Fast News MCP

Search, trending, topics, and local news all in one MCP server. Article previews, deduplication, source filtering, and 40+ languages built in.

GitHub

Documentation

Fast News MCP Server

Real-time news search, trending headlines, topic categories, and local news — exposed as MCP tools so your AI agent can query news in plain language. No HTTP boilerplate required.

The server is hosted by RapidAPI and connects via mcp-remote. All you need is a RapidAPI subscription and your API key.

Demo

See the Fast News API in action: the-dispatcher-demo.vercel.app

Get an API Key

Subscribe on RapidAPI (free tier available)
Your API key appears on the Endpoints tab

Every request needs two headers:

Header	Value
`x-rapidapi-key`	Your API key
`x-rapidapi-host`	`fast-news-with-previews.p.rapidapi.com`

Quick Start

Prerequisites: Node.js (for npx) and a free RapidAPI subscription.

Add the following to your AI agent's MCP server configuration. Replace YOUR-API-KEY with your RapidAPI key.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fast-news": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.rapidapi.com",
        "--header",
        "x-api-host: fast-news-with-previews.p.rapidapi.com",
        "--header",
        "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

The mcp-remote package is installed automatically by npx. You don't need to install anything manually.

See the per-agent setup instructions below for client-specific details.

Alternative: npm package (secondary option)

Prefer the Quick Start above. Use this only if your setup specifically benefits from a single published package.

This repository is also published as the npm package @wllrdev/fast-news-mcp. It's a thin wrapper around mcp-remote that reads your key from the RAPIDAPI_KEY environment variable instead of the command line:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fast-news": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@wllrdev/fast-news-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "RAPIDAPI_KEY": "YOUR-API-KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Once connected, your AI agent has access to these tools:

Tool	Description
search_news	Search any topic with filters for language, country, and timeframe. Supports source diversity and built-in deduplication.
advanced_search	Like search_news but with post-fetch controls — include/exclude specific sources, require thumbnails, and change sort order.
trending_headlines	Top headlines auto-translated into 40+ languages. Optionally filter by country and timeframe.
topic_categories	Browse 11 predefined categories: world, national, business, technology, entertainment, sports, science, health, politics, economy, environment. Combine two categories in one request.
local_news	News about a specific city, region, or area.

For full parameter documentation, see the API reference.

Setup for Your AI Agent

Find your client below and expand it for setup steps.

Claude Code (docs)

Option A — CLI command:

claude mcp add fast-news -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.rapidapi.com --header "x-api-host: fast-news-with-previews.p.rapidapi.com" --header "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY"

Add --scope user to make it available globally across all projects.

Option B — Manual config:

Add the Quick Start config to your Claude Code MCP settings.

Claude Desktop (docs)

Open Claude Desktop settings
Navigate to Developer > Edit Config
Paste the Quick Start config into claude_desktop_config.json
Restart Claude Desktop

Cursor (docs)

Open Cursor Settings > MCP > New MCP Server
Paste the Quick Start config
Replace YOUR-API-KEY with your key
Enable the server

VS Code Copilot (docs)

Add the following to your .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "fast-news": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.rapidapi.com",
        "--header",
        "x-api-host: fast-news-with-previews.p.rapidapi.com",
        "--header",
        "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf (docs)

Add the Quick Start config to your Windsurf MCP config file (~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json).

Cline (docs)

Open Cline settings
Go to MCP > Add New MCP Server
Select Local and paste the Quick Start config

Continue (docs)

Add the Quick Start config to your ~/.continue/config.json under the mcpServers key.

OpenCode (docs)

Add the following to your opencode.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "fast-news": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://mcp.rapidapi.com",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-host": "fast-news-with-previews.p.rapidapi.com",
        "x-api-key": "YOUR-API-KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Codex CLI (docs)

codex mcp add fast-news -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.rapidapi.com --header "x-api-host: fast-news-with-previews.p.rapidapi.com" --header "x-api-key: YOUR-API-KEY"

Usage Examples

Once connected, try these prompts in your AI agent:

"What are the trending headlines right now?"
"Search for news about artificial intelligence"
"Find local news about Tokyo"
"Show me the latest technology news from the past week"
"Search for climate news from BBC and Reuters only, sorted by newest first"
"Get trending headlines in German"
"Find sports and business news combined"
"Show me health news with thumbnails only from the last 7 days"

The agent will use the MCP server to call the appropriate endpoint and return formatted results.

API Documentation

For full endpoint documentation, parameters, response formats, and code examples:

Overview: docs.marvelousapi.com/apis/fastnews
Endpoints: docs.marvelousapi.com/apis/fastnews/docs/endpoints/news
Error Handling: docs.marvelousapi.com/apis/fastnews/docs/error-handling

Key Features

Source diversity — no single domain dominates your feed (max 25% per domain)
Built-in deduplication — near-identical articles are collapsed automatically
40+ languages — trending and topic searches auto-translate into local queries
Clean previews — up to 250-character excerpts with thumbnail URLs
Timeframe filters — last hour, 24h, 7 days, 30 days

License & API Terms

The configuration and documentation in this repository are MIT licensed. The Fast News API itself is a commercial service hosted on RapidAPI — usage is subject to the RapidAPI Terms of Service and your subscription plan. The MIT license does not grant access to the API.

License

MIT