Nyt MCP Server

A MCP Server

Local serverstdioTypeScript

What is the Nyt MCP server?

Nyt MCP server exists for a simple reason — assistants are far more useful when they can act on Nyt directly instead of describing what you should do. A MCP Server.

What you get

This is a TypeScript-based MCP server that allows searching for New York Times articles from the last 30 days based on a keyword. It demonstrates core MCP concepts by providing:

What the assistant can call

Once Nyt is connected, these are the calls the assistant has available:

  • search_articles — Search NYTimes articles from the last 30 days based on a keyword
  • Tools — The Tools tool exposed by this server
  • Debugging — Since MCP servers communicate over stdio, debugging can be challenging. We recommend using the [MCP

Configuration and credentials

You will need one environment variable: NYTIMES_API_KEY. The server will not start without them, which is usually why the tools fail to appear on a first run. Keep credentials in your client's env block or a secrets manager rather than in a file you might commit.

Setting it up

Installation goes through your MCP client rather than a global install: point it at @smithery/cli on npm and it is fetched when the client starts. The copy-paste blocks for Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor are further down this page.

Choosing this one

Among the developer tooling options, the useful question is rarely "what can it do" but "what does it cost you to run" — permissions, credentials, and how much of your context its toolset consumes. Nyt's toolset — search_articles, Tools, Debugging — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by angheljf; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

SyncDev reviews every entry in this directory against the project's own documentation before publishing, and revisits them as servers change.

Before you rely on it

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
  • MCP clients confirm each tool call by default. Leave that on until you have watched what the nyt mcp server does with a few real requests.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
search_articlesSearch NYTimes articles from the last 30 days based on a keyword
ToolsThe Tools tool exposed by this server.
DebuggingSince MCP servers communicate over stdio, debugging can be challenging. We recommend using the [MCP Inspector](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector), which is available as a package script:

How to install the Nyt MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nyt": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@smithery/cli"],
      "env": {
        "NYTIMES_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.

Configuration

VariableDescriptionRequired
NYTIMES_API_KEYCredential the server authenticates with.Yes

Example prompts to try

  • Use Nyt to search articles.
  • Use Nyt to Tools.
  • Use Nyt to Debugging.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Nyt to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 3 tools (search_articles, Tools, Debugging) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Nyt directly.