MCP Servers for Web Capture — Screenshots, Scraping & PDFs in Your AI Editor

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) lets AI assistants use external tools — search the web, query databases, interact with APIs. For web developers, MCP servers that provide web capture capabilities are particularly powerful: take screenshots, scrape pages, extract structured data, and generate PDFs without leaving your editor. This guide covers what MCP is, how to set up web capture MCP servers, and how SnapAPI's MCP server gives you 9 capture tools in any compatible client.

What is the Model Context Protocol?

MCP is an open standard created by Anthropic that lets AI applications connect to external data sources and tools. Think of it as a plugin system for AI — instead of the AI only knowing what's in its training data, MCP servers give it access to real-time APIs, databases, and services.

MCP works with a client-server architecture. The AI application (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code Copilot) is the client. MCP servers provide tools that the AI can call. When you ask "take a screenshot of this page," the AI calls the screenshot tool on the MCP server, which calls the API and returns the result.

Supported MCP Clients

SnapAPI MCP Server

The snapapi-mcp npm package provides 9 web capture tools that work with any MCP-compatible client. Install it once, and your AI assistant can take screenshots, scrape pages, extract data, generate PDFs, record videos, and analyze pages:

Installation

# Install globally
npm install -g snapapi-mcp

# Or use npx (no install needed)
npx snapapi-mcp

Claude Desktop Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "snapapi": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "snapapi-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SNAPAPI_API_KEY": "sk_live_your_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code Configuration

// .mcp.json in your project root
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "snapapi": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "snapapi-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SNAPAPI_API_KEY": "sk_live_your_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor Configuration

# In Cursor: Settings → MCP → Add Server
# Name: snapapi
# Command: npx -y snapapi-mcp
# Environment: SNAPAPI_API_KEY=sk_live_your_key

Available Tools

The SnapAPI MCP server provides 9 tools that your AI assistant can use:

Real-World Usage Examples

Here are practical scenarios where web capture MCP tools save time during development:

Capture a competitor's page for design reference

You: "Take a full-page screenshot of stripe.com/pricing on both desktop and iPhone 14"

AI: I'll capture both versions for you.
[Calls screenshot tool twice with different device presets]
Here are the screenshots:
- Desktop: [link to desktop screenshot]
- iPhone 14: [link to mobile screenshot]

Extract structured data from a page

You: "Extract all the pricing plans from snapapi.pics including plan names, prices, and features"

AI: I'll extract that data for you.
[Calls extract tool with a pricing schema]
Here's the structured data:
- Free: $0/mo — 200 captures, all endpoints
- Starter: $19/mo — 5,000 captures, priority support
- Pro: $79/mo — 50,000 captures, webhooks, custom CSS
- Business: $299/mo — 500,000 captures, dedicated support

Generate a PDF for documentation

You: "Create a PDF of our API docs at docs.example.com/api for offline reference"

AI: I'll generate that PDF now.
[Calls pdf tool with the URL]
Here's your PDF: [link to generated PDF]
The document is A4 format with all content rendered including code blocks.

Building Your Own MCP Server

If you want to build a custom MCP server, here's the basic structure using the official TypeScript SDK:

import { Server } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/index.js';
import { StdioServerTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js';

const server = new Server({
  name: 'my-web-tools',
  version: '1.0.0',
}, {
  capabilities: { tools: {} },
});

server.setRequestHandler('tools/list', async () => ({
  tools: [{
    name: 'screenshot',
    description: 'Capture a screenshot of a webpage',
    inputSchema: {
      type: 'object',
      properties: {
        url: { type: 'string', description: 'URL to capture' },
        width: { type: 'number', default: 1280 },
      },
      required: ['url'],
    },
  }],
}));

server.setRequestHandler('tools/call', async (request) => {
  if (request.params.name === 'screenshot') {
    const { url, width } = request.params.arguments;
    // Call your screenshot API here
    const result = await captureScreenshot(url, width);
    return {
      content: [{
        type: 'text',
        text: `Screenshot captured: ${result.url}`,
      }],
    };
  }
});

const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
await server.connect(transport);

Building a full-featured MCP server with screenshot, scraping, extraction, PDF, and video tools takes significant effort. SnapAPI's snapapi-mcp package provides all 9 tools ready to use — just install and configure your API key.