---
title: "Use the free MCP preview"
description: "Connect one pinned site, ask useful Search Console questions, and work deliberately within the preview’s row and call limits."
canonical: "https://crawlraven.com/docs/mcp-free-preview"
markdown: "https://crawlraven.com/docs/mcp-free-preview.md"
product: "CrawlRaven v2"
last_verified: "2026-08-19"
---

# Use the free MCP preview

> Connect one pinned site, ask useful Search Console questions, and work deliberately within the preview’s row and call limits.

This guide documents current CrawlRaven v2 behavior. UI labels are written exactly where relevant. Bounded Search Console rows are evidence, not guaranteed exhaustive totals.

## Check what the free preview includes

Eligible free accounts can use the MCP preview while it is enabled for their account. An owner or member must have activated at least one site before approving a connection. The preview is an account-specific experiment, so it may not appear on every free account.

| Boundary | Free preview behavior |
| --- | --- |
| Website | One activated website, pinned for the account. |
| Search performance | A fixed 28-day current period with the preceding 28 days used for comparison. |
| List results | Up to 50 Query, Page, Opportunity, or Target Keyword rows, with no pagination. |
| Daily allowance | 20 tool calls shared by every user, client, and grant on the account; resets at 00:00 UTC. |
| Timeline | Annotations and the list_annotations tool are not included. |

The seven available tools are `list_websites`, `get_website_overview`, `get_search_performance`, `list_queries`, `list_pages`, `list_opportunities`, and `list_target_keywords`. They are read-only.

## Connect and pin the preview site

1. **Open MCP connections** — From the CrawlRaven account menu, open MCP connections and confirm that the free preview is available.
2. **Copy the server endpoint** — Add https://mcp.crawlraven.com/mcp as a remote Streamable HTTP server in a compatible client.
3. **Complete browser sign-in** — Choose the intended CrawlRaven account and review the requested read scopes.
4. **Choose the activated site** — The first approved free grant pins this website for the entire account.
5. **Start with list_websites** — Confirm the pinned site and let the client use its website_id for later tools.

> **A free preview website cannot be switched:** Revoking or reconnecting a free grant does not choose another website. Upgrade and reconnect for account-wide paid access if you need to work with a different site.

## Use the 20 daily calls deliberately

The allowance counts tool calls, not chat messages. One broad prompt can cause an agent to call several tools, so start with a tightly scoped question and ask for follow-up evidence only when the first answer needs it.

| Goal | Prompt that fits the preview |
| --- | --- |
| Headline check | Use my pinned site. Summarize the last 28 days against the preceding period in three bullets. |
| Page losses | Show the 10 returned pages that lost the most clicks in the 28-day comparison and explain the largest three changes. |
| Current backlog | Show the five highest-priority active opportunities and turn their recommended actions into a checklist. |
| Target plan | List targeted keywords with no planned URL and group them by intent. |

Browse copyable examples for founders, SEO specialists, agencies, content teams, and developers in [Prompts by role](/docs/mcp#roles).

- Name the site once and ask the client to keep using it for the rest of the conversation.
- Use an overview when you need totals; request daily performance only when the shape of a change matters.
- Add query text for Query or Target Keyword rows, and a URL fragment for Page rows.
- Avoid asking the agent to retrieve “everything.” The preview cannot continue past its first bounded result page.

> **Fifty rows are not the whole property:** Search Console can omit anonymized queries, and CrawlRaven starts from a bounded provider corpus. A term absent from the returned rows is unknown, not proven to have zero impressions.

## Recover from limits or upgrade

- **Limit reached:** Wait until 00:00 UTC. The 20 calls are shared across the account, not reserved per client.
- **Wrong website:** Use list_websites to confirm the pinned site. A new free grant cannot change it.
- **Missing timeline tool:** list_annotations requires full access and is intentionally absent from free consent.
- **Connection expired:** Start a new browser authorization. CrawlRaven grants expire after 90 days.

> **Reconnect after upgrading:** An existing free grant does not silently gain paid scopes, wider periods, pagination, or access to other sites. Reconnect the client after upgrading and approve the full grant.

For setup and revocation, see [Connect an AI client with MCP](/docs/mcp-connections). For exact tool parameters and errors, use the [MCP server reference](/docs/mcp).