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MCP Backlink Checker in VS Code

Check backlinks from a chat: does a page link to your domain, dofollow or nofollow, anchor text and robots guards. You give it referring page URLs and a target domain. link_check fetches one page and reports whether it links to the domain, dofollow or nofollow, the anchor text, HTTP status and page-level robots guards (meta robots and X-Robots-Tag noindex/nofollow). link_audit runs the same check across a list of URLs and returns one table row per link found. robots_guard_check reports just the robots signals on a URL without extracting links. The server makes one outbound GET per URL and stores nothing.

In agent mode link_audit is one of the tools the agent can reach mid-task, so a request like "audit these URLs before I commit the credits page" needs no second window.

What you get in VS Code

The suite is 8 tests, 8 passing, 0 failing (node --test), covering link extraction and classification, rel-splitting, page-level robots guards and the Pro gate on batch size. The smoke and license-gate tests sit alongside it.

Install it in VS Code

The file is .vscode/mcp.json, and the key inside it is servers.

If you also run Claude Desktop, the shortest path there is one click: backlink-checker.mcpb from the latest release opens as an extension, with no JSON and no terminal. VS Code reads its own config, so here it is:

// .vscode/mcp.json  (the key is "servers")
{
  "servers": {
    "backlink-checker": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/backlink-checker/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Or from a terminal:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"backlink-checker","command":"node","args":["/absolute/path/to/mcp-servers/servers/backlink-checker/dist/index.js"]}'

The node command above wants a built file. From a clone, once:

git clone https://github.com/theluckystrike/mcp-servers.git
cd mcp-servers && npm install
npm run build -w packages/mcp-license -w servers/backlink-checker

That writes servers/backlink-checker/dist/index.js, and its absolute path is the one argument the config needs.

The npm packages are not published yet, so the form below returns a 404 today. It is here because it is what the entry becomes the day the publish lands, with nothing else changed:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"backlink-checker","command":"npx","args":["-y","@theluckystrike/mcp-backlink-checker"]}'

VS Code asks you to confirm you trust the server and its capabilities before it starts. Nothing runs until you answer.

Nothing is published to npm yet, so the working install paths are the ones above: the .mcpb bundle from the latest release, a clone and build, or the hosted URL.

No install: the hosted endpoint

The same server runs at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/backlink-checker over MCP streamable HTTP, no install. Mint a free token with curl https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/token, or use a Pro key. It has no filesystem, so a file comes back as a one-hour download link.

{
  "servers": {
    "backlink-checker": {
      "url": "https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/backlink-checker",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <token>" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code notes worth knowing first

The top-level key is "servers", not "mcpServers". A config pasted from a Claude Desktop or Cursor README parses cleanly, contributes no servers, and gives you no error to read, which makes it the most expensive one-word mistake here. Alongside it an "inputs" array holds secrets. The newer Agent Host reads a workspace .mcp.json instead.

Free: link_check and robots_guard_check are free and unlimited; link_audit covers up to 3 URLs per call on the free tier. Reads are free on every tier. Pro is $19 once, verified offline.

Questions

Why does my mcp.json do nothing?

The key is servers, not mcpServers. A config copied from a Claude Desktop README parses cleanly and contributes nothing. Rename it. On the newer Agent Host, use a workspace .mcp.json instead.

Do I have to edit the file at all?

No. code --add-mcp takes the server object on the command line, and MCP: Add Server in the palette asks whether the target is Workspace or Global.

Where do the MCP Backlink Checker tools show up?

In Chat, behind the tools picker, once the server has started. Adding or changing one raises a prompt asking you to confirm you trust it; if the picker is empty, that prompt is usually still waiting.

Related

MCP Backlink Checker in detail · The same server in Cursor and Windsurf · Every server in VS Code · Guides · VS Code docs · Buy Pro