API and MCP

Getting a key

Keys are issued from your account page. API and MCP access is included on Concierge on any billing cycle, and on any paid plan billed yearly — see Products.

A key is shown once, when it is created. It isn't stored in a form we can read back, so if it's lost, revoke it and issue another. Keys can be read-only or read and write; a read-only key can't file, correct, or withdraw anything.

Authentication

Send the key as a bearer token. It has to be a header — a key in a query string ends up in server logs and browser history, which is three copies of a live credential nobody meant to make.

curl -s https://courierpr.com/api/v1/me \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer cpr_your_key_here"

REST endpoints

Filing a release

A release goes live immediately at a permanent URL. The same rules apply as on the web form: your plan's filing cap, the content filter, and a real category. There's no draft state — file it when it's ready.

curl -X POST https://courierpr.com/api/v1/releases \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer cpr_your_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{
    "title": "Acme opens a second plant in Leeds",
    "body": "At least fifty words of press release...",
    "company_name": "Acme Ltd",
    "category": "industry-realestate-construction",
    "contact_email": "[email protected]",
    "submitter_name": "Your Name",
    "submitter_email": "[email protected]",
    "submitter_phone": "+44 20 7000 0000"
  }'

Always send an Idempotency-Key on a POST. Every release gets a unique URL, so a request that times out and is retried without one publishes a second copy rather than failing. With one, the retry returns the original result and carries an idempotent-replay: true header.

MCP setup

The MCP server is hosted — nothing to install. Point any MCP client at it with your key:

claude mcp add --transport http courierpr https://courierpr.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer cpr_your_key_here"

Or, for a client configured by file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "courierpr": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://courierpr.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer cpr_your_key_here" }
    }
  }
}

Tools

A read-only key is only offered the read tools — the write ones don't appear in its tool list at all.

ChatGPT app (public, no key)

A second, read-only MCP server at https://courierpr.com/api/mcp powers the CourierPR app in ChatGPT and needs no key. It exposes what a visitor can already read: list_desks, latest_releases, search_releases, get_release and how_to_file, plus connector-style search and fetch. Results are summaries with links to the release page; media contacts are never returned. To file, correct or withdraw releases from an agent, use the keyed server above.

The same server is available to Claude at https://courierpr.com/api/mcp/claude; see Courierpr.com for Claude.

Rate limits

60 requests a minute and 5,000 a day, per key. Every response carries x-ratelimit-remaining and x-ratelimit-reset. How much you may publish is a separate thing, set by your plan, not by these — /api/v1/me reports both.

Errors

Every failure returns the same envelope, with a request_id worth quoting if you get in touch.

{
  "error": {
    "code": "feature_not_available",
    "message": "API and MCP access is included on Concierge ...",
    "request_id": "0b6f...",
    "docs": "https://courierpr.com/docs/api"
  }
}

What isn't here yet

View counts are a running total only — there's no per-day series. When that lands it will be an added field, not a change to what's above.

Something missing, or behaving oddly? Tell the desk — a person reads it.