ContextBolt SEO in Kiro (2026 Setup Guide)

One entry in .kiro/settings/mcp.json, and Kiro answers with live search data.

7-day free trial · then $35/mo · 1,000 credits

SEO MCP server for Claude, Cursor & Codex Kiro · ContextBolt connected live data

What should I write next?

Used keyword_research

email marketing toolsKD 49 · 4,400/mo

email automationKD 31 · 2,900/mo

welcome email examplesKD 22 · 1,600/mo

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It connects in 3 minutes.

Connect your ContextBolt account For OAuth, add https://seo.contextbolt.app/mcp and complete sign-in with your SEO account email and email code, then allow access. If your client cannot complete OAuth, follow the personal-URL compatibility steps on this page. Get that private URL from your ContextBolt SEO welcome email. Use one connection method.

Pick workspace or user config Create .kiro/settings/mcp.json in your project for a per-project setup, or ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json in your home directory to make it available everywhere. Workspace config wins where both define the same server, which is handy for pointing different projects at different tools.

Personal-URL setup: Add the server under mcpServers Add contextbolt-seo with your MCP URL. Kiro supports remote HTTP and SSE servers natively, so no bridge is needed. Values can use ${ENV_VAR} syntax, which lets you keep the token in your environment rather than in a file you might commit.

Personal-URL setup: Confirm the tools and connect Search Console Reload Kiro, open the agent, and ask 'what SEO tools do you have?'. Then ask 'connect my Google Search Console' and approve read-only access to read your real clicks, positions, and quick wins. The Search Console tools are free and never spend your monthly credits.

The guide covers every client and the compatibility options. The full setup guide

Then ask it something real.

“Before we spec this page, what should it target and who ranks?” Chains keyword_research and serp_overview so the search target becomes part of the spec rather than an afterthought.

“How hard is 'spec driven development' to rank for?” Calls keyword_difficulty and returns a score plus the referring domains you would realistically need to compete.

“What does our competitor rank for that we don't cover?” Runs competitor_keywords to find the rivals, then ranked_keywords on your site and theirs, and the gap slots straight into a spec as a set of pages to build.

“Audit the page we just shipped and list what to fix” Calls page_audit against the live URL and returns title, heading, and internal-link issues as a working checklist.

What it can do in Kiro.

Run keyword research in plain English inside Kiro

Fold search targets into a spec before any code is written

Score how hard a keyword is to rank for

See who ranks in Google's top 10 for any query

Find the keywords a competitor already ranks for

Spot backlink gaps: who links to rivals but not you

Connect your own Google Search Console, read-only and free

Get a private SEO Dashboard that fills itself with your research, free

The longer story.

Kiro is built around spec-driven development: you describe what you are building, the agent works from that written spec, and the spec stays as the record of why the thing exists. That makes it an unusually good fit for SEO research, because search intent is exactly the kind of decision that belongs in a spec rather than in someone’s memory.

Kiro supports remote MCP servers natively over HTTP, so ContextBolt SEO connects with a single config entry and no local proxy.

Put the search target in the spec

Most teams decide what a page should rank for after it is built, if at all. With the SEO tools connected, the question moves to the front: you ask what the page should target and who currently owns that query, and the answer goes into the spec alongside everything else the agent is working from.

The result is that the draft gets written against a real query, and six months later you can still see which target it was built for and why.

The .kiro/settings/mcp.json entry

Use https://seo.contextbolt.app/mcp and complete the browser sign-in if your client supports remote MCP with OAuth. Enter your SEO account email and email code, then allow the connection. For a client that cannot complete that flow, use the personal-URL compatibility configuration shown here. Copy the full private URL from your ContextBolt SEO welcome email and replace the example URL with it.

Workspace config lives at .kiro/settings/mcp.json inside the project. User config lives at ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json and applies everywhere. Where both define the same server name, the workspace file wins:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contextbolt-seo": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "${CONTEXTBOLT_SEO_MCP_URL}"
    }
  }
}

Kiro supports ${ENV_VAR} substitution in config values, which is the cleanest way to handle this. Put the full MCP URL in an environment variable and the file you commit carries no secret. If you would rather paste the URL inline, add the config to .gitignore instead, because your token sits in the URL path.

Check the CLI separately

Kiro ships both an IDE and a CLI, and they have not always read MCP configuration from the same place. Users have hit cases where a server configured in the IDE does not appear in the CLI at all.

If you use both, configure both, and confirm with “what SEO tools do you have?” in each. Assuming they share a config is a good way to lose twenty minutes.

Working patterns

Research at spec time: ask for keyword ideas and difficulty before the spec is agreed, so the target is a decision rather than a guess.

Turn gaps into work: competitor_keywords finds the rivals, and ranked_keywords on your site and theirs shows what they rank for and you do not. That list converts directly into specs.

Audit after shipping: point page_audit at the deployed URL and work the returned fix list.

Every lookup lands on your SEO Dashboard, a private page you can open beside Kiro’s specs. The full tour of tools is in the ContextBolt SEO guide, and the background on how an SEO MCP server works is a useful ten minutes first.

Common questions.

Where does the Kiro MCP config live?

Two places, and you can use both. Workspace config sits at .kiro/settings/mcp.json inside the project. User config sits at ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json in your home directory and applies everywhere. Where both define the same server name, the workspace file wins, so a project can override a global default.

Does Kiro need a bridge for remote servers?

No. Kiro supports remote MCP servers natively over HTTP and SSE, with a url field and an optional headers block. That puts it ahead of editors like Zed, which still need mcp-remote as a local proxy for hosted servers.

How do I keep my token out of the repo?

Use the ${ENV_VAR} substitution Kiro supports in config values. Put your MCP URL in an environment variable and reference it from mcp.json, so the file you commit carries no secret. If you would rather paste the URL inline, add .kiro/settings/mcp.json to .gitignore instead.

Does the CLI share this config with the IDE?

Not always, and it is worth checking. Kiro's CLI and IDE have historically read MCP configuration from different locations, and users have hit cases where a server configured in one does not appear in the other. If the tools load in the IDE but not the CLI, configure both rather than assuming they share.

Where does my research get saved?

To your ContextBolt account, and it shows up on your SEO Dashboard, a private page that fills itself as you work. It is one URL, so the research follows you between machines and between agents instead of living in one project folder. Saving is free and never counts against your 1,000 monthly credits.

How many credits does a question cost?

Research tools cost one credit each. Backlink tools cost three each. The plan includes 1,000 a month, top-ups never expire, and checking your balance is free.

ContextBolt SEO in Kiro (2026 Setup Guide)

It connects in 3 minutes.

Then ask it something real.

What it can do in Kiro.