AppNiche Server

Open-source Model Context Protocol server for iOS App Store market research with AppNiche. It gives Claude, Cursor, Codex, and other MCP clients four read-only tools for app discovery, directional revenue and download estimates, ASO keyword research, and review analysis.

This repository runs a local stdio bridge to the AppNiche REST API. AppNiche also provides a hosted Streamable HTTP MCP endpoint if your client supports remote servers directly.

Tools

Tool	What it does	Credits
search_apps	Search and filter iOS apps by keyword, category, rating, reviews, downloads, revenue, and sort order.	1
get_app_detail	Get metadata, ratings, and directional revenue and download estimates for one app.	1
get_keyword_difficulty	Score one iOS App Store keyword for difficulty and opportunity.	10
get_app_reviews	Fetch enriched review rows with sentiment and topic signals.	1

All tools are read-only and marked with MCP read-only annotations.

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or newer.
• An AppNiche API key from Settings > API Keys.

API and MCP access use the same credit pool. Current limits, pricing, and error behavior are documented in the API quickstart. Never commit an API key to source control.

Quick start

Run directly from GitHub with npx:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "appniche": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "github:skiffer/appniche-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "APPNICHE_API_KEY": "getappniche_replace_me"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or clone and build locally:

git clone https://github.com/skiffer/appniche-mcp-server.git
cd appniche-mcp-server
npm ci
npm run build
APPNICHE_API_KEY=getappniche_replace_me node dist/index.js

For a local clone, point your MCP client to node with the absolute path to dist/index.js and set APPNICHE_API_KEY in the server environment.

Docker is also supported:

docker build -t appniche-mcp-server .
docker run --rm -i \
  -e APPNICHE_API_KEY=getappniche_replace_me \
  appniche-mcp-server

Keep stdin open with -i; stdio carries the MCP JSON-RPC connection.

Hosted MCP alternative

Clients that support Streamable HTTP can use the hosted server without installing this bridge:

URL: https://api.getappniche.com/mcp
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Exact setup snippets for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and generic MCP clients are in the AppNiche MCP setup guide.

Development

npm install
npm test

npm test compiles the TypeScript project, tests API request and error behavior, starts the server over stdio, and verifies the published tool list. CI also builds the production Docker image.

Data caveats

Revenue and download values are modeled estimates derived from public App Store signals. Treat them as directional market intelligence, not accounting data. AppNiche currently covers the Apple App Store; this server does not claim Google Play coverage.

License

MIT