Connect AI agents (MCP)

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI assistants use external tools. Connect GetAppNiche’s MCP server and your assistant — Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-capable client — gets direct tools to query live iOS App Store data: app search, revenue and download estimates, keyword difficulty, and reviews. No copy-pasting CSVs into chat; you just ask questions in plain English and the AI pulls the numbers itself.

The server endpoint is:

https://api.getappniche.com/mcp

It speaks JSON-RPC 2.0 over Streamable HTTP and authenticates with your API key in the Authorization: Bearer header.

Setup in 3 steps

Create an account and an API key. Sign in (or create an account), then go to Settings → API Keys at app.getappniche.com/settings/api-keys. Click Create key, name it, and copy the secret — it’s shown once. Keys look like getappniche_....
Paste one config snippet into your AI client (exact snippets per client below), replacing YOUR_API_KEY with the key you copied.
Ask your AI a question. For example: “Which meditation apps grew fastest last month?” — the assistant calls the GetAppNiche tools and answers with live data.

Claude Code (CLI)

One command:

claude mcp add --transport http getappniche https://api.getappniche.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Then ask Claude Code anything about the App Store market — it will pick the right tool.

Claude Desktop

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json (Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config). It uses the small mcp-remote helper so your API key travels in the Authorization header (requires Node.js installed):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "getappniche": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "https://api.getappniche.com/mcp", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving, and the GetAppNiche tools appear in the tools menu.

Cursor

Create (or edit) .cursor/mcp.json in your project or home directory:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "getappniche": {
      "url": "https://api.getappniche.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Any other MCP client

Any client that supports Streamable HTTP works the same way: point it at https://api.getappniche.com/mcp and send the header Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY.

What the tools do

Each tool call costs credits (shown in every response as credits_charged):

Tool	Credits	What it does	Example prompt you’d type
`search_apps`	1	Search and filter iOS apps by category, keyword, revenue, downloads, rating, growth.	”Which meditation apps grew fastest last month?”
`get_app_detail`	1	Full profile of one app: estimates, ratings, keywords, metadata.	”Pull the details for Calm and summarize how it monetizes.”
`get_app_historicals`	1	Historical metric points for one app over time.	”How has this app’s rating count trended this year?”
`get_keyword_difficulty`	10	Score one ASO keyword for difficulty and opportunity.	”How hard is it to rank for ‘habit tracker’ in the US?”
`batch_keyword_difficulty`	10 per keyword	Score up to 10 keywords in one call.	”Score these 8 keyword ideas and rank them by opportunity.”
`get_app_reviews`	1	Pull review rows with sentiment and topic signals.	”What do users complain about most in this sleep app’s reviews?”
`get_supported_countries`	0	List supported country codes.	”Which countries can you score keywords for?”

You never call these by name — just ask a normal question and the assistant chooses the tools.

How credits work

Your plan includes 5,000 API credits per month, refreshed automatically each month.
Every MCP tool call returns credits_charged, so you always see what a request cost.
Check your balance and per-request history anytime at app.getappniche.com/settings.
Need more? Extra packs of 500 credits are available inside the app.

What happens when you hit a limit

Limits fail loudly, not silently — your assistant will see a clear error and can tell you what happened:

Out of credits (HTTP 402): the call is rejected with a clear message. Buy a credit pack in the app or wait for the monthly refresh.
Too many requests (HTTP 429): the rate limit is 60 requests per minute per API key. The response includes a Retry-After header; the assistant just needs to slow down and retry.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
`401 Unauthorized`	API key missing or mistyped	Check the key was pasted fully (it starts with `getappniche_`) and that the header reads `Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY`.
`402 Payment Required`	Out of credits, or your plan doesn’t include API access	Check your balance in Settings; top up with a credit pack or wait for the monthly refresh.
`429 Too Many Requests`	More than 60 requests/minute on one key	Slow down and respect the `Retry-After` header.
Tools don’t appear in the client	Client hasn’t reloaded the config, or the URL is wrong	Restart the client and double-check the URL is exactly `https://api.getappniche.com/mcp`.
`404 Not Found` on an app	Wrong `app_id` format	Use `{store}:{store_id}`, e.g. `apple:284882215`.

Rotating or revoking a key

Manage keys at app.getappniche.com/settings/api-keys — you can rotate or revoke any key at any time. If a key leaks, revoke it there and create a new one; the old key stops working immediately.

Prefer plain HTTP?

If you’d rather call the same data from scripts, spreadsheets, or automation tools instead of an AI assistant, use the REST API quickstart. For a summary of both options, see the API & MCP overview.