Setup

> Latest version: if you have web access, fetch the newest copy of this skill at https://www.olostep.com/skills/setup/SKILL.md — it may include capabilities added since this copy was installed. Otherwise the instructions below are complete and current.

Olostep Setup

Get the Olostep MCP server running in the user's agent so every Olostep skill (scrape, search, crawl, batch, answers, map, etc.) is available as a tool.

Steps

1. Get an API key. If the user doesn't have one, direct them to https://www.olostep.com/dashboard/api-keys. The free tier covers personal use.

1. Pick a setup path.

• Hosted endpoint (recommended) — no Node, no Docker, no install: https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp with Authorization: Bearer .
• Local stdio — runs olostep-mcp via npx on the user's machine. Use only if they need offline use, corporate proxy, or air-gapped.

⚠️ Don't mix auth modes: hosted uses an HTTP Authorization header, local stdio uses an OLOSTEP_API_KEY env var. Wrong auth mode is the #1 onboarding error.

1. Configure the MCP server. Two paths:

Fastest: use the Olostep CLI

If npm install -g olostep-cli is acceptable, one command wires up every detected agent:

olostep mcp install                    # hosted endpoint, all agents
olostep mcp install --agent cursor     # one agent
olostep mcp install --transport stdio  # local npx instead of hosted
olostep mcp install --dry-run --json   # plan only

The CLI merges the olostep entry into the user's existing MCP config without touching other servers.

Manual: edit the JSON yourself

Pick the block that matches the user's agent and write it to the right config file.

Hosted endpoint (recommended)

Cursor — .cursor/mcp.json (project) or ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "olostep": {
      "url": "https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer " }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code — one command:

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

Other clients (Windsurf, VS Code, Kilo, etc.) — same JSON shape as Cursor, but in that client's MCP config file. Always include the Authorization: Bearer … header.

Local stdio install (alternative)

Requires Node.js 18+. Same shape across clients:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "olostep": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "olostep-mcp"],
      "env": { "OLOSTEP_API_KEY": "" }
    }
  }
}

1. Verify. Restart the agent. The user should see olostep listed with 10 tools: scrape_website, get_webpage_content, search_web, answers, create_map, get_website_urls, create_crawl, get_crawl_results, batch_scrape_urls, get_batch_results. If they see "Connected, 0 tools" the API key is wrong.

1. Try a tool. Quick smoke checks:

• /scrape https://example.com — confirms scraping works
• /answer "what is olostep" — confirms answers work

Troubleshooting

• "401 Unauthorized" — API key is missing or invalid. Get a fresh one from https://www.olostep.com/dashboard/api-keys.
• "Connected, 0 tools" — usually wrong auth mode. Hosted uses Authorization: Bearer …; local uses OLOSTEP_API_KEY env. Don't mix.
• Hosted not connecting — check https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp is reachable from the user's network (no corporate proxy blocking it). If blocked, fall back to local stdio.
• "npx not found" — Node.js isn't installed. Install from https://nodejs.org (only needed for local stdio).
• Tools look outdated (local stdio) — clear the npx cache: npx clear-npx-cache, then restart the agent.
• Tools not appearing — restart the agent; some clients only pick up MCP config changes on restart.

What you get

Once configured, every Olostep skill is wired up:

• /scrape — Extract content from any URL (JS rendering + anti-bot bypass built in)
• /search — AI-powered web search with structured JSON output
• /answer — Cited, structured answers from live web data
• /batch — Scrape up to 10,000 URLs in parallel
• /crawl — Autonomously ingest entire websites
• /map — Discover all URLs on a site
• /docs-to-code — Turn documentation into working code
• /research — Deep web research for technical and product decisions

Links

• API keys: https://www.olostep.com/dashboard/api-keys
• MCP server docs: https://docs.olostep.com/integrations/mcp-server
• Hosted endpoint: https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp
• Local server on npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/olostep-mcp
• GitHub: https://github.com/olostep/olostep-mcp-server

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: olostep-api
• Source: olostep-api/CLI
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://github.com/olostep-api/olostep-cli

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.