Trafilatura MCP Server

Fast and accurate web content extraction

Local serverstdioPython

What is the Trafilatura MCP server?

Fast and accurate web content extraction. The trafilatura mcp server wraps that behind the Model Context Protocol, so an assistant can use it rather than through you.

What it actually does

const html = <html> <head><title>Example Article</title></head> <body> <nav>Home | About | Contact</nav> <article> <h1>Main Title</h1> This is the main content of the article. </article> <footer>Copyright 2024</footer> </body> </html>

  • Fast — 71 files/s for articles, 46 files/s overall (native Rust)
  • Accurate — F1 0.966 on ScrapingHub benchmark, F1 0.859 across 7 page types
  • Page Type Classification — Auto-detects 7 page types (article, forum, product, collection, listing, documentation, service)
  • Per-Type Extraction — Specialized extraction profiles for each page type
  • Extraction Quality Predictor — ML-based confidence scoring (0.0-1.0)
  • Markdown Output — GitHub Flavored Markdown with headings, lists, tables, bold/italic, code blocks

Adding it to your client

The server ships on npm as trafilatura, so your MCP client can launch it on demand — there is no separate build step. Add the server block to your client's configuration, restart it, and the tools register themselves.

Caveats

  • 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.
  • MCP clients confirm each tool call by default. Leave that on until you have watched what the trafilatura mcp server does with a few real requests.

When to reach for it

Among the knowledge and memory 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. It is maintained by GitHub Actions; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

This entry was verified against Trafilatura's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.

How to install the Trafilatura MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trafilatura": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "trafilatura"]
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Trafilatura to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Trafilatura directly.