GoogleNot published by vendorVerified 2026-10-18

Google Search Console API for AI agents

Free API for the clicks, impressions, queries and indexing status of sites you manage in Search Console. Needs OAuth (read-only scope available); quotas are generous for one site.

CompareDocs

Verified factsChecked 2026-10-18

PriceFree: Google says all use of the Search Console API is free of charge, subject to usage limits.3 [Verified 2026-10-18]
API key / authOAuth 2.0 access token with scope webmasters.readonly (read-only) or webmasters (read/write), for a Google account with owner, full or read access to the property. Our request without a token on 2026-10-18 returned HTTP 401 UNAUTHENTICATED.6 [Verified 2026-10-18]
Rate limitSearch Analytics: 1,200 queries a minute per site and per user, 40,000 a minute and 30,000,000 a day per project, plus short- and long-term load quotas. URL Inspection: 2,000 a day and 600 a minute per site. Other resources: 20 a second and 200 a minute per user.4 [Verified 2026-10-18]
Row limitrowLimit is 1–25,000 (default 1,000); page with startRow. Google says the API returns top rows, not necessarily every row. Dates are in Pacific Time.7 [Verified 2026-10-18]
TermsGoogle APIs Terms of Service (last modified Nov 9, 2021) apply, including the API Services User Data Policy if your app handles other people’s data.5 [Verified 2026-10-18]
MCP server (community)No official Google MCP server for Search Console. A widely used open-source one is AminForou/mcp-gsc (MIT license, about 1,965 GitHub stars on 2026-10-18).8 [Verified 2026-10-18]

FeaturesChecked 2026-10-18

YesNoN/ANot published
CapabilityValueNote
StatusThe API docs (v3 / webmasters) carry no stage label.Not published1 [Not published by vendor: checked 2026-10-18 on https://developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/about]The API docs (v3 / webmasters) carry no stage label.
API key requiredOAuth 2.0 token. Scopes webmasters.readonly or webmasters; our request without a token returned HTTP 401.Yes2 [Verified 2026-10-18 by test request to https://www.googleapis.com/webmasters/v3/sites/sc-domain%3Aexample.com/searchAnalytics/query]OAuth 2.0 token. Scopes webmasters.readonly or webmasters; our request without a token returned HTTP 401.
Free tierFree of charge. Google says all use is free, subject to usage limits.Yes3 [Verified 2026-10-18 on https://developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/pricing]Free of charge. Google says all use is free, subject to usage limits.
Rate limitSearch Analytics; 40,000/min and 30M/day per project, plus load quotas. URL Inspection: 2,000/day per site.1,200/min per site and per user4 [Verified 2026-10-18 on https://developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/limits]Search Analytics; 40,000/min and 30M/day per project, plus load quotas. URL Inspection: 2,000/day per site.
Official MCP serverCommunity servers only. No Google MCP server; AminForou/mcp-gsc is an MIT-licensed community option.No8 [Verified 2026-10-18 on https://github.com/AminForou/mcp-gsc]Community servers only. No Google MCP server; AminForou/mcp-gsc is an MIT-licensed community option.
Official SDKGoogle API client libraries. Google recommends its client libraries, which also handle OAuth.Yes1 [Verified 2026-10-18 on https://developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/about]Google API client libraries. Google recommends its client libraries, which also handle OAuth.
Data license / termsPlus the API Services User Data Policy for apps that handle other people’s data.Google APIs Terms of Service5 [Verified 2026-10-18 on https://developers.google.com/terms]Plus the API Services User Data Policy for apps that handle other people’s data.
Commercial use allowedAllowed under Google APIs ToS. The terms carry no non-commercial restriction; the data is about sites you manage.Yes5 [Verified 2026-10-18 on https://developers.google.com/terms]Allowed under Google APIs ToS. The terms carry no non-commercial restriction; the data is about sites you manage.
CORS / browser useOrigin echoed back. A preflight to www.googleapis.com/webmasters/v3 returned Access-Control-Allow-Origin for our origin.Yes9 [Verified 2026-10-18 by test request to https://www.googleapis.com/webmasters/v3/sites]Origin echoed back. A preflight to www.googleapis.com/webmasters/v3 returned Access-Control-Allow-Origin for our origin.
Freshness / coveragedataState all includes fresh, partial data; hourly_all gives hourly rows.Finalized by default; “all” adds fresh7 [Verified 2026-10-18 on https://developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/v1/searchanalytics/query]dataState all includes fresh, partial data; hourly_all gives hourly rows.

What it does

The Search Console API exposes the same data as the Search Console dashboard for properties you own or have been granted: Search Analytics (clicks, impressions, CTR and position by query, page, country, device, date or hour), sitemaps, the list of sites, and URL Inspection for a page’s index status. An agent with a read-only token can answer questions like which queries lost clicks last week or which pages are not indexed. Google’s own client libraries handle OAuth; community MCP servers wrap the API for Claude and Cursor.

Working exampleNot run: needs an OAuth token for a verified Search Console property

Documented request, not run by us: needs an OAuth token for a verified Search Console property. The response below is what we did run on 2026-10-18.

# Not run: needs an OAuth token for a property you manage
curl -X POST \
  "https://www.googleapis.com/webmasters/v3/sites/sc-domain%3Aexample.com/searchAnalytics/query" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GSC_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"startDate":"2026-10-01","endDate":"2026-10-15","dimensions":["query"],"rowLimit":10}'

Response (trimmed)

Not run with a token. What we did run on 2026-10-18 (same call, no token):
HTTP 401
{"error":{"code":401,"message":"Request is missing required authentication credential. Expected OAuth 2 access token, ...",
  "status":"UNAUTHENTICATED", ...}}

Agent setup

Prompt to give your agent

You have read-only Search Console access for sc-domain:example.com. Compare clicks and impressions by query for the last 28 days against the 28 days before (dates in Pacific Time). List the 10 biggest losers with page URLs. Query one dimension set at a time, keep rowLimit modest, and say if results look truncated rather than presenting them as complete.

Agent / MCP-style tool snippet

// Claude Desktop / Cursor: community MCP server AminForou/mcp-gsc (MIT), per its README
// Create an OAuth desktop client in Google Cloud first and download client_secrets.json.
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gscServer": {
      "command": "/FULL/PATH/TO/uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-search-console"],
      "env": { "GSC_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE": "/full/path/to/client_secrets.json" }
    }
  }
}
// For reporting only, give the Google account behind it read access to the property, not owner.

Fit and safety

Good for

  • Weekly SEO reports an agent writes from your own Search Console data
  • Finding queries and pages that lost clicks
  • Checking index status of new pages with URL Inspection

Watch out

  • Do not use it for sites you don’t manage. It only returns data for properties your Google account can access.
  • Do not give an agent the read/write webmasters scope for reporting. webmasters.readonly is enough to read performance data.
  • Do not treat results as complete. Google returns top rows only, and grouping by both page and query is the most expensive and most truncated query.
  • Do not expect today’s numbers by default. Finalized data is the default; pass dataState "all" for fresh, partial data.

Alternatives

Bing Webmaster Tools APIBing’s equivalent search-performance data for the same sites.
AgentAPIList MCPKeyless MCP for API pricing and agent-tool data, not your own site’s traffic.
Exa hosted MCPTo see what ranks on the open web, rather than your own site’s Google data.

FAQ

Is the Google Search Console API free?

Yes. Google says all use of the Search Console API is free of charge, subject to usage limits.

Can Claude read my Search Console data?

Yes, through an MCP server that calls the Search Console API with an OAuth token you grant. Use the read-only webmasters.readonly scope.

How many rows can the Search Console API return?

Up to 25,000 rows per request (default 1,000), paged with startRow. Google returns top rows, not every row.

Compare

Put Google Search Console API side by side with other free agent tools on keys, limits, MCP support, licensing and CORS. Open the comparison grid →

SourcesFootnotes

  1. 1developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/aboutVerified 2026-10-18
  2. 2googleapis.com/webmasters/v3/sites/sc-domain%3Aexample.com/searchAnalytiTested 2026-10-18
  3. 3developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/pricingVerified 2026-10-18
  4. 4developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/limitsVerified 2026-10-18
  5. 5developers.google.com/termsVerified 2026-10-18
  6. 6developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/v1/how-tos/authorizingVerified 2026-10-18
  7. 7developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/v1/searchanalytics/queryVerified 2026-10-18
  8. 8github.com/AminForou/mcp-gscVerified 2026-10-18
  9. 9googleapis.com/webmasters/v3/sitesTested 2026-10-18