SparkToro MCP

Documentation

How to connect SparkToro to Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, Gemini, and any other MCP-compatible AI client. Setup walkthroughs, what to ask, what the data means, and what to do when something goes wrong.

Server URL: https://mcp.sparktoro.com/mcp Auth: OAuth 2.1 Transport: HTTP / Streamable

01Getting started

The SparkToro MCP server gives any MCP-compatible AI client access to SparkToro's audience research data. Once connected, your assistant can build audience reports, pull demographics, surface social accounts, and fetch any other section of a SparkToro report, all from a normal conversation.

Prerequisites

  • An active SparkToro account. The MCP signs you in with the same credentials you use on sparktoro.com.
  • An MCP-compatible client. We've tested with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT (Connectors), and Gemini CLI.
  • A modern OS. The MCP works over HTTPS, no local binary or install needed.

The 30-second version

  1. Add https://mcp.sparktoro.com/mcp as a new MCP server in your client.
  2. Click connect. Your client opens a browser window for OAuth.
  3. Sign in to SparkToro and approve the connection.
  4. Back in your AI client, ask: "Build me an audience of indie SaaS founders and tell me what podcasts they listen to."
Heads up

MCP server URLs and config formats are still evolving across clients. If a snippet below doesn't match what you see in your client's UI, check the client's official MCP documentation. The server URL stays the same.

02Setup by client

Pick the client you use. They all follow the same shape: add the server URL, click connect, sign in.

ChatGPT

Live in Apps

SparkToro is published in the ChatGPT Apps directory, so you do not need to configure a custom MCP server. Two ways to connect:

Option A — search the Apps directory

  1. Open ChatGPT and go to Apps.
  2. Search for SparkToro.
  3. Click Connect. ChatGPT opens an OAuth window for SparkToro.
  4. Sign in and approve. The app activates immediately and SparkToro tools are available in any new conversation.

Option B — open the app directly

  1. Visit the SparkToro app page in ChatGPT:
URL
https://chatgpt.com/apps/sparktoro/asdk_app_69f57526ae808191b4b1a6aed91b0e68
  1. Click Connect, sign in, and approve.
Heads up

ChatGPT app availability varies by region and plan tier. If the app does not appear when you search, your account may not yet have Apps enabled.

Claude Desktop

macOS · Windows
  1. Open Customize → Connectors.
  2. Click the + button at the top of the Connectors panel, then choose Add custom connector.
  3. Paste the server URL and save:
URL
https://mcp.sparktoro.com/mcp
  1. Click Connect on the new SparkToro entry. A browser window opens for OAuth.
  2. Sign in to SparkToro and approve the connection. The window closes automatically.
  3. Start a new conversation. The SparkToro tools appear in the tool picker.

Claude Code

CLI
  1. Run the add command:
shell
$ claude mcp add sparktoro https://mcp.sparktoro.com/mcp --transport http
  1. Run claude mcp connect sparktoro. A browser window opens for OAuth.
  2. Sign in and approve. Tokens are stored in the Claude Code config.
  3. Verify with claude mcp list. SparkToro should be marked connected.

Cursor

IDE
  1. Open Cursor Settings → Features → Model Context Protocol.
  2. Click Add New Server and enter:
json
{
  "name": "sparktoro",
  "transport": "http",
  "url": "https://mcp.sparktoro.com/mcp"
}
  1. Click the new server's connect button. OAuth runs in your browser.
  2. Tools become available to Cursor's chat once connected.

Gemini CLI

CLI
  1. Open your Gemini CLI settings file at ~/.gemini/settings.json.
  2. Add SparkToro to the mcpServers block:
json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sparktoro": {
      "httpUrl": "https://mcp.sparktoro.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
  1. Restart the Gemini CLI. On the next prompt, it will open a browser window for OAuth.
  2. Sign in to SparkToro and approve the connection. Tokens are stored in the Gemini CLI config.
  3. Run /mcp inside the CLI to confirm SparkToro is connected and its tools are listed.

03Authentication

The SparkToro MCP server uses standard OAuth 2.1 with PKCE. There's no API key to copy, paste, or rotate. Your MCP client handles the entire flow.

What happens when you click connect

  1. Your MCP client opens a browser window pointed at sparktoro.com.
  2. If you're not already signed in, you'll log in to SparkToro normally.
  3. You'll see a consent screen showing which client is requesting access.
  4. Click approve. SparkToro redirects back to your MCP client with an authorization code.
  5. Your client exchanges the code for an access token and refresh token, stored locally.

What you're granting

The MCP scope grants the connected client read access to SparkToro audience research on your behalf, plus the ability to create new audience reports. Tokens are scoped to your SparkToro account; the client cannot see other users' data.

Token lifetime

  • Access token: 24 hours.
  • Refresh token: 30 days, used silently by your client to get new access tokens.
  • Authorization code: 10 minutes, single-use.

Disconnecting

To revoke a client's access, sign in to SparkToro and visit your API dashboard. Find the client in the Connected Apps card and click Revoke. The client's access and refresh tokens are invalidated immediately. You can also remove the server in your MCP client; the next refresh will fail and the connection will go dormant.

04Available tools

Your MCP client already knows these because the server returns them via tools/list. This table is here so humans can scan what's available without inspecting the protocol.

Audience management

ToolWhat it does
create_reportBuild a new audience report from a natural-language description. Returns a report_id and an initial status.
get_report_statusCheck whether an in-progress report is ready. Used by clients to poll after create_report.
list_reportsList the audience reports tied to your account.

People & profile

get_demographicsAge, gender, seniority, company size, salary, and location breakdowns.
get_tamTotal addressable market — the estimated size of the audience.
get_bio_keywordsThe words your audience uses to describe themselves in their bios.

Channels

get_socialSocial accounts your audience follows and engages with.
get_networksWhich social networks the audience is most active on.
get_websitesWebsites your audience reads regularly.
get_pressPublications and press outlets your audience trusts.
get_new_podcastsPodcasts your audience subscribes to and downloads.
get_youtubeYouTube channels your audience watches.
get_redditSubreddits where your audience participates.

Behavior & intent

get_keywordsKeywords your audience searches for.
get_appsMobile and desktop apps your audience uses.
get_promptsPrompts your audience uses when talking to AI tools.

05Example prompts

Things to ask once you're connected. Each one stretches a different part of the toolset.

Build me an audience of indie SaaS founders who care about technical SEO. What podcasts do they listen to and what newsletters do they read?
Create a campaign brief for a meal-kit company targeting busy parents in their 30s. Pull in the demographics, top channels, and 3 ad creative directions.
I think our buyer is "fractional CMO." Validate that with a SparkToro audience and tell me which of these 5 personas actually overlap: performance marketer, brand strategist, SEO lead, designer, engineer.
Give me a list of 10 podcasts I should pitch to be a guest on. I'm an expert in AI for marketers. Sort by audience overlap.
My audience is "senior product designers at B2B SaaS companies." Generate a keyword list for Google Ads and tell me which subreddits to monitor for product feedback.
Compare two audiences for me: "indie game devs" vs. "AAA studio devs." What channels overlap and what's unique to each?
I have a podcast about climate tech. Pull the bio keywords for my audience so I can rewrite my show description in their language.
Build an audience of "vegan home cooks who follow plant-based nutrition creators" and tell me which YouTube channels and Instagram accounts to consider for sponsorship.

06Troubleshooting

Connection succeeds but no tools appear

Restart the AI client after connecting. Some clients only refresh the tool list at startup or on a manual reload. In Claude Desktop, quit and relaunch the app.

OAuth window closes immediately or shows an error

Make sure you're signed in to SparkToro in the same browser your MCP client opens. Pop-up blockers can also kill the OAuth window. Try the connect flow again with pop-ups allowed for sparktoro.com.

Tool calls return "unauthorized" after working earlier

Your access token has expired and the refresh token didn't renew. Disconnect the server in your MCP client, then reconnect. If the problem repeats, check whether the connection was revoked from SparkToro's connected apps settings.

create_report returns processing but the report never readies

Reports normally complete within 40 seconds. If get_report_status still returns processing after two minutes, the underlying job likely failed. Ask your AI to call create_report again. If the problem persists across multiple prompts, contact support with the failed report_id.

The model returns empty data for a section

The audience may not have enough signal for that section. Niche or very small audiences can have sparse demographics, podcast lists, or keywords. Try a broader prompt and rebuild the report.

Cold-path tool calls time out

The first call to a section that hasn't been pre-warmed can take longer than your client's default tool timeout. Ask your AI to retry the call once. The retry hits a populated cache and returns quickly.

I get rate-limited

Your account has a per-period usage limit. If you hit it, the server returns a JSON-RPC error and your AI will surface the message. Check your usage in the SparkToro dashboard.

07Privacy & data

What we log

  • The tool name and timestamp of each MCP call, tied to your account, for usage accounting.
  • The prompt text passed to create_report, so we can debug failures and improve the audience-building model.

What we don't log

  • The conversation context inside your AI client. We only see the tool calls themselves.
  • Any content from other MCP servers connected to the same client.
  • The responses your AI generates from our data.

Retention

Tool-call logs are retained for 90 days. create_report prompts and the resulting reports are retained for the lifetime of your account, so you can revisit past audiences. You can delete an audience report at any time from the SparkToro dashboard.

Account deletion

If you delete your SparkToro account, all your audience reports, MCP tokens, and associated logs are permanently removed within 30 days.

Full policy

For the complete SparkToro privacy policy, see sparktoro.com/privacy. For data handling questions specific to MCP, contact support@sparktoro.com.

Ready to connect?

Add SparkToro to your MCP client and start asking your AI about your audience.

See the overview