mcp-writer-substack MCP Server

What does “mcp-writer-substack” MCP Server do?

The mcp-writer-substack MCP Server acts as a bridge between AI assistants (like Claude) and Substack writings. By leveraging the Model Context Protocol (MCP), this server enables AI clients to access and utilize content from Substack newsletters and articles within their workflows. This enhances the capabilities of AI assistants, allowing them to retrieve, summarize, and analyze Substack publications, which can be particularly valuable for research, content curation, or automated writing assistance. The integration streamlines tasks such as fetching recent articles, extracting key points, or referencing Substack content directly within AI-powered environments, making development workflows more efficient and context-aware.

List of Prompts

No explicit prompt templates were found in the repository files.

List of Resources

• Substack Articles
  Exposes recent or relevant articles from specified Substack newsletters, allowing clients to fetch content for use as LLM context.
• Newsletter Metadata
  Provides metadata about Substack newsletters, such as titles, authors, and publication dates.
• Article Summaries
  (Inferred from context) Offers summaries or extracted highlights for given Substack articles, enabling concise context delivery.

List of Tools

• writer_tool.py
  Implements functionality to retrieve and handle Substack articles and related data, exposing these abilities as MCP tools for clients.
  (The specific tool names and signatures are not detailed in the repo structure, but the script name and context suggest these actions.)

Use Cases of this MCP Server

• Content Research and Summarization
  Developers can use the server to fetch and summarize Substack articles, streamlining research and knowledge gathering.
• Newsletter Monitoring
  Automatically track new publications from specific Substack newsletters and surface them within AI assistants or dashboards.
• Content Curation
  Aggregate and filter Substack articles based on topics or keywords for curated digests or reports.
• Reference Extraction
  Extract key references or notable excerpts from Substack content for citation or further analysis.
• Automated Writing Assistance
  Leverage Substack articles as inspiration or sources when drafting blog posts or newsletters with AI assistance.

How to set it up

Windsurf

1. Install prerequisites (ensure Python and Node.js are installed).
2. Clone the repository and install dependencies:

   git clone https://github.com/jean-technologies/mcp-writer-substack.git
   cd mcp-writer-substack
   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

3. Edit your Windsurf configuration file to add the MCP server:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "substack-writer": {
         "command": "python",
         "args": ["writer_tool.py"]
       }
     }
   }
   

4. Save the configuration and restart Windsurf.
5. Verify the MCP server is running and accessible.

Claude

1. Install Python and clone the repository.
2. Follow the example configuration from claude_desktop_config.example.json:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "substack-writer": {
         "command": "python",
         "args": ["writer_tool.py"]
       }
     }
   }
   

3. Place configuration in the appropriate Claude config file.
4. Restart Claude to load the new MCP server.
5. Test integration by issuing a relevant command.

Cursor

1. Ensure dependencies (Python, Node.js) are installed.
2. Clone and install as above.
3. Edit Cursor’s MCP configuration:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "substack-writer": {
         "command": "python",
         "args": ["writer_tool.py"]
       }
     }
   }
   

4. Save and reload Cursor.
5. Confirm MCP server is working.

Cline

1. Set up Python environment and fetch the repository.
2. Modify Cline config to include the MCP:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "substack-writer": {
         "command": "python",
         "args": ["writer_tool.py"]
       }
     }
   }
   

3. Apply configuration and restart Cline.
4. Check for proper server operation.

Securing API Keys

To secure API keys or other secrets, use environment variables in your configuration. Example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "substack-writer": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["writer_tool.py"],
      "env": {
        "SUBSTACK_API_KEY": "${SUBSTACK_API_KEY}"
      },
      "inputs": {
        "newsletter_url": "https://yournewsletter.substack.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Set your environment variables securely in your operating system or deployment environment.

How to use this MCP inside flows

Using MCP in FlowHunt

To integrate MCP servers into your FlowHunt workflow, start by adding the MCP component to your flow and connecting it to your AI agent:

Click on the MCP component to open the configuration panel. In the system MCP configuration section, insert your MCP server details using this JSON format:

{
  "substack-writer": {
    "transport": "streamable_http",
    "url": "https://yourmcpserver.example/pathtothemcp/url"
  }
}

Once configured, the AI agent is now able to use this MCP as a tool with access to all its functions and capabilities. Remember to change “substack-writer” to whatever the actual name of your MCP server is and replace the URL with your own MCP server URL.

Overview

Based on the tables, mcp-writer-substack is a specialized MCP server with clear resource and tool exposure, but lacks explicit prompt templates and sampling/roots information. It is straightforward to set up and valuable for content-centric workflows. My rating for this MCP server would be 6/10 due to its focused scope and decent documentation, but missing some advanced MCP features.

MCP Score