ContextBolt SEO in Kiro (2026 Setup Guide)

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

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 returns what a rival ranks 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 mirrors to a ./seo-findings/ folder in your workspace as markdown, which sits naturally next to 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.

How to connect ContextBolt SEO to Kiro

1. Subscribe and get your MCP URL

   Subscribe to ContextBolt SEO ($35/month for 1,000 lookups). Your private MCP URL arrives by email and looks like https://seo.contextbolt.app/mcp/YOUR_TOKEN. Keep it private, like a password.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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 lookups.

Example prompts for ContextBolt SEO + Kiro

Once connected, try asking Kiro:

What you can do with ContextBolt SEO in Kiro