# FreshlyCited API & MCP docs

FreshlyCited asks Google to crawl your new and updated pages and backlinks, re-checks them on day 1, 3 and 7, and shows you which ones Google has indexed. Google sets the pace; a link still not indexed after day 7 gets its credit back. Everything in the app is available to AI agents through an **MCP server** and to your own code through a **REST API**: run visibility checks, push the links Google can't see, notify Bing through IndexNow, and share before/after reports.

Being crawled and indexed is the first step to showing up in search results and AI answers. FreshlyCited can't guarantee indexing, rankings or AI citations; it makes the request and reports exactly what the checks find.

## Start here

1. [Quickstart](https://freshlycited.com/docs/quickstart): connect a client and run your first check in about five minutes.
2. Pick your client: [Claude Code](https://freshlycited.com/docs/clients/claude-code), [Claude Desktop](https://freshlycited.com/docs/clients/claude-desktop), [Claude.ai](https://freshlycited.com/docs/clients/claude-ai), [ChatGPT](https://freshlycited.com/docs/clients/chatgpt), [Cursor](https://freshlycited.com/docs/clients/cursor), [VS Code](https://freshlycited.com/docs/clients/vscode) or [Windsurf](https://freshlycited.com/docs/clients/windsurf).
3. Ask your agent to call `get_started`. It reads your account and suggests the next step.

## Endpoints

| What | URL |
| --- | --- |
| MCP server (Streamable HTTP) | `https://freshlycited.com/mcp` |
| REST API | `https://freshlycited.com/api/v1` |
| OpenAPI 3.1 spec | [https://freshlycited.com/openapi.json](https://freshlycited.com/openapi.json) |
| These docs as one text file | [https://freshlycited.com/llms-full.txt](https://freshlycited.com/llms-full.txt) |

Every docs page also has a Markdown version: add `.md` to its URL, for example [/docs/quickstart.md](https://freshlycited.com/docs/quickstart.md).

## What you can do

- **Visibility checks** (`check_index`): ask whether Google shows each URL (1 check credit per URL; Live checks 5).
- **Pushes** (`submit_index_job`): get URLs crawled. Each URL reserves 1 index credit, used only if Google indexes it: we re-check on day 1, 3 and 7 and give the credit back automatically if it isn't indexed by day 7. A free pre-flight flags 404s, noindex, robots.txt blocks, redirects and canonicals pointing elsewhere before anything is reserved. With `smart: true` FreshlyCited checks first (1 check credit per URL) and only pushes the ones Google doesn't show yet.
- **Bing & Copilot via IndexNow**: verify your site once and every push also notifies Bing, Copilot and the other IndexNow engines, free ([IndexNow API docs](https://freshlycited.com/docs/indexnow)).
- **Proof**: automatic re-checks on day 1, 3 and 7 (credit back if a link still isn't indexed after day 7), a before/after visibility lift, CSV export and a [shareable client report](https://freshlycited.com/docs/recipes/share-client-report).
- **Agencies**: client workspaces, credit allocation, members and per-client API keys.

The full list of 49 tools is in the [MCP tool reference](https://freshlycited.com/docs/tools), generated from the live server.

## Authentication in one paragraph

Scripts and most MCP clients use an **API key** (`Authorization: Bearer ipk_…`), created under **API keys** in the app. Claude.ai, ChatGPT and other connectors use **OAuth 2.1**: you sign in to FreshlyCited, pick a workspace and access level, and the app gets a short-lived token. Details: [Authentication](https://freshlycited.com/docs/authentication) and [Rate limits](https://freshlycited.com/docs/rate-limits).


---
Source: https://freshlycited.com/docs