Use SEOmatic in Cline
Updated
Before you start
Cline (VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin or CLI) and a free SEOmatic account, which you can create during sign-in. For a machine with no browser, an API key from Settings, AI Agents, API Keys goes in an Authorization header instead.
Connect Cline#
- Open Cline's MCP settings. Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline panel, open the Configure tab and click Configure MCP Servers. This opens ~/.cline/data/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json. Or use the Remote Servers tab: name seomatic, URL https://app.seomatic.ai/api/mcp, transport Streamable HTTP, Add Server.
- Add SEOmatic. Add a seomatic server with type streamableHttp and the URL https://app.seomatic.ai/api/mcp under mcpServers, as in the snippet below. Keep the type: without it Cline falls back to legacy SSE.
- Click Authenticate. On the seomatic card, click Authenticate. Sign in or create a free SEOmatic account in the browser that opens, approve access and pick your site.
- Ask your first question. Try “Audit our live site with SEOmatic and plan the fixes.”
Cline setup
// ~/.cline/data/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json
// (MCP Servers icon > Configure > Configure MCP Servers)
{
"mcpServers": {
"seomatic": {
"type": "streamableHttp",
"url": "https://app.seomatic.ai/api/mcp",
"disabled": false,
"autoApprove": []
}
}
}
# then click Authenticate on the seomatic card
# CLI: cline mcp add seomatic https://app.seomatic.ai/api/mcp --transport http --yesNote
On a machine with no browser, skip the sign-in: add "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer smk_live_..." } to the entry with a key from Settings, AI Agents, API Keys. A key from a free workspace covers every read and analysis tool; a paid workspace can also stage fixes. Keep the key out of version control.
Settings Block, Remote Servers Tab, CLI or Skills?
| Route | Best for | How |
|---|---|---|
| Settings block with sign-in | Most people. You see exactly what goes in the config | Paste the seomatic server into Cline's MCP settings with "type": "streamableHttp" and the URL, then click Authenticate on the server card. Headless machine? Add "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer smk_live_..." } instead and skip the sign-in. |
| Remote Servers tab | No JSON. Name, URL, transport, done | MCP Servers icon, Remote Servers tab: Server Name seomatic, Server URL https://app.seomatic.ai/api/mcp, Transport Type Streamable HTTP, Add Server. Then Authenticate. |
| Cline CLI | Cline in the terminal, or the same file from a script | cline mcp add seomatic https://app.seomatic.ai/api/mcp --transport http --yes, then Authorize OAuth from the MCP wizard. Writes the same shared settings file. |
| Skills | Repos where you want the same SEO playbooks every time | npx skills add Minh42/seomatic-mcp --full-depth -a cline. Installs SEOmatic's 20 SEO skills: the CLI skill runs with SEOMATIC_API_KEY, the other 19 use SEOmatic's MCP server. All of them: SEO skills. |
Pick the settings block. It takes a minute, no key sits in a file, and Cline lists every SEOmatic tool once you approve the sign-in. The same file serves the VS Code extension, the JetBrains plugin and the CLI.
Try Asking#
- “Audit our live site with SEOmatic and plan the fixes before changing any files.”
- “Which pages have the highest impressions and lowest CTR, and what should their titles say?”
- “Find the pages with a noindex that should be indexed.”
- “Check index status for the URLs in our sitemap and explain the exclusions.”
- “Our clicks dropped last week. Which page lost them, and did a commit cause it?”
- “Before we change the homepage title, show me the queries it ranks for today.”
What It Costs#
Connecting is free. Reading your own data never uses credits: Search Console performance and insights, index status, rankings, site audits, AI citations, traffic and your tasks. Only live market lookups (keyword metrics, search results, backlinks), AI visibility scans and the fixes you approve use AI credits; every tool is labelled free or billed. On the Free plan, market lookups count against 5 free questions a month. The workspace Owner sees every credit spent, by feature, in Settings > Usage. Cline itself is billed by its maker, not by SEOmatic: nothing on our side counts tokens.
Nothing Changes on Your Site Without Your Approval#
Cline asks before it edits files, and SEOmatic asks before it changes your live site: anything it would change through a connected CMS is staged, never pushed. A staged change is a proposal: it says what will change and why, and nothing touches your site until you approve it. The assistant records your decision, and it is told never to approve anything on its own judgment. Approved fixes start within seconds, the page's previous state is stored, and any applied change can be rolled back. Changes that could take a page out of Google, like a noindex, need an extra explicit confirmation.
- Cline says SEOmatic is connected but answers without my data.
- Start a new chat and check that SEOmatic is enabled for that conversation in the tools menu. This is the step most people miss.
- The SEOmatic page says "This connection request expired".
- Start the connection again from Cline, or paste the setup prompt again.
- The Authorize page shows the wrong email or no workspace.
- Click Switch account on that page and sign in with the SEOmatic account that owns the site.
- Why does Cline say it cannot change my site?
- Fixes need a live paid plan or trial. On the Free plan, or when billing is paused or failed, your assistant can read and answer only.
- How do I disconnect?
- Open Settings > AI Agents, scroll to API Keys and delete the row named OAuth: Cline. See disconnect an assistant.
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Still need help?Email contact@seomatic.ai with your site address and a screenshot. A person replies, usually within one business day.