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Run your Instagram auto-replies from Claude, Cursor, or the terminal

PostEngage speaks MCP — the Model Context Protocol. Generate one key, drop it into your AI client, and you can read and steer your automations from the same window you write everything else in. This walks through the setup, what the agent can and cannot do, and why that boundary is where it is.

Most of the time you are in your automations because something happened — a rule did not fire, a post is about to go up and you want to pause everything off-brand, a lead came in and you want to see it. And most of the time, you are already in Claude or Cursor when you notice. Switching to a browser, finding the rule, and clicking is friction the agent can remove.

PostEngage exposes its automations over MCP, so your AI client can do the reading and the steering for you. You ask "which of my rules are live?" or "pause the beta-invite rule, I'm posting something unrelated" and it happens, in the window you were already in.

Step 1 — Make a key

A key is how a program proves it is you. Generate one in the app; it is free on every plan.

  1. Open Settings → Developer.
  2. Name a key for where it will live — "Claude on my laptop" — and create it.
  3. Copy the pe_live_… value now. It is shown once and never again. If you lose it, revoke it and make another; there is nothing to un-hide.

Step 2 — Connect your client

The server is an npm package run with npx, so there is nothing to install. Give your client the command and your key.

Claude Code — one line:

claude mcp add postengage -- npx -y postengage-mcp

Then set the key in the environment it runs with (POSTENGAGE_API_KEY).

Claude Desktop or Cursor — add the server to the MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "postengage": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "postengage-mcp"],
      "env": { "POSTENGAGE_API_KEY": "pe_live_…" }
    }
  }
}

Restart the client and it will list the PostEngage tools. Ask it something simple first — "what's my PostEngage account status?" — to confirm the key works.

Step 3 — Use it

Talk to it in plain language. The agent picks the tool.

  1. "List my automations." You get every rule with its status and counts.
  2. "Pause the TESTER rule." It finds the id and pauses it. "Resume it" turns it back on.
  3. "Why didn't my beta-invite rule reply to the last few comments?" It reads the runs and reads back the reason on each — a blocked send, a closed window, an out-of-credits skip.
  4. "Draft a rule that replies to comments saying PRICE with 'check your DMs'." It creates a draft. Nothing goes live until you turn it on — in the app, or by asking the agent to resume it.

Why the agent can't delete anything

The boundary is deliberate. A key reads and runs automations; it cannot end the account, change billing, alter your login, or mint another key. Those need a browser sign-in.

Two reasons. First, blast radius: a key sits in a config file on your machine, and if it leaks, the most someone can do is pause a rule — annoying, instantly reversible, and revocable in one click. Second, prompt-injection: an agent reading a lead's message is reading text a stranger wrote, and a destructive verb that does not exist cannot be talked into being used. The tools return data, never instructions.

What it costs

Nothing to connect, and the actions cost what they already do: pausing, resuming and drafting are free; an AI-written reply spends a credit whether the model wrote it from the app or because an agent turned a rule on. The MCP does not change the meter — it just moves the switch to where you work.

Start at Settings → Developer, and if you have not built a rule yet, the comment-automation guide is the ten-minute version.

Questions people ask

Does the MCP cost extra?
No. The MCP server and API keys are free on every plan, including Free. What the actions cost is what they already cost in the app: templated replies and pausing are free, an AI-written reply spends a credit, and the inbox and leads need a paid plan. The MCP is a second door to the same metered product, not a separate product.
What can a key actually do?
It reads your automations, runs and leads, and it can pause, resume and draft automations. It cannot delete anything, change billing, touch your login, or make another key — those stay behind a browser sign-in. So the worst case for a leaked key is someone pausing a rule, and you can revoke it in one click.
Where is the key stored?
Only as a hash on our side — the raw pe_live_ key is shown once, at creation, and never again. It lives in your MCP client config on your own machine. If you lose it, you revoke it and make a new one; there is no "show me the key again".
Which clients work?
Anything that speaks MCP over stdio: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Cursor are the common ones, and the config is the same shape for each. The server is a small npm package run with npx, so there is nothing to install globally.

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