Getting Started with MyBacklinks MCP

The MyBacklinks MCP (Model Context Protocol) server enables you to manage your projects, backlinks, and analytics directly from AI-powered development tools like Claude Code, Cursor, and OpenAI Codex. This guide walks you through setup, OAuth authentication, and using the available tools.

What is MCP?

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard developed by Anthropic that allows AI assistants to securely connect to external data sources and tools. The MyBacklinks MCP server implements this protocol using OAuth 2.0 with dynamic client registration for secure authentication.

Features

• 🔐 Secure OAuth 2.0 Authentication - Dynamic client registration with PKCE flow
• 🚀 Zero-Config Setup - Just add the URL, authentication is automatic
• 🛠️ 14 Powerful Tools - Manage projects, links, resources, analytics, domain research, and web scraping
• 🔄 Auto Token Refresh - Seamless session management
• 🎯 Multiple AI Platforms - Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and more

Quick Start

Supported Clients

Configuration

Simply add the MCP server URL to your client's configuration:

For Claude Code

Option 1: CLI (Recommended)

# Add to user scope (available in all projects)
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user mybacklinks https://mybacklinks.app/mcp

# Or add to current project only
claude mcp add --transport http mybacklinks https://mybacklinks.app/mcp

# Verify it was added
claude mcp list

Option 2: Config File (~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mybacklinks": {
      "url": "https://mybacklinks.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

For Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mybacklinks": {
      "url": "https://mybacklinks.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

For OpenAI Codex

CLI:

codex mcp add mybacklinks --url https://mybacklinks.app/mcp

Or config file (~/.codex/mcp.toml):

[[mcp_servers]]
name = "mybacklinks"
url = "https://mybacklinks.app/mcp"

For Mobile Apps

Want to manage your backlinks on the go? Mobile MCP clients can connect using two authentication methods:

Method 1: OAuth Authentication (Recommended)

If your mobile MCP client supports OAuth:

1. Add a new server with URL: https://mybacklinks.app/mcp
2. Tap "Connect" - the app will handle OAuth authentication automatically
3. Complete the login in your mobile browser
4. Return to the app and start using MCP tools!

Method 2: API Key + Custom Header

If your mobile MCP client doesn't support OAuth, you can use API Key authentication:

1. Go to MyBacklinks API Keys page
2. Click "Create API Key" and copy the generated key
3. In your mobile MCP client, add a new server with URL: https://mybacklinks.app/mcp
4. Configure a custom header:
   • Header name: Authorization
   • Header value: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
5. Save and connect - you're ready to use MCP tools!

API Key Configuration Example:

Server URL: https://mybacklinks.app/mcp
Custom Headers:
  Authorization: Bearer mbk_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mobile Use Cases:

• Check project status while commuting
• Quickly add backlinks when you discover opportunities
• Review analytics reports on the go
• Respond to backlink status changes in real-time

First-Time Authentication

When you first connect, your AI client will automatically:

1. Discover OAuth metadata from /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server
2. Register as a dynamic client (RFC 7591)
3. Open your browser for login
4. Store tokens securely for future requests

No manual setup required—just configure the URL and start using it!

Available MCP Tools

Once connected, these 14 tools are available to your AI assistant:

Project Management

Manage your projects and their associated backlinks.

listProjects

List all your projects with their metadata.

Parameters:

• cursor (optional): Pagination cursor
• limit (optional): Max items to return (1-50)

Example prompt:

Show me all my projects

Response includes:

• Project ID, name, domain
• Status (active/archived)
• Created and updated timestamps

getProjectDetail

Get detailed information about a specific project.

Parameters:

• projectId (optional): Project ID
• domain (optional): Domain name (e.g., "example.com"). Use this as an alternative to projectId.

Example:

Get details for my LoveMoney project

Get project details for domain lovemoney.app

Response includes:

• Project metadata
• Link counts by status (pending, submitted, indexed, rejected)
• Resource counts
• Last analytics sync date

listProjectBacklinks

List all backlinks for a specific project.

Parameters:

• projectId (required): Project ID
• status (optional): Filter by status (pending, submitted, indexed, rejected, removed)
• cursor (optional): Pagination cursor
• limit (optional): Max items (1-50)
• fields (optional): Select specific fields to reduce response size

Example:

Show me all indexed backlinks for my project

getProjectBacklinkDetail

Get detailed information about a specific project backlink.

Parameters:

• backlinkId (required): Project backlink ID

Example:

Show details for backlink abc123

upsertProjectBacklink

Create or update a project backlink.

Parameters:

• projectId (required): Project ID
• backlinkId (optional): Backlink ID for update
• resourceId (optional): Backlink resource ID (auto-populates backlinkUrl from resource)
• targetUrl (required for create): Target URL (the page you want backlinks to)
• backlinkUrl (optional): The URL where backlink is placed
• anchor (optional): Anchor text
• status (optional): Link status
• notes (optional): Additional notes

Example:

Add a new backlink to my project:
- Target URL: https://myapp.com
- Backlink URL: https://producthunt.com/posts/myapp
- Anchor text: "AI-powered tool"
- Status: submitted

Resource Management

Manage your backlink resource library - websites and directories where you can submit your projects.

listBacklinkResources

List available backlink resources (directories, forums, etc.) where you can submit your project.

Parameters:

• cursor (optional): Pagination cursor
• limit (optional): Max items (1-50)
• filter (optional): Object with filters:
  • type: Resource type (e.g., "guest_post", "directory")
  • payment: Payment type (e.g., "free", "paid")
  • drMin: Minimum Domain Rating
  • drMax: Maximum Domain Rating

Example:

Find high DR resources (DR > 50) where I can submit my project for free

getBacklinkResourceDetail

Get detailed information about a specific backlink resource, including submission instructions, DR, traffic, and notes.

Parameters:

• id (required): Backlink resource ID (from listBacklinkResources or discoverBacklinkOpportunities)

Example:

Get details for resource abc123 so I know how to submit my backlink

Response includes:

• Domain and submission URL
• Type and payment type
• howToSubmit: Natural language instructions for submitting backlinks
• submissionMethod: How to submit (e.g., "comment", "guest post")
• Domain metrics (DR, traffic, organic keywords, backlinks, referring domains)
• Notes and timestamps

Use case: When you want to submit a backlink to a specific resource, first get the resource details to understand how to submit (the howToSubmit field contains AI-friendly instructions).

discoverBacklinkOpportunities

Discover backlink submission opportunities for a project. Returns resources that have NOT been used yet, helping you find new places to submit backlinks.

Parameters:

• projectId (optional): Project ID to check available resources for
• domain (optional): Domain name (e.g., "example.com"). Use this as an alternative to projectId.
• cursor (optional): Pagination cursor
• limit (optional): Max items (1-50)
• filter (optional): Same filters as listBacklinkResources

Example:

Discover backlink opportunities for my SaaS project

Find backlink submission opportunities for domain lovemoney.app

addBacklinkResource

Add a new backlink resource to your personal database. Rejects if a resource with the same domain already exists.

Parameters:

• domain (required): Domain of the resource (e.g., "example.com"). Protocol and paths will be stripped automatically
• type (required): Resource type (blog, directory, forum, social, other)
• submissionUrl (optional): Full URL for submitting backlinks
• paymentType (optional): Payment type (free, paid, freemium). Default: free
• submissionMethod (optional): How to submit (e.g., "comment", "guest post", "profile link")
• howToSubmit (optional): Natural language instructions for AI agent on how to submit backlinks
• dr (optional): Domain Rating (0-100)
• traffic (optional): Estimated monthly traffic
• notes (optional): Additional notes about this resource

Example:

Add a new backlink resource:
- Domain: indiehackers.com
- Type: forum
- Payment: free
- DR: 70
- Notes: Great community for SaaS founders

Error Handling: If the domain already exists in your database, the tool will return an error with code duplicate_domain and include the existing resource ID.

updateBacklinkResource

Update an existing backlink resource. Only the fields provided will be updated. The domain cannot be changed.

Parameters:

• id (required): Resource ID to update (from listBacklinkResources)
• submissionUrl (optional): Full URL for submitting backlinks
• type (optional): Resource type (blog, directory, forum, social, other)
• paymentType (optional): Payment type (free, paid, freemium)
• submissionMethod (optional): How to submit (set to null to clear)
• howToSubmit (optional): Natural language instructions for AI agent (set to null to clear)
• dr (optional): Domain Rating 0-100 (set to null to clear)
• traffic (optional): Estimated monthly traffic (set to null to clear)
• notes (optional): Additional notes (set to null to clear)

Example:

Update the indiehackers.com resource:
- howToSubmit: "Go to /new, write your post, select appropriate group, and click Post"
- DR: 72
- Notes: Updated DR after recent domain growth

Response includes:

• Updated resource with all fields (id, domain, type, paymentType, submissionUrl, submissionMethod, howToSubmit, dr, traffic, notes, updatedAt)

Analytics

getProjectAnalytics

Get comprehensive analytics data for a project including search console metrics, traffic analytics, domain metrics, and backlink statistics.

Parameters:

• projectId (required): Project ID
• range (optional): Time range (30d or 90d)

Response Fields:

• domainMetrics: Domain Rating (DR), traffic, keywords count from RapidAPI
• searchAnalytics: Google Search Console data (clicks, impressions, CTR, avg position)
• trafficAnalytics: GA4 data (page views, sessions, users)
• backlinks: Backlinks added/failed in the time range
• connectedPlatforms: List of connected analytics platforms (GSC, GA4, etc.)
• lastSyncAt: Last analytics sync timestamp

Example:

Show me SEO analytics for my project over the last 30 days

Response Example:

{
  "searchAnalytics": {
    "clicks": 3929,
    "impressions": 23747,
    "ctr": 16.48,
    "avgPosition": 5.6
  },
  "backlinks": {
    "added": 536,
    "failed": 0
  }
}

Domain Research (Credits Required)

These tools allow you to research any domain's SEO metrics and backlinks. Credits are consumed on each successful API call.

getDomainMetrics

Query SEO metrics for any domain including DR, traffic, backlinks count, and more.

Parameters:

• domain (required): The domain to query (e.g., "example.com")

Cost: 1 credit per request

Example:

Get SEO metrics for competitor.com

Response includes:

• Domain Rating (DR, 0-100)
• Monthly organic traffic estimate
• Total backlinks count
• Organic keywords count
• Referring domains count
• Ahrefs Rank
• Traffic value (USD)

Data Source: RapidAPI SEO Metrics

discoverDomainBacklinks

Discover backlinks for any domain. Returns detailed backlink data with filtering options.

Parameters:

• domain (required): Target domain to find backlinks for
• mode (optional): Search mode - domain (default) or url
• dofollow (optional): Filter for dofollow links only
• minDR (optional): Minimum Domain Rating (0-100)
• anchorText (optional): Filter by anchor text (partial match)
• limit (optional): Max results (1-500, default: 100)

Cost: 10 credits per request

Example:

Find all dofollow backlinks with DR > 50 pointing to competitor.com

Response includes for each backlink:

• Source URL and domain
• Target URL
• Anchor text
• Dofollow status
• Domain Rating of source
• First seen / last seen dates

Data Source: DataForSEO Backlinks API

Web Scraping (Credits Required)

scrapeWebPage

Scrape a web page using Firecrawl and return structured content (markdown, HTML, metadata).

Parameters:

• url (required): The URL of the web page to scrape
• formats (optional): Output formats array. Defaults to ["markdown"]. Options: markdown, html, rawHtml, links, screenshot, screenshot@fullPage
• onlyMainContent (optional): Only return main content, excluding headers, navigation, footers. Defaults to true
• includeTags (optional): HTML tags to include (e.g., ["article", "main"])
• excludeTags (optional): HTML tags to exclude (e.g., ["nav", "footer"])
• waitFor (optional): Wait time in milliseconds for dynamic content (0-30000)
• timeout (optional): Request timeout in milliseconds (1000-60000). Defaults to 30000

Cost: 2 credits per request

Example:

Scrape the content from https://example.com/blog/article and return it as markdown

Response includes:

• markdown: Page content in markdown format
• html: Cleaned HTML content
• rawHtml: Original HTML content
• links: Array of links found on the page
• screenshot: Screenshot as base64 (if requested)
• metadata: Page metadata (title, description, OG tags, language, etc.)
• creditCost: Credits consumed
• creditBalance: Remaining credit balance

Use cases:

• Extract content from competitor pages for analysis
• Gather information for content research
• Collect data from product pages or directories
• Parse blog posts or articles for reference

Data Source: Firecrawl API

Use Cases

Daily SEO Workflow

Ask your AI assistant:

Generate a status report of all my projects with their backlink counts

Backlink Auditing

Check all pending links for my SaaS project and list which need attention

Finding Opportunities

Find websites with DR between 40-60 where I can submit guest posts

Bulk Operations

Add these backlinks to my project:
1. https://reddit.com/r/startups/my-post - anchor: "startup tools"
2. https://hackernews.com/item/123 - anchor: "new SaaS tool"

Building Your Resource Library

Add these backlink resources to my database:
1. indiehackers.com - forum type, DR 70, free
2. producthunt.com - directory type, DR 90, free
3. betalist.com - directory type, DR 60, freemium

Getting Resource Submission Instructions

Get the details for the IndieHackers resource so I know how to submit my project there

Updating Resource Information

Update the indiehackers.com resource with these details:
- howToSubmit: "Navigate to /new, write your post with at least 200 words, select a group, and click Post"
- DR: 72

Competitor Analysis

Get the DR and backlink stats for competitor.com to understand their SEO strength

Backlink Discovery

Find all dofollow backlinks with DR > 50 pointing to example.com

Web Scraping

Scrape the content from producthunt.com/posts/my-competitor and extract the main content as markdown

Get the links and metadata from this article: https://techcrunch.com/startup-news

OAuth 2.0 Architecture

The MyBacklinks MCP server implements OAuth 2.0 with these features:

Standards Compliance

• OAuth 2.1 with PKCE for enhanced security
• RFC 8414 Authorization Server Metadata discovery
• RFC 7591 Dynamic Client Registration
• RFC 8707 Resource Indicators

OAuth Endpoints

Security Features

• PKCE (S256): Protects against authorization code interception
• Dynamic Registration: No pre-shared client secrets needed
• Token Rotation: Refresh tokens are rotated on use
• Limited Scopes: Requests only mcp scope

Troubleshooting

Authentication Failed

If you see "Incompatible auth server" errors:

1. Ensure you're using the latest version of your AI client
2. Check that the MCP URL is correct: https://mybacklinks.app/mcp
3. Try removing and re-adding the MCP server

Token Expired

Your AI client should handle token refresh automatically. If issues persist:

1. Remove the MCP server from your client
2. Re-add it and complete the OAuth flow again

Connection Issues

Verify the server is accessible:

curl https://mybacklinks.app/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server

You should see JSON metadata including authorization_endpoint and token_endpoint.

API Rate Limits

The MyBacklinks MCP respects these rate limits based on your subscription:

• Free Tier: 100 requests/hour
• Pro Tier: 1,000 requests/hour
• Enterprise: Custom limits

Best Practices

1. Use Pagination: For large datasets, use cursor and limit parameters
2. Select Fields: Use the fields parameter in listProjectBacklinks to reduce response size
3. Batch Operations: Group related link updates in a single conversation
4. Check Status: Verify link status before taking action

Next Steps

• Create an account at mybacklinks.app
• Set up your first project
• Connect your AI assistant using the configuration above
• Start automating your backlink management!

Support

Need help? Reach out through:

• GitHub Issues: github.com/hekmon8/mybacklinks-tools/issues
• Email: support@mybacklinks.app

Happy automating! 🚀