ToolRouter — the OpenRouter for tools

The OpenRouter for tools. One MCP connection gives any AI agent 250+ hosted tools, pay per call.

ToolRouter is the OpenRouter for tools. Connect once over MCP and your agent can discover and call 250+ hosted specialist tools: web search, scraping, image and video generation, SEO, finance, property, compliance and more. Free tools work immediately; paid tools are pay per call. Everything runs on the hosted gateway; nothing executes locally.

The compact routing surface costs an agent about 9,000 tokens of context for the whole catalog, versus roughly 257,000 tokens if every skill were loaded as its own tool (measured 2026-09-03; method and raw data at https://toolrouter.com/blog/mcp-tool-schema-token-cost).

Connect in one line

Hosted endpoint: https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp (streamable HTTP). No API key needed — the server provisions a free account on first connect and returns a claim link.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http toolrouter https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp

Claude (chat, Desktop, mobile)

Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector, name it ToolRouter, URL https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp/anthropic.

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "toolrouter": {
      "url": "https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "toolrouter": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Gemini CLI

Add to ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "toolrouter": {
      "httpUrl": "https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "toolrouter": {
      "serverUrl": "https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Any other MCP client that speaks streamable HTTP can use the same URL.

Local bridge (npm)

toolrouter-mcp is a stdio bridge to the same hosted gateway, plus a CLI. Use it where a client cannot take a remote URL.

Three ways to use it

1. MCP Server (for AI agents)

Run with no arguments to start an MCP stdio server. No API key needed — auto-provisions on first use:

npx -y toolrouter-mcp

2. CLI (for terminal workflows)

npx -y toolrouter-mcp tools                    # list all tools
npx -y toolrouter-mcp search "web scraping"    # search by keyword
npx -y toolrouter-mcp call seo analyze_page --url https://example.com
npx -y toolrouter-mcp help

3. REST API (direct HTTP)

# Get an API key (or use one from ~/.toolrouter/key after MCP setup)
curl -X POST https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/auth/provision

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"tool":"seo","skill":"analyze_page","input":{"url":"https://example.com"}}' \
  https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/call

Install the local bridge

Codex CLI

codex mcp add toolrouter -- npx -y toolrouter-mcp

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

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

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

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

OpenClaw

Add to openclaw.json:

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

Cline

Open MCP settings and add:

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

VS Code

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "toolrouter": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "toolrouter-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Gemini CLI

Add to your Gemini CLI settings:

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

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

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

API Key

No setup needed — toolrouter-mcp auto-provisions a free API key on first use and caches it to ~/.toolrouter/key. Free tools work immediately. For paid tools, visit the claim URL printed on first run to add credits.

To use an existing key instead: set TOOLROUTER_API_KEY=tr_live_xxx as an environment variable.

How It Works

This package serves two purposes from one binary:

• MCP mode (no args): Starts an MCP stdio server that proxies tools/list and tools/call to the ToolRouter API via Streamable HTTP.
• CLI mode (tools/search/call/help): Thin HTTP client that sends requests to the ToolRouter API and prints results. No local tool execution.

Both modes go through https://api.toolrouter.com — all processing happens on ToolRouter's infrastructure.

MCP Meta-Tools

When connected via MCP, your agent gets meta-tools for tool discovery, execution, async jobs, and full account management:

Discovery & execution:

Tool	Description
discover	Find tools by keyword, category, or * for all
use_tool	Execute a tool skill
job_get	Poll an async job's status and result
job_list	List recent async jobs
job_cancel	Cancel a running async job

Credits & billing:

Tool	Description
credits_balance	Get available credit balance
credits_usage	Usage breakdown and recent call history
top_up_credits	Add credits
subscription_manage	View or change your subscription
invoice_list	List invoices

API keys:

Tool	Description
key_create	Create a new API key
key_list	List API keys
key_delete	Permanently disable an API key

Credentials (BYOK):

Tool	Description
credential_save	Save your own provider API key
credential_list	List saved credentials
credential_delete	Remove a saved credential
credential_default	Set the default credential for a provider

Connectors & account:

Tool	Description
connector_add	Connect a SaaS account via OAuth
connector_list	List connected accounts
account_preferences	View and update account settings
feedback_review	Rate a tool

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
TOOLROUTER_API_KEY	Yes (for tool calls)	—	Your API key
TOOLROUTER_API_URL	No	https://api.toolrouter.com	Custom API endpoint

CLI Reference

Command	Auth Required	Description
tools	No	List all available tools
search <query>	No	Search tools by keyword
call <tool> <skill> [opts]	Yes	Call a tool skill
help	No	Show usage help

Input methods for call

# Flag-based (most common)
npx -y toolrouter-mcp call humanleap/seo analyze_page --url https://example.com

# JSON string
npx -y toolrouter-mcp call humanleap/web-search search --input '{"query":"MCP tools"}'

Requirements

• Node.js 22+

Links

• Website
• Connect / Setup Guide
• Browse Tools
• Documentation
• REST API
• Privacy Policy
• Terms

Privacy Policy

https://toolrouter.com/privacy

Support

support@toolrouter.com