Reverse API Engineer
The agent that turns websites into APIs!
What is Reverse API Engineer?
Reverse API Engineer is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to agent that turns websites into apis!
The agent that turns websites into APIs!
This server falls under the Browser Automation category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- The agent that turns websites into APIs!
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx reverse-api-engineerConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use Reverse API Engineer
Reverse API Engineer is a Python-based AI agent that watches browser network traffic and automatically generates clean API client code in Python, JavaScript, or TypeScript — turning any website into a scriptable API without manual inspection. It supports four modes: manual (you drive the browser while it captures traffic), agent (AI navigates autonomously via Playwright or Chrome MCP), engineer (re-runs code generation on existing captures), and collector (gathers structured data via web search). Developers use it to integrate with sites that lack official APIs by having Claude generate the client from real observed traffic.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.10 or later
- uv package manager (recommended) or pip
- Playwright and Chromium browser installed
- Claude API access (used internally by the agent for code generation)
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop or Claude Code
Install the package
Install reverse-api-engineer using uv (recommended) or pip. Then install the Chromium browser that Playwright will control.
uv tool install reverse-api-engineer
playwright install chromiumRun the interactive CLI
Start the reverse-api-engineer CLI. You'll get an interactive prompt where you can describe what you want to extract from a website.
reverse-api-engineerDescribe your goal
At the CLI prompt, describe what data or action you want from the target website. In agent mode, Claude will navigate the site autonomously and capture the API traffic.
Configure settings
Use the /settings command inside the CLI to choose your agent provider (auto, chrome-mcp, or agent-browser), output language, and Claude model. Settings are saved to ~/.reverse-api/config.json.
/settingsReview generated files
After a capture run, generated client scripts appear in ./scripts/{descriptive_name}/. Review and run the generated code to confirm it reproduces the observed API behavior.
Integrate with Claude Desktop as MCP server
Add reverse-api-engineer as an MCP server in Claude Desktop so you can trigger API generation from natural language prompts in Claude.
Reverse API Engineer Examples
Client configuration
Configure Claude Desktop to use reverse-api-engineer as an MCP server for browser-based API generation.
{
"mcpServers": {
"reverse-api-engineer": {
"command": "reverse-api-engineer",
"args": ["--mcp"],
"env": {
"RAE_AGENT_BROWSER_PACKAGE": "auto"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example tasks you can give to the Reverse API Engineer agent.
- "Fetch all open job listings from Apple's careers page and generate a Python client"
- "Capture the API used by Hacker News to load the front page and produce a TypeScript client"
- "Generate a JavaScript client for the search endpoint on this e-commerce site"
- "Re-run code generation on my last capture session for the GitHub API"
- "Collect structured product data from 10 pages of this retailer's catalog"Troubleshooting Reverse API Engineer
Playwright fails to launch Chromium with 'Executable not found'
Run 'playwright install chromium' explicitly after installing the package. If using uv, run 'uv run playwright install chromium' to ensure it installs into the correct virtual environment.
Agent mode navigates to the wrong page or gets stuck
Switch to manual mode by typing '/settings' and changing the agent_provider. In manual mode you drive the browser yourself while the tool captures traffic, giving you full control over navigation.
Generated client code does not reproduce the API calls correctly
Use the 'engineer' mode ('/history' to find your run ID, then re-run code generation) to regenerate from the same capture with a different output language or more detailed prompt. Check the captured HAR data in the run's output directory for completeness.
Frequently Asked Questions about Reverse API Engineer
What is Reverse API Engineer?
Reverse API Engineer is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that agent that turns websites into apis! It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install Reverse API Engineer?
Follow the installation instructions on the Reverse API Engineer GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with Reverse API Engineer?
Reverse API Engineer works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is Reverse API Engineer free to use?
Yes, Reverse API Engineer is open source and available under the MIT license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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