News MCP Server

A Ktor-based server written in Kotlin implementing the Model Context Protocol (MCP) with tools for fetching news headlines and searching news articles using the NewsAPI.

Features

• Top Headlines Tool: Fetches top news headlines by category (business, entertainment, general, health, science, sports, technology).
• Search News Tool: Searches news articles by query, with advanced search options and date/sort filters.

Requirements

• JDK 11+
• Gradle
• NewsAPI Key: Register at newsapi.org and set the NEWS_API_KEY environment variable.

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/nishantpardamwar/kotlin-news-mcp-server.git
cd mcpserver

2. Set up your NewsAPI key

Set the NEWS_API_KEY environment variable:

IntelliJ IDEA:

1. Open the project in IntelliJ IDEA.
2. Go to Run > Edit Configurations...
3. Select your run configuration for this project (or create a new one).
4. In the Environment variables field, add:

   NEWS_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
   

5. Click OK to save.

3. Build and run the server

Hit Run 'Application.kt' (▶) on your AndroidStudio/IntelliJ IDE

The server will start on http://localhost:3001.

Usage

The server exposes two MCP tools:

1. Get Top Headlines

• Tool Name: get-top-headline
• Description: Get top headlines by category.
• Input:
  • category (string): One of business, entertainment, general, health, science, sports, technology.

2. Search News

• Tool Name: search-news-query
• Description: Search news by query with advanced options.
• Input:
  • query (string): Keywords or phrases to search for.
  • fromDate (string, optional): Oldest article date (ISO 8601).
  • toDate (string, optional): Newest article date (ISO 8601).
  • sortBy (string, optional): relevancy, popularity, or publishedAt.

Integration with Cursor

To use this MCP server with Cursor, you need to configure Cursor to connect to your local MCP server instance. Follow these steps:

1. Start the MCP server (see instructions above).
2. Go to Cursor → Settings → Tools & Integrations → New MCP Server.
3. Add the following configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "news-mpc-server": {
            "url": "http://localhost:3001/sse"
        }
    }
}

You should now be able to use the tools provided by this server (such as get-top-headline and search-news-query) directly within Cursor's MCP tool interface.

Project Structure

• src/main/kotlin/Application.kt: Main entry point, server setup.
• src/main/kotlin/NewsTool.kt: Tool implementations for news fetching/search.
• build.gradle.kts: Build configuration.

Dependencies

• Ktor (server, CIO engine)
• Model Context Protocol Kotlin SDK
• NewsAPI

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

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