Point Cursor at https://mcp.scavio.dev/mcp with an x-api-key header and you can pull a full competitor report from agent mode without leaving the editor. One person on r/buildinpublic said they spent a week wiring up an MCP server just to do this; the hosted Scavio server skips that week. The MCP endpoint is the one Scavio surface that authenticates with x-api-key. Every REST endpoint uses Authorization: Bearer instead, so keep those two straight. This tutorial gets the server loaded in Cursor, then prompts the agent to fetch Google results and Reddit mentions for a competitor and assemble the summary.
Prerequisites
- Cursor installed with agent mode (Composer) available
- A Scavio API key — 50 free credits on signup, no card
- Basic comfort editing a JSON config file
Walkthrough
Step 1: 1. Get a Scavio API key
Sign up at scavio.dev and create a key from the dashboard. New accounts get 50 free credits, one-time, no card. A Google call at full SERP features costs 2 credits and a Reddit search costs 1, so a single competitor pull runs about 3 credits — the free tier covers a dozen reports before you pay anything. Copy the key; you will paste it into the Cursor config in the next step.
Step 2: 2. Add the hosted MCP server to Cursor
Open Cursor settings, go to MCP, and edit mcp.json. Add the Scavio server pointing at the remote URL with your key in the x-api-key header. This is the exception worth memorizing: the MCP server uses x-api-key, not Bearer. Paste this block and swap in your real key.
{
"mcpServers": {
"scavio": {
"url": "https://mcp.scavio.dev/mcp",
"headers": {
"x-api-key": "YOUR_SCAVIO_API_KEY"
}
}
}
}Step 3: 3. Restart Cursor and confirm the tools load
Restart Cursor so it reconnects to the MCP server. Open the MCP panel in settings; the Scavio entry should show a green dot and a list of tools — google, reddit_search, youtube_search, amazon_product, and more. If it stays red, the usual cause is a wrong header name (Bearer instead of x-api-key) or a key with no credits left. Fix the header, save, restart again.
Step 4: 4. Prompt Cursor in agent mode
Open Composer in agent mode and type a plain-language request. The agent reads the tool list and decides which Scavio tools to call. Example prompt:
Pull the top 10 Google results and the recent Reddit mentions for Linear (the project management tool). Summarize how they position themselves, what people praise, and what they complain about.Step 5: 5. Let the agent assemble the report
The agent calls the google tool for the top 10 organic results, then the reddit_search tool for community mentions, reads both responses, and writes a structured summary into the chat. You can follow up in the same thread — ask it to compare two competitors, or to pull YouTube reviews with the youtube_search tool — without re-running any setup. Each tool call spends credits from the same key. One practical note: the agent decides how many tools to call, so a vague prompt can trigger more calls (and more credits) than you expected. Name the tools you want and the result count, like top 10 and recent mentions, and it stays predictable. Reddit mentions are where the real positioning leaks out — marketing copy tells you how a competitor wants to be seen, but the complaint threads tell you where they actually lose deals.
Python Example
import os, requests
KEY = os.environ["SCAVIO_API_KEY"]
HEADERS = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {KEY}"} # REST uses Bearer, not x-api-key
COMPETITOR = "Linear project management"
# Google SERP, full features (2 credits)
google = requests.post(
"https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/google",
headers=HEADERS,
json={"query": COMPETITOR, "light_request": False},
).json()
# Reddit mentions (1 credit)
reddit = requests.post(
"https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/reddit/search",
headers=HEADERS,
json={"query": COMPETITOR},
).json()
organic = google.get("organic", [])[:10]
print("Top results:")
for r in organic:
print("-", r.get("title"), r.get("link"))
print("\nReddit mentions:")
for p in reddit.get("results", [])[:10]:
print("-", p.get("title"))JavaScript Example
const KEY = process.env.SCAVIO_API_KEY;
const HEADERS = {
"Authorization": `Bearer ${KEY}`, // REST uses Bearer, not x-api-key
"Content-Type": "application/json",
};
const COMPETITOR = "Linear project management";
// Google SERP, full features (2 credits)
const google = await fetch("https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/google", {
method: "POST",
headers: HEADERS,
body: JSON.stringify({ query: COMPETITOR, light_request: false }),
}).then((r) => r.json());
// Reddit mentions (1 credit)
const reddit = await fetch("https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/reddit/search", {
method: "POST",
headers: HEADERS,
body: JSON.stringify({ query: COMPETITOR }),
}).then((r) => r.json());
console.log("Top results:");
for (const r of (google.organic || []).slice(0, 10)) {
console.log("-", r.title, r.link);
}
console.log("Reddit mentions:");
for (const p of (reddit.results || []).slice(0, 10)) {
console.log("-", p.title);
}Expected Output
Competitor: Linear (project management)
Positioning (from Google top 10):
- Markets itself as the issue tracker built for speed and keyboard-first workflows
- Targets engineering teams that find Jira slow
What people praise (from Reddit):
- Fast UI, clean keyboard shortcuts, opinionated defaults
Common complaints (from Reddit):
- Limited custom reporting; pricing jumps at larger seat counts
Sources: 10 organic results + 8 Reddit threads. Spend: ~3 credits.