Sonar

App Store Optimization for AI agents — keyword research, rank tracking, review mining, and competitor analysis for iOS and Android.

GitHub

Documentation

@sonarapp/mcp

The official Sonar MCP server — App Store Optimization tools for AI agents.

Lets Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, and any Model Context Protocol-compatible client look up apps, research keywords, audit ASO, mine reviews, and estimate revenue across the iOS App Store and Google Play. Powered by Sonar.

Tools

Read tools — stateless

Tool	What it does
`sonar_app_lookup`	Look up app metadata by store ID
`sonar_app_search`	Search apps by keyword (returns store ranking order)
`sonar_app_aso_score`	ASO audit score (0-100) with itemized checks
`sonar_app_extract_keywords`	Extract target keywords from an app's listing
`sonar_app_reviews`	Fetch reviews with rating filters and sort options
`sonar_app_revenue`	Estimate monthly revenue with methodology
`sonar_keyword_search`	Keyword research (difficulty, popularity, related terms)
`sonar_keyword_metrics`	Difficulty + popularity for specific keywords (single or bulk)
`sonar_keyword_suggestions`	Autocomplete suggestions from the store

Stateless tools work on any plan with credits, with both iOS and Android.

Read tools — your workspace (Full plan)

Tool	What it does
`sonar_list_apps`	List your tracked apps with latest snapshots (rating, reviews, installs)
`sonar_get_app`	App detail + up to 90 days of snapshot history
`sonar_app_keywords`	Keywords tracked for an app, with difficulty + popularity
`sonar_app_rankings`	Daily rank history for an app's tracked keywords
`sonar_app_changes`	Detected releases, metadata edits, screenshot/price/category changes
`sonar_keyword_rankings`	SERP history for a tracked keyword (who ranked, when)
`sonar_competitor_keywords`	Keywords a competitor ranks for + gap analysis vs your app

Workspace reads require a Full plan (an active trial counts); the default read-scope key is enough.

Write tools (Full plan + write scope)

Tool	What it does
`sonar_create_product`	Create a product in your Sonar workspace and start tracking its app(s)
`sonar_track_app`	Link the second-store version (iOS ↔ Android) of an existing product
`sonar_track_competitor`	Add a competitor app under a product
`sonar_track_keywords`	Start daily rank tracking for keywords on an app (bulk, idempotent)
`sonar_update_keyword_note`	Set or clear the note on a tracked keyword
`sonar_scan_competitor`	Run a keyword discovery scan on a competitor (read results with `sonar_competitor_keywords`)

Write tools mutate your workspace and require a Full plan (an active trial counts) plus an API key created with the write scope. The server enforces both — without them, calls return a 403 explaining what to fix.

Together these close the loop for agents: set up tracking with the write tools, then read back rankings, changes, and gap analyses with the workspace tools.

Get an API key

You'll need a Sonar API key — get one at trysonar.app/developers.

The cheapest path is prepaid API credits — packs from $10 (1,000 credits), with 50 free credits on signup and no subscription. Built specifically for this use case. See pricing.

Install

Claude Desktop

Add to your config file (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS, %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sonar": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@sonarapp/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SONAR_API_KEY": "aso_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The sonar_* tools will appear in the tool picker.

Claude Code

claude mcp add sonar -e SONAR_API_KEY=aso_your_key_here -- npx -y @sonarapp/mcp

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or your project's .cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sonar": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@sonarapp/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SONAR_API_KEY": "aso_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cline / other MCP clients

Most clients use the same command + args + env shape as above. Point the command at npx -y @sonarapp/mcp and pass SONAR_API_KEY in the env.

Configuration

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`SONAR_API_KEY`	yes	—	Your Sonar API key (`aso_...`)
`SONAR_API_URL`	no	`https://trysonar.app`	Override the API base URL (only used for self-hosting / staging)

Example prompts

"Use Sonar to look up Spotify on iOS in the US store and report its rating, review count, and category."

"Run an ASO audit on com.duolingo on Android and tell me what to fix."

"Research the keyword 'habit tracker' on iOS — give me difficulty, popularity, and 5 related terms with lower difficulty I should consider."

"Pull the 50 most recent 1- and 2-star reviews of 1517783697 on iOS US and group complaints by theme."

"Search 'meditation' on the App Store and estimate monthly revenue for the top 5 results."

Privacy & data flow

The MCP server is a thin client around Sonar's REST API. Your API key is sent as a Bearer token over HTTPS. Tool inputs and the resulting JSON are passed to your AI client; no data is logged by this package itself.

Troubleshooting

"SONAR_API_KEY is not set" — The MCP client did not pass the env var through. Check the env section of your client's config file. Some clients require an absolute path to npx — try which npx and use that.

"Authentication failed" — Your key is invalid, expired, or your subscription lapsed. Visit trysonar.app/developers to check.

"Access denied. Endpoint may require Full plan" — The 9 stateless read tools work on any plan with credits. The workspace read tools and write tools require a Full plan (an active trial counts); write tools additionally need an API key created with the write scope. If you're on a setup or trial-expired plan, reactivate first.

Companion: CLI

Prefer the terminal? Use @sonarapp/cli (sonar binary) — same data, same API key.