Stay Otter

npx add-mcp 'https://stayotter.com/api/mcp'

Use Stay Otter inside your assistant.

Stay Otter is an MCP server. Add it to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any client that speaks the Model Context Protocol, then ask for a place to stay the way you would ask a friend. The assistant runs the same live search the site runs and hands back the picks with their receipts.

https://stayotter.com/api/mcp

Streamable HTTP, no session needed. Optional header: Authorization: Bearer so_live_… with a key from your account.

Claude (web, desktop, mobile)

Customize → Connectors → Add → Add custom connector. Name it Stay Otter, paste the endpoint and choose No sign-in. With a key, add a request header named Authorization with the value Bearer and your key.

claude mcp add --transport http stay-otter https://stayotter.com/api/mcp

Add --header "Authorization: Bearer so_live_…" once you have a key.

ChatGPT

Plugins → the plus button → Add custom MCP server. Name it Stay Otter, paste the endpoint, choose no authentication, then Create as a plugin. Workspace policies can hide this option. You get the three trips on the house, and any tool that needs a key says so.

Cursor and VS Code, in one click

Opens the app and asks you to confirm. Nothing else to set up.

Windsurf and others

An MCP server entry of type http (or streamable-http) with the endpoint URL and, optionally, the Authorization header.

“Find a quiet whole apartment in Lisbon for March 10–15 for two of us, walkable to Alfama.”

search_stays

“Six of us in Nashville for a weekend in April. A whole house we can walk to Broadway from.”

search_stays

“Hotels in Austin for a conference week, near the convention center, Marriott only.”

search_stays

“Is this place on a loud street? (paste a Booking.com, Vrbo or Expedia link)”

check_listing

“Here's my hotel confirmation. Tell me if the price drops before I can't cancel.”

watch_booking

“What's there to do near the place you picked?”

get_activities

search_stays

A live search for your dates, party and wishes: Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia Group fetched fresh, top-rated whole homes, hotel rooms or both, each finalist verified against the map. Up to three picks with receipts. Thirty to ninety seconds.

get_stay

The card for a finished search, or a shared stay link, with a group-vote link and a story image for each pick. Instant.

get_block

The block around one pick: bars, cafés, restaurants and groceries within a ten-minute walk, the nearest stop, and map facts for walking back at night. Facts, not a safety rating.

city_picks

The latest verified picks for a covered city from a standard trip, refreshed on a rota. Instant and free.

get_activities

Top-rated things to do for the spot and dates, what the trip is for first.

check_listing

A place you found yourself (a Booking.com, Vrbo or Expedia page, or a hotel's name and city) read into the same receipts: the street, what's within a ten-minute walk, the distance to your spot and, with dates, the lowest total and the lowest you can still cancel. Needs a key; one a day free, Pro unlimited.

watch_similar_homes

For a whole home already booked: watches other whole homes nearby for the same dates, until the deadline. Free.

watch_booking

Paste a booking confirmation and the otter watches the property's rate until the free-cancellation deadline, with reminders 7, 3 and 1 days before. Needs a key; free.

set_alert

Starts the otter's daily re-run of a search with price-drop emails. Needs a key; the first alert is free with an account, more are part of Pro.

What does the assistant get back?

The same card the site shows, as data: each pick's name, site, whole-stay total with the time it was quoted, review score, bars and cafés within a ten-minute walk, the nearest stop, the street, the cancellation window, and a link that opens the booking site's own page for those dates. Nothing is booked by Stay Otter or by the assistant.

Do I need an account?

Three trips are on the house per connection, the same as on the site; a trip is one place, one set of dates, one party, and refining it is free. After that, make a key in your account (Settings, Assistant access) and add it as the connector's Bearer token: the free account's five trips a month, the listing check and booking watches, or Pro's no cap.

What does Stay Otter keep?

The search itself (where, dates, party, wishes) and its results, tied to your account when a key is used. Not the conversation. The key is stored as a hash and can be revoked any time.

Why is a search slow?

Because it is live: the booking sites are fetched for your exact dates and each finalist is checked against the map. The tool returns a searchId after 45 seconds if it is still running; the assistant calls get_stay to finish.

Keys live in your account settings. How the search itself works is on How it works.