](https://docs.socialdata.tools/getting-started/authentication/) for where to find your key, and [Connecting your client](https://docs.socialdata.tools/mcp/connecting/) for per-client setup.

## Pricing

**Every tool call is billed exactly like the equivalent REST API call.** The MCP server is a different way to reach the same endpoints — it is not a separate product with separate pricing.

That means:

-   The same per-result pricing applies. See [Pricing](https://docs.socialdata.tools/getting-started/pricing/).
-   Your rate limit applies unchanged. See [Rate Limits](https://docs.socialdata.tools/getting-started/rate-limits/).
-   Requests that return no results are not charged, exactly as with REST.

Connecting an assistant to the server costs nothing on its own. You are charged only when the assistant actually calls a tool.

> **Watch your spending with AI assistants**
> 
> An AI assistant works through a task until it decides it is done, and it does not know what your data is worth to you. Ask it to “get all followers of @big\_account” and it will keep requesting pages — each one billed — until it runs out of pages or you stop it.
> 
> Each tool returns **one page per call** and never pages automatically, and the tools are described to the assistant in a way that discourages open-ended paging. Even so, be specific about how much data you want — say how many results you need rather than asking for “all” of something — and keep an eye on your balance while an assistant is working.

## What the server can and cannot do

The MCP server is **read-only**. It exposes **14 tools** covering user lookup, timelines, search, followers and following, and tweet threads and replies. See [Available tools](https://docs.socialdata.tools/mcp/tools/) for the full list.

It cannot post, follow, delete, or change anything on Twitter/X, and it cannot create or manage monitors — use the REST API for those.

Results are returned in a compact form rather than the full REST payload, so that a page of results does not overwhelm the assistant’s context window. [Available tools](https://docs.socialdata.tools/mcp/tools/) documents exactly which fields you get.

> **Web-based assistants are not supported yet**
> 
> The claude.ai and ChatGPT connector interfaces cannot connect to this server. They require OAuth, and our server authenticates with your API key. Use a client that supports custom headers — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor or Windsurf.

## Next steps

-   [Connecting your client](https://docs.socialdata.tools/mcp/connecting/) — setup for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor and Windsurf
-   [Available tools](https://docs.socialdata.tools/mcp/tools/) — all 14 tools, their parameters, and what they return