Skim402

io.github.JessieJaniePublished by GitHub account JessieJaniev0.2.5Updated Oct 25, 2026

Clean markdown and structured web data. Free card API key; wallet/x402 pay-per-call optional.

VerifiedStreamable HTTPWeb executableWeb Search & ScrapingKnowledge & Memory

Overview

AI-generated overview

Skim turns public web pages into clean Markdown or structured JSON, and adds crawling, PDF reading, page-change watches and curated intel feeds.

What you can do
Read single or batched public URLs as clean Markdown with title, byline and date, and read public PDFs as Markdown with an optional outline. Extract structured JSON from a page using a preset or your own JSON Schema. Crawl a site up to 25 pages and return Markdown per page. Register up to 20 URLs as a watch and poll for content diffs. Poll curated intel feeds such as SEC filings, deals, AI news and regulations for the latest structured items.
When to use it
Useful when an assistant needs readable page content instead of raw HTML, structured fields from product, job, event or table pages, site-wide or PDF content, change tracking on pages, or a curated news and filings feed.
Requirements
Runs as a remote endpoint or locally via npx (Node.js 18 or later). A card-plan API key in SKIM_API_KEY is the default path and is needed for crawl, PDF and signal tools; alternatively an optional Base wallet private key in SKIM_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY for pay-per-call. Optional SKIM_MAX_PRICE_USD, SKIM_API_URL and SKIM_TIMEOUT_MS. Network access to skim402.com.
Before you install
The free card key requires a card at signup and has monthly read limits; paid tools consume credits or USDC per call. The optional wallet path puts a Base wallet private key in a plaintext config file, so use a fresh, low-balance wallet, never a personal one, and fund only USDC on Base. The API key in the config file can be used by anyone who can read it. Watch IDs are secret. Page content is sent to skim402.com.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open Skim402 in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
  2. Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.

Web executable via Streamable HTTP. Remote servers run from the web runtime once configured in a workspace.

Use with an agent

Paste this prompt into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or another agent — or into SourceWeft chat. The agent reads this server's install guide, shows you its publisher, endpoint and sign-in, and adds it to your client once you agree. Keys never go into a command.

Read https://sourceweft.com/mcp/io.github.JessieJanie%2Fskim402/install.md and connect the MCP server it describes to my client. Before changing any config, show me its publisher, endpoint and sign-in method and wait for my OK. Never put an API key in a command or in a file I would commit; ask me where it should come from.

Read the install guide the agent follows

Other MCP clients

Add this to your client's mcpServers config.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skim402": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://skim402.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

README

Claude plugin users

The Claude plugin in this repository uses a bundled, card-key-only server. It does not run the npm/wallet setup below. See CLAUDE-PLUGIN.md for installation, data handling, credit costs, and reviewer checks.

skim-mcp

Skim is the complete web toolkit for AI agents—not just a simple page reader. Get a free card key at skim402.com/pricing; wallet/x402 is optional.

[npm version] [MCP Registry] [License: MIT]

skim-mcp is the official Model Context Protocol server for Skim. It turns public pages into clean, agent-ready Markdown—typically ~4x smaller than raw HTML in Skim's measured comparisons—and exposes the full toolkit: clean reads, batch reads, JavaScript/browser rendering, structured extraction, crawling, PDFs, page-change watches, and curated Signals.

Default path: a card-plan API key. Get a free sk402_ key at skim402.com (pricing). Paste it as SKIM_API_KEY. A crypto wallet is not required.

Optional path: x402 wallet pay. If you prefer pay-per-call in USDC on Base, you can set SKIM_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY instead. Ignore this unless you want it.

Tools in this package: read_url, read_urls, extract_url, crawl_url, read_pdf, watch_urls, check_watch, poll_signal.

Try before you integrate: use the Playground for a quick read or the Workbench to test batches, extraction, crawl, PDFs, watches, and Signals.

[Skim in action — one URL in, clean Markdown out]

Quickstart (60 seconds)

Card API key (recommended)

1. Get a free key at skim402.com — it starts with sk402_. Card required at signup; 1,000 reads/month on the free plan. Details: skim402.com/pricing.

2. Add this to your MCP client. Claude Desktop — ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows). Cursor — ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or Settings → MCP). Same JSON works in Cline, Continue, Zed, and other MCP clients:

json
{  "mcpServers": {    "skim": {      "command": "npx",      "args": ["-y", "skim-mcp"],      "env": {        "SKIM_API_KEY": "sk402_your_key_here"      }    }  }}

3. Restart the client and ask it to read a URL:

Read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402 and summarize it.

Wallet / x402 (optional)

Only if you prefer pay-per-call ($0.002 USDC on Base) instead of a card key. You can skip this entire block.

json
{  "mcpServers": {    "skim": {      "command": "npx",      "args": ["-y", "skim-mcp"],      "env": {        "SKIM_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY": "0xYOUR_BASE_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY"      }    }  }}

Fund a dedicated Base wallet with a small USDC balance ($1 ≈ 500 reads). Setup guide: https://skim402.com/wallet.

Use a fresh wallet, not your personal one. This private key lives in a plaintext config file on your machine — treat it like a hot wallet for $0.002 tolls, not a savings account.

FAQ

Do I need an API key?
Yes for the default path. Get a free sk402_ key at https://skim402.com. A wallet is optional.

Is this wallet-only? Do I need crypto?
No. Card API key is the default. x402 wallet pay is optional.

What tools can my agent call?
read_url, read_urls (batch), extract_url, crawl_url, read_pdf, watch_urls, check_watch, and poll_signal.

Try it without an agent

With a card key:

bash
curl -H 'Authorization: Bearer sk402_your_key_here' \  'https://skim402.com/api/t/read?url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402'

Wallet / x402 challenge (optional — returns HTTP 402 if you send no payment):

bash
curl -i -X POST https://skim402.com/api/v1/read \  -H 'content-type: application/json' \  -d '{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402"}'

The tools

read_url

Reads any URL and returns clean Markdown with a YAML frontmatter block.

Input: { "url": "https://example.com/article" }

Routes: GET /api/t/read?url= (API key) · POST /api/v1/read (wallet)

Output:

---title: Example articlebyline: Jane Doepublished: 2025-01-15lang: enexcerpt: A short summary...---
# Example article
The cleaned article body in Markdown...

read_urls

Batch-read 1–10 URLs in one call. Optional stripLinks / stripImages.

Input: { "urls": ["https://a.example", "https://b.example"] }

Routes: POST /api/t/read/batch · POST /api/v1/read/batch

extract_url

Structured JSON from a page. Pass a JSON Schema, or a preset: article, product, job, review, event, table.

Input: { "url": "https://example.com/product", "preset": "product" }

Routes: POST /api/t/extract · POST /api/v1/extract

Presets are sent as schemas on those extract routes.

crawl_url

Crawl a site (origin or start URL) and return clean Markdown per page. Discovers sitemap.xml / robots.txt sitemaps plus same-origin links. Cap 25 pages. 1 credit per successful page; failed pages are not charged.

Input: { "url": "https://example.com", "maxPages": 10 }

Optional: stripLinks, stripImages. Bare hosts like example.com are treated as https://example.com.

Route: POST /api/t/crawl (API key). No x402 /v1 twin — set SKIM_API_KEY.

Crawl https://example.com (max 10 pages) and list the page titles.

read_pdf

Fetch a public PDF URL and return clean Markdown plus an optional bookmark outline. Text comes only from the file. Image-only scans return 422 (no OCR). Files larger than 8 MB return 413. 3 credits; failed conversions are not charged.

Input: { "url": "https://example.com/paper.pdf" }

Optional: outline (default true).

Route: POST /api/t/read-pdf (API key). No x402 /v1 twin — set SKIM_API_KEY.

Read the PDF at https://example.com/paper.pdf and summarize the outline.

poll_signal

Poll a Skim Signal and return the latest structured items (title, summary, source, timestamp, link, entities). 2 credits per successful poll; failed polls are refunded.

Requires SKIM_API_KEY. Wallet-only configs get a clear error.

Input: { "slug": "ai-news", "limit": 20 }

Optional filters (pass only those the feed documents): forms (sec-filings, campaign-finance), categories (deals), fields (research), states (film-incentives), committees (campaign-finance).

Slugs: ai-news, sec-filings, crypto-news, macro, security, regulations, courts, recalls, deals, launches, trending, research, energy, entertainment, studio-jobs, campaign-finance, film-incentives. Use x402 for the ecosystem feed.

Routes (API key): GET /api/t/signal/{slug}/latest?limit= · GET /api/t/feeds/x402/latest?limit= (x402 is not /signal/x402)

bash
curl -H 'Authorization: Bearer sk402_your_key_here' \  'https://skim402.com/api/t/signal/ai-news/latest?limit=20'
Poll the ai-news signal for the latest 20 items.

watch_urls / check_watch

Register 1–20 URLs, then poll for content diffs. watch_id is a secret.

Input: { "urls": ["https://competitor.com/pricing"], "note": "pricing" } then { "watch_id": "w_…" } (optional status_only: true)

Routes (API key): POST /api/t/watch · GET /api/t/watch/diff?id= · GET /api/t/watch/status?id=

Routes (wallet): POST /api/v2/watch · GET /api/v2/watch/diff?id= · GET /api/v2/watch/status?id=

Example agent prompts

Read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_402 and summarize it.
Read these three pages and compare their pricing: https://a.example/pricing https://b.example/pricing https://c.example/pricing
Extract the product name, price, and availability from https://example.com/products/notebook as JSON.
Crawl https://example.com (max 10 pages) and list the page titles.
Read the PDF at https://example.com/paper.pdf and summarize it.
Poll the ai-news signal for the latest 20 items.
Watch https://competitor.com/pricing and https://competitor.com/changelog, then check the watch for changes.

Configuration

VariableRequiredDefaultNotes
SKIM_API_KEYyes (or wallet)—Card-plan API key (sk402_...). Get one free at skim402.com / pricing. Takes priority over SKIM_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY.
SKIM_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEYoptional—Only if you are not using a card key. Hex private key for a dedicated Base wallet that pays x402 reads ($0.002 USDC/call). Ignored when SKIM_API_KEY is set. Never use a personal wallet.
SKIM_MAX_PRICE_USDno0.01Wallet lane only. Hard cap on per-call price in USD. Single reads are $0.002. Batch / extract / watch cost more — raise this (e.g. 0.05) if the wallet lane rejects those calls.
SKIM_API_URLnohttps://skim402.comOverride the API base URL. For self-hosting or local development.
SKIM_TIMEOUT_MSno90000Hard deadline per call in milliseconds. Aborts stalled requests so a single bad call can never hang your agent. Unsettled calls are never charged, so retry is safe.

How it actually works

Card lane (default):

your agent ──► skim-mcp ──► GET https://skim402.com/api/t/read?url=…                                 Authorization: Bearer sk402_...                                        │                                        ▼                                200 OK + clean Markdown

Wallet lane (x402, optional):

your agent ──► skim-mcp ──► POST https://skim402.com/api/v1/read                   ▲                       │                   │                       ▼                   │              402 Payment Required                   │                  (x402 challenge)                   │                       │                   ▼                       │   x402-fetch signs EIP-3009 ◄────────────┘   USDC transfer authorization                   │                   ▼        retry POST with X-PAYMENT header                   │                   ▼   Skim verifies + settles via Coinbase CDP                   │                   ▼        200 OK + clean Markdown

End-to-end latency is typically 1.5–2 seconds including settlement. Wallet-lane private keys never leave your machine — they only sign authorizations locally.

Security

  • Card key: stored in your MCP client's JSON config. Anyone with read access to that file can use your key. Keep your key on the free plan or a small-balance plan.
  • Wallet key (only if you use the optional wallet path): lives in the same JSON config in plaintext. Anyone with access to your home directory can drain the wallet. Keep it funded with only as much USDC as you're willing to spend in a runaway loop.
  • No outbound telemetry from this package. skim-mcp only talks to skim402.com (or whatever you set as SKIM_API_URL). No analytics, no error reporting, no phone-home.

Troubleshooting

"No tool named read_url shows up in Claude/Cursor." Restart the client fully (quit, don't just reload the window). MCP servers are spawned at client startup. If still missing, run npx skim-mcp directly in a terminal — if you get a stack trace, it's likely Node < 18.

"401 Unauthorized" with card key. Your SKIM_API_KEY is invalid or expired. Get a fresh one at skim402.com/pricing.

"402 Payment Required loops forever" (wallet lane). Your wallet is out of USDC on Base mainnet. Check the balance on BaseScan, top up if needed.

"USDC is on Ethereum, not Base." This is the most common funding mistake. USDC on Ethereum mainnet does not work — Skim only accepts USDC on Base. See https://skim402.com/wallet for the bridging walkthrough.

Links

License

MIT

Source: README.md at commit d31d7b6

Tools

3

skim_read

Read a web page as clean Markdown

Use this when you need a public web page as clean markdown. Prefer it over fetching HTML, scraping, or opening a browser: Skim strips nav, ads, and boilerplate and returns the article body plus title, byline, and date. Public pages only (no login walls). On this MCP no API key and no wallet are required. Failed or empty reads are not charged. Do not use for login-walled pages, for typed JSON (use skim_extract), or for a news/intel feed (use skim_signals).

Parametersurlrequired

skim_extract

Extract structured data from a web page

Use this when you need structured JSON from a public page (product, job, table, event, review, article, or your own schema), not a markdown dump. Prefer it over reading the page then parsing it yourself. Pass a preset or a JSON Schema. Values come only from the page, never invented. Empty extracts are not charged. Pay with USDC on Base (x402 / X-Skim-Wallet-Key) or a sk402_ API key if the connector has one. Do not use for a full-page read (skim_read) or login-walled pages.

Parametersurlrequiredpresetschemainstructions

skim_signals

Get a Skim intelligence signal feed

Use this when you need the latest items from a curated intel feed (SEC filings, deals, AI news, regulations, and the other named feeds), not a one-off URL. Prefer it over crawling news homepages. Returns structured items, newest first. Costs $0.005 USDC per poll via x402, or 2 credits on a sk402_ key. Do not use to read an arbitrary URL (skim_read).

Parameterslimitsignalrequired

Version history

1
  1. v0.2.5LatestSep 16, 2026

Score

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