🦞 APIClaw

The API layer for AI agents. 22,000+ APIs indexed. Direct Call execution. Zero config.

APIs Indexed: 22,392 • Open APIs: 1,636 • Direct Call Providers: 18

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Quick Start

# Install APIClaw into Claude Desktop or Claude Code
npx @nordsym/apiclaw mcp-install

# That's it! Restart your AI assistant and ask:
# "List available APIs" or "Send an SMS via 46elks"

APIClaw automatically detects Claude Desktop and Claude Code — then configures itself as an MCP server in seconds. Works with any MCP-compatible agent.

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What is APIClaw?

The API layer for AI agents. APIClaw is an MCP server that gives any MCP-compatible agent access to real-world APIs:

• 📱 SMS & Voice — 46elks, Twilio
• 📧 Email — Resend, SendGrid
• 💳 Payments — Stripe
• 🔍 Search — Brave Search
• 🤖 AI — OpenRouter, ElevenLabs
• ...and 100+ more — growing weekly

Instead of manually configuring API keys and reading documentation, just tell your AI: "Send a confirmation SMS to +46701234567" — and it works.

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Installation

Option 1: MCP Install (Recommended)

npx @nordsym/apiclaw mcp-install

This will:

1. 🔍 Detect Claude Desktop or Claude Code
2. 📝 Add APIClaw to the MCP config
3. ✅ Verify the setup

Option 2: Manual Installation

npm install -g @nordsym/apiclaw
apiclaw setup

Option 3: Use npx (No Install)

Just use npx @nordsym/apiclaw anywhere — it downloads on demand.

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Commands

mcp-install

Simple, focused installation for Claude Desktop and Claude Code.

# Auto-detect and install
npx @nordsym/apiclaw mcp-install

# Install to specific client
npx @nordsym/apiclaw mcp-install --client claude-desktop
npx @nordsym/apiclaw mcp-install --client claude-code

# Preview changes without applying
npx @nordsym/apiclaw mcp-install --dry-run

setup

Full-featured setup with support for all MCP clients.

# Auto-detect and configure all clients
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup

# Configure specific client
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --client claude-desktop
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --client cursor
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --client windsurf
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --client cline
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --client continue

# Custom config path
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --config /path/to/config.json

# Link a workspace
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --workspace ws_abc123

# Preview changes without applying
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --dry-run

# Force overwrite existing config
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --force

# Interactive mode
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --wizard

doctor

Diagnose your APIClaw setup.

npx @nordsym/apiclaw doctor

Output:

🔍 APIClaw Health Check
========================

System:
  ✓ Node.js v20.11.0
  ✓ npm 10.2.4
  ✓ npx available

MCP Clients:
  ✓ Claude Desktop - Configured ✓
  ✓ Cursor - Configured ✓
  ✗ Windsurf - Not installed

Connectivity:
  ✓ api.apiclaw.com reachable

Status: All systems operational ✓

restore

Restore config from backup.

# Restore most recent backup
npx @nordsym/apiclaw restore

# List available backups
npx @nordsym/apiclaw restore --list

# Restore specific backup
npx @nordsym/apiclaw restore --backup config.backup.1709150400.json

uninstall

Remove APIClaw from all configured clients.

npx @nordsym/apiclaw uninstall

# Remove from specific client
npx @nordsym/apiclaw uninstall --client cursor

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Options

Option	Description
--client <name>	Target specific MCP client
--config <path>	Use custom config file path
--workspace <id>	Link an APIClaw workspace
--dry-run	Preview changes without applying
--force	Overwrite existing APIClaw config
--wizard	Interactive setup mode
--no-backup	Skip creating backup (not recommended)
--verbose	Show detailed output
--version	Show version number
--help	Show help

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Supported MCP Clients

Client	macOS	Windows	Linux
Claude Desktop	✅	✅	✅
Cursor	✅	✅	✅
Windsurf	✅	✅	✅
Cline (VS Code)	✅	✅	✅
Continue	✅	✅	✅
Custom	✅	✅	✅

Config Locations

<details> <summary>Claude Desktop</summary>

OS	Path
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows	%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux	~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

</details>

<details> <summary>Cursor</summary>

OS	Path
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/User/globalStorage/cursor.mcp/config.json
Windows	%APPDATA%\Cursor\User\globalStorage\cursor.mcp\config.json
Linux	~/.config/Cursor/User/globalStorage/cursor.mcp/config.json

</details>

<details> <summary>Windsurf</summary>

OS	Path
macOS	~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\.codeium\windsurf\mcp_config.json
Linux	~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

</details>

<details> <summary>Cline</summary>

OS	Path
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json
Windows	%APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\saoudrizwan.claude-dev\settings\cline_mcp_settings.json
Linux	~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json

</details>

<details> <summary>Continue</summary>

OS	Path
macOS	~/.continue/config.json
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\.continue\config.json
Linux	~/.continue/config.json

</details>

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Enterprise Deployment

Deploy APIClaw to your entire development team.

Environment Variables

# Pre-configure workspace for all users
export APICLAW_WORKSPACE="ws_enterprise_123"

# Point to self-hosted instance
export APICLAW_API_URL="https://api.company.com/apiclaw"

# Disable telemetry
export APICLAW_DISABLE_TELEMETRY="true"

npx @nordsym/apiclaw mcp-install

Generate Deployment Script

# Generate cross-platform setup script
npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --enterprise --output deploy.sh

The generated script handles:

• OS detection
• Client detection
• Config injection
• Verification
• Error reporting

MDM/Group Policy

See Enterprise Deployment Guide for:

• Jamf/Kandji/Mosyle (macOS)
• Intune/Group Policy (Windows)
• Ansible/Chef/Puppet (Linux)

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Troubleshooting

"Permission denied"

# Option 1: Run with sudo
sudo npx @nordsym/apiclaw mcp-install

# Option 2: Fix permissions
chmod 644 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

"Config file not found"

The MCP client hasn't created its config yet:

1. Open the client (Claude Desktop or Claude Code)
2. Close it
3. Try mcp-install again

Or use the full setup command with a custom path:

npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --config /path/to/config.json

"Invalid JSON"

Your config file has syntax errors:

# Restore from backup
npx @nordsym/apiclaw restore --list
npx @nordsym/apiclaw restore

# Or manually fix the JSON

"Already configured"

APIClaw is already set up. To update:

npx @nordsym/apiclaw setup --force

Still having issues?

# Run diagnostics
npx @nordsym/apiclaw doctor --verbose

# Get help
https://docs.apiclaw.com/setup
https://github.com/nordsym/apiclaw/issues

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How It Works

APIClaw modifies your MCP client's config file to register itself as a server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apiclaw": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@nordsym/apiclaw"]
    }
  }
}

When your AI assistant starts, it launches APIClaw as an MCP server. APIClaw then:

1. Exposes available APIs as MCP tools
2. Handles authentication and rate limiting
3. Executes API calls on behalf of the AI

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Safety Features

Automatic Backups

Before modifying any config, APIClaw creates a timestamped backup:

claude_desktop_config.backup.1709150400.json

Non-Destructive

• Never overwrites existing configurations
• Deep merges APIClaw into mcpServers
• Preserves all other settings

Validation

• Parses JSON before and after modifications
• Verifies required fields exist
• Rolls back on any error

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Dry-Run Mode

Test API calls without actually executing them. Perfect for debugging, development, and agent testing.

Usage

// In MCP tool call
call_api({
  provider: "46elks",
  action: "send_sms",
  params: {
    to: "+46701234567",
    message: "Hello from dry-run!"
  },
  dry_run: true  // ← No actual API call made
})

Response

{
  "dry_run": true,
  "provider": "46elks",
  "action": "send_sms",
  "would_send": {
    "url": "https://api.46elks.com/a1/sms",
    "method": "POST",
    "headers": {
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      "Authorization": "Basic [base64(username:password)]"
    },
    "body": {
      "from": "APIClaw",
      "to": "+46701234567",
      "message": "Hello from dry-run!"
    }
  },
  "mock_response": {
    "success": true,
    "data": {
      "id": "mock_sms_123",
      "status": "delivered"
    },
    "estimated_cost": "~0.35-0.52 SEK"
  },
  "notes": [
    "⚠️ DRY-RUN MODE: No actual API call was made",
    "This shows what WOULD be sent if you remove dry_run: true"
  ]
}

Benefits

• 💰 No cost — Test without burning API credits
• 🔍 Debug — See exact request that would be sent
• 🧪 Test — Validate agent workflows before going live
• 📋 Mock data — Get realistic response shapes for development

Supported Providers

All Direct Call providers support dry-run:

• 46elks, Twilio (SMS)
• Resend (Email)
• Brave Search
• OpenRouter (LLM)
• ElevenLabs (TTS)
• Replicate (AI models)
• Firecrawl (Web scraping)
• GitHub
• E2B (Code sandbox)

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Error Handling

APIClaw returns structured error responses across all providers, making it easy to handle failures programmatically.

Error Response Format

All errors follow this structure:

{
  "success": false,
  "provider": "replicate",
  "action": "run",
  "error": "Rate limit exceeded",
  "code": "RATE_LIMITED"
}

Error Codes

Code	Description
RATE_LIMITED	API rate limit hit (429)
SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE	Service temporarily unavailable (502, 503, 504)
UNAUTHORIZED	Invalid or missing credentials (401)
FORBIDDEN	Access denied (403)
NOT_FOUND	Resource not found (404)
BAD_REQUEST	Invalid request parameters (400)
TIMEOUT	Request timed out
NETWORK_ERROR	Network connectivity issue
PROVIDER_ERROR	Provider-specific error
INVALID_PARAMS	Missing or invalid parameters
NO_CREDENTIALS	No credentials configured for provider
UNKNOWN_PROVIDER	Provider not available
UNKNOWN_ACTION	Action not available for provider
MAX_RETRIES_EXCEEDED	All retry attempts failed

Automatic Retry

APIClaw automatically retries transient failures with exponential backoff:

• Retryable errors: 429 (Rate Limited), 502, 503, 504 (Service Unavailable)
• Max retries: 3
• Backoff: Exponential with jitter (1s → 2s → 4s, capped at 30s)
• Retry-After: Respects Retry-After header when present

// APIClaw handles retries automatically — you just see the final result
const result = await call_api({
  provider: "openrouter",
  action: "chat",
  params: { messages: [...] }
});

if (!result.success) {
  console.log(`Error: ${result.error} (${result.code})`);
  // Handle error based on code
  if (result.code === "RATE_LIMITED") {
    // Wait longer before next request
  }
}

Best Practices

1. Always check success before accessing data
2. Use code for programmatic error handling
3. Use error for human-readable messages
4. Let APIClaw retry — don't implement your own retry logic for 429/503

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Development

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/nordsym/apiclaw.git
cd apiclaw

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Run locally
npm run dev

# Test setup locally
npm run setup:test

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License

MIT © NordSym

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Links

• Website: apiclaw.com
• Documentation: docs.apiclaw.com
• GitHub: github.com/nordsym/apiclaw
• npm: @nordsym/apiclaw