An MCP connects a live service to Claude once, and it stays connected in every chat after. Add each of these with a single line. A couple need a free API key, noted below. Then “search it, scrape it, structure it, build it, ship it” becomes one sentence.
1 · Exa AI search that reads pages
Replaces: a paid research/search tool
claude mcp add exa -- npx -y exa-mcp-server
Key: free EXA_API_KEY from exa.ai (set EXA_API_KEY in the command's env)
Prompt: “Use Exa to research <topic>. Read the top sources and give me the 5 key facts with links.”
2 · Apify 5,000 ready-made scrapers
Replaces: your web-scraping subscription
claude mcp add apify -- npx -y @apify/actors-mcp-server
Key: free APIFY_TOKEN from apify.com (set APIFY_TOKEN in env)
Prompt: “Use Apify to scrape <site> and return the listings as clean JSON.”
3 · Unstructured Ugly docs to clean data
Replaces: a $100s/mo document-parsing service
claude mcp add unstructured -- uvx uns-mcp
Key: free UNSTRUCTURED_API_KEY from unstructured.io (set in env)
Prompt: “Run this PDF through Unstructured and give me the tables as structured data.”
4 · Magic (21st.dev) Describe UI, get real React
Replaces: a paid UI component kit
claude mcp add magic -- npx -y @21st-dev/magic@latest
Key: free API key from 21st.dev/magic (set in env)
Prompt: “/ui a pricing card with three tiers and a highlighted middle plan.”
5 · Context7 Current docs for any library
Replaces: debugging against dead APIs
claude mcp add context7 -- npx -y @upstash/context7-mcp
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