MCP server | BriefPanel

BriefPanel is a remote MCP server. Connect it to Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf, or anything that speaks the Model Context Protocol, and your agent can start monitoring pages and read back what changed.

This is the technical reference. For an overview of what the integration is for, see the MCP page.

Endpoint

https://actions.briefpanel.com/mcp

Transport — Streamable HTTP, stateless: one JSON-RPC request per POST, answered with a JSON response. Server-Sent Events are deprecated and not required.
Protocol version — 2024-11-05, advertised in the initialize handshake.

A discovery document is published at https://briefpanel.com/.well-known/mcp.json, so MCP hosts that auto-discover servers by domain can find it without configuration.

Authentication

Send a personal API key as a Bearer token:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_BRIEFPANEL_API_KEY

Create a key under Settings → API & integrations in the app (https://app.briefpanel.com/connect-agent). Keys start with bp_mcp_ and the same key works for the REST API.

A missing or invalid key returns 401 with a WWW-Authenticate header.

Scopes

Each key carries scopes. Read tools need read; add_source, update_source, and pause_source need write. Calling a tool your key lacks the scope for fails rather than silently doing nothing.

OAuth

Claude.ai and Claude Desktop custom connectors, and ChatGPT connectors, require OAuth. That flow is coming; until it ships, use any client that can send a Bearer header with the configuration below.

OAuth access tokens (bp_oat_) are audience-bound to the MCP resource, so they authenticate MCP calls only — not the REST API.

Client configuration

Most clients read the standard mcpServers block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "briefpanel": {
      "url": "https://actions.briefpanel.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_BRIEFPANEL_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code takes it as one command:

claude mcp add --transport http briefpanel https://actions.briefpanel.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_BRIEFPANEL_API_KEY"

Cursor has a one-click install link on the MCP page.

Tools

Nine tools, six of them read-only.

For every paginated tool, keep following pagination.nextCursor while pagination.hasMore is true. Filters can make a page empty or shorter than limit even when more results remain.

`list_sources`

List the web pages you monitor, including monitoring configuration and recent fetch health.

Argument	Type	Notes
`limit`	number	Maximum sources to return, 1–100. Defaults to 25.
`cursor`	string	Opaque value from `pagination.nextCursor` on the previous response.

`get_source_changes`

Typed item updates across your monitored pages. Every result includes the entry title, URL, kind, updateType, importance, canonical field and valueChange; price updates also include a convenience priceDelta.

Argument	Type	Notes
`limit`	number	Maximum updates to return, 1–100. Defaults to 25.
`cursor`	string	Opaque value from `pagination.nextCursor` on the previous response.
`since`	number or string	Epoch milliseconds, or an ISO-8601 timestamp.
`importance`	string	Optional `critical`, `material`, or `minor` filter.

`get_entry_updates`

The typed history for one extracted entry. This has the same data contract as the REST API's entry updates endpoint, including filters and cursor pagination.

Argument	Type	Notes
`entryId`	string	Required. The entry ID to inspect.
`limit`	number	Maximum updates to return, 1–100. Defaults to 25.
`cursor`	string	Opaque value from `pagination.nextCursor` on the previous response.
`importance`	string	Optional `critical`, `material`, or `minor` filter.
`field`	string	Optional tracked field filter, such as `price` or `title`.

`get_entry_changes`

The fetch/change timeline for one entry, including whether structured diff evidence is available.

Argument	Type	Notes
`entryId`	string	Required. The entry ID to inspect.
`limit`	number	Maximum timeline cards to return, 1–100. Defaults to 25.
`cursor`	string	Opaque value from `pagination.nextCursor` on the previous response.

`get_credit_balance`

Your remaining credits. A check spends one credit per page it reads — the source page, plus each item page it follows. No arguments.

`whoami`

The identity and scopes tied to the current API key — useful for confirming which account a key belongs to. No arguments.

`add_source`

Start monitoring a new page. It needs the write scope. Each later check spends one credit per page it reads.

Argument	Type	Notes
`url`	string	Required. The page URL to monitor.
`userPrompt`	string	What changes matter, in plain language.
`monitoringFrequency`	number	Minutes between checks. Defaults to 60, clamped to 5 minutes–7 days.
`notificationsEnabled`	boolean	Whether to notify on changes. Defaults to `false`.

Calling it again with the same URL and userPrompt returns the existing source instead of creating a duplicate.

`update_source`

Update ordinary settings for a monitored page. It needs the write scope; use pause_source to stop monitoring.

Argument	Type	Notes
`sourceId`	string	Required. The source ID to update.
`name`	string or null	Optional display name; pass `null` to clear it.
`userPrompt`	string or null	Optional monitoring instructions; pass `null` to clear them.
`monitoringFrequency`	number	Optional minutes between checks, clamped to 5 minutes–7 days.
`notificationsEnabled`	boolean	Optional notification toggle.
`updateSensitivity`	number	Optional change sensitivity from 0 through 1.

Supply at least one setting besides sourceId.

`pause_source`

Reversibly stop monitoring a page. It needs the write scope; it does not delete the source or its history. Re-enable monitoring from the BriefPanel app.

Argument	Type	Notes
`sourceId`	string	Required. The source ID to pause.

Reading history

MCP is built for conversation: use get_source_changes for a cross-source feed and the entry tools for typed history. The REST API exposes the same core read facades for programmatic clients, plus snapshot/blob retrieval and its OpenAPI contract.