How to integrate Semrush MCP with Claude Agent SDK

This guide walks you through connecting Semrush to the Claude Agent SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Semrush agent that can show top anchor texts for example.com, compare backlink profiles for three domains, get keyword overview for 'organic coffee' through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your Claude Agent SDK agent real control over a Semrush account through Composio's Semrush MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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Semrush is a leading SEO tool suite for keyword research, competitor analysis, and campaign tracking. It empowers marketers to improve search rankings and optimize online visibility.

37 Tools

Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Semrush to the Claude Agent SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Semrush agent that can show top anchor texts for example.com, compare backlink profiles for three domains, get keyword overview for 'organic coffee' through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Claude Agent SDK agent real control over a Semrush account through Composio's Semrush MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your Claude/Anthropic and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Semrush
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Semrush as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Semrush operations

What is Claude Agent SDK?

The Claude Agent SDK is Anthropic's official framework for building AI agents powered by Claude. It provides a streamlined interface for creating agents with MCP tool support and conversation management.

Key features include:

  • Native MCP Support: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol servers
  • Permission Modes: Control tool execution permissions
  • Streaming Responses: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications
  • Context Manager: Clean async context management for sessions

What is the Semrush MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Semrush MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Semrush account. It provides structured and secure access to your SEO, keyword, and advertising analytics, so your agent can perform actions like keyword research, competitor analysis, backlink audits, and ad copy retrieval automatically on your behalf.

  • Comprehensive keyword research and reporting: Let your agent fetch broad match keywords, generate batch keyword overviews, and analyze key SEO metrics like search volume and difficulty in real time.
  • Competitor and backlink analysis: Ask your agent to pull backlink profiles, perform batch comparisons of domains, and summarize backlink authority and link types for competitive intelligence.
  • Ad campaign and copy insights: Have the agent retrieve unique Google Ads copies for any domain, helping you benchmark and optimize your own ad strategies based on real competitor data.
  • Content and category profiling: Enable your agent to analyze and categorize domains or URLs, surfacing topic strengths and audience focus areas for smarter content planning.
  • Anchor text and authority monitoring: Direct your agent to report on anchor text distributions and authority score profiles, giving you actionable insights for improving link-building efforts.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Primary know-how of Claude Agents SDK
  • A Semrush account
  • Some knowledge of Python
2

Getting API Keys for Claude/Anthropic and Composio

Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Go to the Anthropic Console and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.
3

Install dependencies

npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk @composio/core dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the Claude Agents SDK.

What's happening:

  • @composio/core provides Composio integration for Anthropic
  • @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk is the core agent framework
  • dotenv/config loads environment variables
4

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio
  • USER_ID identifies the user for session management
  • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY authenticates with Anthropic/Claude
5

Import dependencies

import 'dotenv/config';
import readline from 'node:readline';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { query, type Options } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

dotenv.config();
What's happening:
  • We're importing all necessary libraries including the Claude Agent SDK and Composio
  • The dotenv.config() function loads environment variables from your .env file
  • This setup prepares the foundation for connecting Claude with Semrush functionality
6

Create a Composio instance and Tool Router session

async function chat() {
  const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;
  if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
    throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
  }

  const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

  // Create Tool Router session for Semrush
  const session = await composio.create(USER_ID, {
    toolkits: ['semrush'],
  });
  const mcpUrl = session?.mcp.url;
What's happening:
  • The function checks for the required COMPOSIO_API_KEY environment variable
  • We're creating a Composio instance using our API key
  • The create method creates a Tool Router session for Semrush
  • The returned url is the MCP server URL that your agent will use
7

Configure Claude Agent with MCP

const options: Options = {
  permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions',
  mcpServers: {
    composio: {
      type: 'http',
      url: mcpUrl,
      headers: { 'x-api-key': COMPOSIO_API_KEY }
    }
  },
  systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful assistant with access to Semrush tools via Composio.',
  maxTurns: 10,
};
What's happening:
  • We're configuring the Claude Agent options with the MCP server URL
  • permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions' allows the agent to execute operations without asking for permission each time
  • The system prompt instructs the agent that it has access to Semrush
  • maxTurns: 10 limits the conversation length to prevent excessive API usage
8

Create client and start chat loop

const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: '
  });

  console.log('\nChat started. Type "exit" to quit.\n');

  let isProcessing = false;

  async function ask(prompt: string) {
    isProcessing = true;
    rl.pause();

    process.stdout.write('Claude is thinking...');
    const stream = query({ prompt, options });

    let firstChunk = true;
    for await (const msg of stream) {
      const content = (msg as any).message?.content || (msg as any).content;
      if (Array.isArray(content)) {
        for (const block of content) {
          if (block.type === 'text' && block.text) {
            if (firstChunk) {
              process.stdout.write('\r\x1b[K');
              process.stdout.write('Claude: ');
              firstChunk = false;
            }
            process.stdout.write(block.text);
          }
        }
      }
    }
    process.stdout.write('\n\n');

    isProcessing = false;
    rl.resume();
    rl.prompt();
  }

  rl.on('line', async (line) => {
    if (isProcessing) return;

    const input = line.trim();
    if (input === 'exit') {
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }
    if (input) await ask(input);
    else rl.prompt();
  });

  await ask('What can you help me with?');
}
What's happening:
  • The readline interface is created to handle user input and output
  • The query function is used to send the user's input to the agent
  • The chat loop continues until the user types 'exit' or 'quit'
9

Run the application

try {
  await chat();
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
  process.exit(1);
}
What's happening:
  • The chat function is the entry point for the application
  • The try-catch block is used to handle any errors that occur

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Semrush and Claude Agent SDK:

import 'dotenv/config';
import readline from 'node:readline';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { query, type Options } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

async function chat() {
  const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;
  if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
    throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
  }

  const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });
  const session = await composio.create(USER_ID, {
    toolkits: ['semrush']
  });
  const mcp_url = session?.mcp.url;

  const options: Options = {
    permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions',
    mcpServers: {
      composio: {
        type: 'http',
        url: mcp_url,
        headers: { 'x-api-key': COMPOSIO_API_KEY }
      }
    },
    systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful assistant with access to Semrush tools via Composio.',
    maxTurns: 10,
  };

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: '
  });

  console.log('\nChat started. Type "exit" to quit.\n');

  let isProcessing = false;

  async function ask(prompt: string) {
    isProcessing = true;
    rl.pause();

    process.stdout.write('Claude is thinking...');
    const stream = query({ prompt, options });

    let firstChunk = true;
    for await (const msg of stream) {
      const content = (msg as any).message?.content || (msg as any).content;
      if (Array.isArray(content)) {
        for (const block of content) {
          if (block.type === 'text' && block.text) {
            if (firstChunk) {
              process.stdout.write('\r\x1b[K');
              process.stdout.write('Claude: ');
              firstChunk = false;
            }
            process.stdout.write(block.text);
          }
        }
      }
    }
    process.stdout.write('\n\n');

    isProcessing = false;
    rl.resume();
    rl.prompt();
  }

  rl.on('line', async (line) => {
    if (isProcessing) return;

    const input = line.trim();
    if (input === 'exit') {
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }
    if (input) await ask(input);
    else rl.prompt();
  });

  await ask('What can you help me with?');
}

try {
  await chat();
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
  process.exit(1);
}

Conclusion

You've successfully built a Claude Agent SDK agent that can interact with Semrush through Composio's Tool Router.

Key features:

  • Native MCP support through Claude's agent framework
  • Streaming responses for real-time interaction
  • Permission bypass for smooth automated workflows
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Semrush action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Check Semrush account units balance

Tool to fetch the remaining Semrush Standard API units for the authenticated account.

Get ad copies

Retrieves unique ad copies Semrush has observed for a specified domain from a regional database, detailing ads seen in Google's paid search results.

Get anchor texts

Use this action to get a CSV report of anchor texts for backlinks pointing to a specified, publicly accessible domain, root domain, or URL.

Get authority score profile

Retrieves the Authority Score (AS) profile for a specified target, showing the count of referring domains that link to the target for each AS value from 0 to 100.

Get backlinks

Fetches backlinks for a specified domain or URL as a semicolon-delimited CSV string (parse with `sep=';'`); allows customization of columns, sorting, and filtering.

Backlinks overview

Provides a semicolon-delimited (sep=';') CSV summary of backlinks, including Authority Score and link type breakdowns, for a specified and publicly accessible domain, root domain, or URL.

Batch comparison

Compares backlink profiles for multiple specified targets (domains, subdomains, or URLs) to analyze and compare link-building efforts.

Batch keyword overview

Fetches a keyword overview report from a Semrush regional database for up to 100 keywords, providing metrics like search volume, CPC, and keyword difficulty.

Broad match keyword

Fetches broad match keywords for a given phrase.

Get categories

Retrieves categories and their 0-1 confidence ratings for a specified domain, subdomain, or URL, with results sorted by rating.

Get categories profile

Retrieves a profile of content categories from referring domains for a specified target, analyzing its first 10,000 referring domains and sorting results by domain count.

Get competitor data

Retrieves a CSV-formatted report of competitors for a specified target (root domain, domain, or URL) based on shared backlinks or referring domains.

Get competitors in organic search

Use to get a domain's organic search competitors from Semrush as a semicolon-separated string; `display_date` requires 'YYYYMM15' format if used.

Get competitors in paid search

Retrieves a list of a domain's competitors in paid search results from a specified regional database.

Get domain ad history

Retrieves a domain's 12-month advertising history from Semrush (keywords bid on, ad positions, ad copy) for PPC strategy and competitor analysis; most effective when the domain has ad history in the selected database.

Get domain organic pages

Fetches a report on a domain's unique organic pages ranking in Google's top 100 search results, with options for specifying database, date, columns, sorting, and filtering.

Get domain organic search keywords

Retrieves organic search keywords for a domain from a specified Semrush regional database; `display_positions` must be set if `display_daily=1` for daily updates.

Get domain organic subdomains

Retrieves a report on subdomains of a given domain that rank in Google's top 100 organic search results for a specified regional database.

Get domain paid search keywords

Fetches keywords driving paid search traffic to a specified, existing domain using a supported Semrush regional database.

Get PLA search keywords for a domain

Retrieves Product Listing Ad (PLA) search keywords for a specified domain from a Semrush regional database.

Compare domains

Analyzes keyword rankings by comparing up to five domains to find common, unique, or gap keywords, using specified organic/paid types and comparison logic in the `domains` string.

Get historical data

Retrieves monthly historical backlink and referring domain data for a specified root domain, returned as a time series string with newest records first.

Get indexed pages

Retrieves a list of indexed pages from Semrush for a specified `target` (root domain, domain, or URL) and `target_type`, ensuring `target` is publicly accessible, Semrush-analyzable, and correctly matches `target_type`.

Get keyword difficulty

Determines the Keyword Difficulty (KD) score (0-100, higher means greater difficulty) for a given phrase in a specific Semrush regional database to assess its SEO competitiveness.

Keyword overview all databases

Fetches a keyword overview from Semrush for a specified phrase, including metrics like search volume, CPC, and competition.

Get keyword overview for one database

Fetches a keyword summary for a specified phrase from a chosen regional database.

Get keywords ads history

Fetches a historical report (last 12 months) of domains advertising on a specified keyword in Google Ads, optionally for a specific month ('YYYYMM15') or the most recent period, returning raw CSV-like data.

Get organic results

Retrieves up to 100,000 domains and URLs from Google's top 100 organic search results for a keyword and region, returning a raw string; use `display_date` in 'YYYYMM15' format (day must be '15') for historical data.

Get paid search results

Fetches domains ranking in Google's paid search results (AdWords) for a specified keyword and regional database.

Phrase questions

Fetches question-format keywords semantically related to a given query phrase for a specified regional database, aiding in understanding user search intent and discovering content ideas.

Get PLA competitors

Retrieves domains competing with a specified domain in Google's Product Listing Ads (PLA) from a given Semrush regional database.

Get PLA copies

Fetches Product Listing Ad (PLA) copies that Semrush observed for a domain in Google's paid search results.

Get referring domains

Retrieves a semicolon-delimited text report listing domains that link to a target, with options to filter by type (not value).

Get referring domains by country

Generates a CSV report detailing the geographic distribution of referring domains (by country, determined via IP address) for a specified, publicly accessible target.

Referring i ps

Fetches IP addresses that are sources of backlinks for a specified target domain, root domain, or URL.

Find related keywords

Call this to find related keywords (including synonyms and variations) for a target phrase in a specific regional database; `display_date` (if used for historical data) must be 'YYYYMM15' for a past month.

Get TLD distribution

Fetches a report on the Top-Level Domain (TLD) distribution of referring domains for a specified target, useful for analyzing geographic or categorical backlink diversity.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Semrush MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Semrush tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Semrush and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Claude Agent SDK fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Semrush tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Semrush scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Semrush data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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