How to integrate Ahrefs MCP with Mastra AI

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Ahrefs to Mastra AI using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Ahrefs agent that can get domain rating trend for competitor site, list all broken backlinks for my website, find keyword volume for 'ai tools' in us, show top referring domains for example.com through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Mastra AI agent real control over a Ahrefs account through Composio's Ahrefs MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Set up your environment so Mastra, OpenAI, and Composio work together
  • Create a Tool Router session in Composio that exposes Ahrefs tools
  • Connect Mastra's MCP client to the Composio generated MCP URL
  • Fetch Ahrefs tool definitions and attach them as a toolset
  • Build a Mastra agent that can reason, call tools, and return structured results
  • Run an interactive CLI where you can chat with your Ahrefs agent

What is Mastra AI?

Mastra AI is a TypeScript framework for building AI agents with tool support. It provides a clean API for creating agents that can use external services through MCP.

Key features include:

  • MCP Client: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol servers
  • Toolsets: Organize tools into logical groups
  • Step Callbacks: Monitor and debug agent execution
  • OpenAI Integration: Works with OpenAI models via @ai-sdk/openai

What is the Ahrefs MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Ahrefs MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Ahrefs account. It provides structured and secure access to your SEO and marketing data, so your agent can perform actions like analyzing backlinks, researching keywords, auditing domain authority, and uncovering competitive insights on your behalf.

  • Comprehensive backlink analysis: Instantly retrieve detailed backlink profiles, stats, and broken link data for any website to inform your SEO strategy or spot link-building opportunities.
  • Keyword research and trends: Explore keyword overviews, search volumes by country, and discover matching or related terms to optimize content and target the right audience.
  • Domain authority tracking: Fetch up-to-date domain ratings or track historical changes to monitor the SEO health and growth of your own sites or competitors over time.
  • Batch competitor and site analysis: Analyze up to 100 domains or URLs at once to compare SEO metrics, spot weaknesses, and benchmark your performance against competitors efficiently.
  • Outbound link and partnership insights: Identify all external domains a site links to, helping you understand content strategy, partnerships, and potential link-building prospects.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Backlinks stats retrievalRetrieves comprehensive backlink statistics for a specified website or url using ahrefs' site explorer tool.
Batch Url AnalysisPerforms a batch analysis on multiple urls or domains using ahrefs' powerful seo metrics.
Domain rating for site explorerRetrieves the domain rating (dr) for a specified domain.
Domain rating historyRetrieves the historical domain rating (dr) data for a specified domain over time.
Explore keywords overviewRetrieves a comprehensive overview of keyword data from ahrefs' keywords explorer tool.
Explore keyword volume by countryRetrieves the search volume data for specified keywords across different countries using ahrefs' keywords explorer tool.
Explore linked domains of a siteRetrieves a list of external domains that the specified target website or url links to, using ahrefs' site explorer functionality.
Explore matching terms for keywordsThe keywords explorer matching terms endpoint retrieves a list of keyword phrases that match or contain the specified keyword from ahrefs' vast database.
Fetch all backlinksRetrieves a comprehensive list of backlinks for a specified website or url using ahrefs' site explorer tool.
Fetch broken backlinks dataRetrieves a list of broken backlinks for a specified website using ahrefs' site explorer tool.
Fetch competitors overviewRetrieves a comprehensive overview of competitor data in relation to keyword rankings and organic search performance.
Fetch rank tracker overviewThe getranktrackeroverview endpoint retrieves a comprehensive summary of keyword rankings and seo performance data from ahrefs' rank tracker tool.
Fetch site explorer referring domainsRetrieves a list of domains that have backlinks pointing to a specified target website.
Fetch total search volume historyRetrieves the historical total search volume data for specified keywords using ahrefs' site explorer tool.
Get serp overviewRetrieves a comprehensive overview of search engine results pages (serp) data for specified keywords or queries.
Get site audit projectsRetrieves a list of site audit projects associated with the authenticated ahrefs account.
Get site explorer country metricsRetrieves country-specific site explorer metrics for a given website from ahrefs.
Get site explorer linked anchors externalThe site-explorer-linked-anchors-external endpoint retrieves data about external anchor texts linking to a specified target website.
Get url rating historyRetrieves the historical url rating data for a specified url over time.
Linked anchors explorerRetrieves information about internal linked anchors for a specified website using the ahrefs api.
List best by external linksThe 'get best by external links' endpoint retrieves a list of pages from a specified website, ranked by the number of external links pointing to them.
Pages by traffic overviewRetrieves a list of pages from a specified website, ordered by their estimated organic search traffic.
Retrieve anchor dataRetrieves anchor text data for a specified website or url using ahrefs' site explorer tool.
Retrieve best by internal linksRetrieves data on the best-performing internal links within a specified website using ahrefs' site explorer feature.
Retrieve crawler ip rangesRetrieves the list of ip address ranges used by ahrefs' web crawler (ahrefsbot).
Retrieve organic competitorsThe getorganiccompetitors endpoint in the ahrefs api provides a comprehensive analysis of websites competing for organic search rankings with a specified target domain.
Retrieve organic keywordsRetrieves organic keywords data for a specified website using ahrefs' site explorer tool.
Retrieve outlinks statsRetrieves comprehensive statistics about outgoing links (outlinks) from a specified website using ahrefs' site explorer tool.
Retrieve paid pages dataRetrieves information about paid pages (ppc advertising) for a specified website using ahrefs' site explorer tool.
Retrieve public crawler ipsRetrieves a list of ip addresses currently used by ahrefsbot, ahrefs' web crawler.
Retrieve related termsThe keywords explorer related terms endpoint retrieves a list of related terms for a given keyword using ahrefs' extensive keyword database.
Retrieve site explorer keywords historyRetrieves historical keyword performance data for a specified website or domain using ahrefs' site explorer.
Retrieve site explorer metricsThe getsiteexplorermetrics endpoint retrieves comprehensive seo metrics for a specified website using ahrefs' site explorer tool.
Retrieve site explorer metrics historyRetrieves historical seo metrics data for a specified website over a given time period.
Retrieve site explorer pages historyThe get site explorer pages history endpoint retrieves historical data about specific pages or domains from ahrefs' site explorer.
Retrieve site explorer referring domains historyRetrieves the historical data of referring domains for a specified website or url over time.
Retrieve subscription limits and usageRetrieves detailed information about the current subscription limits and usage for an ahrefs account.
Retrieve top pages from site explorerRetrieves data about the top-performing pages of a specified website using ahrefs' site explorer tool.
Retrieve volume historyRetrieves the historical search volume data for a specified keyword using ahrefs' keywords explorer tool.
Search suggestions explorerRetrieves search suggestions for a given keyword or phrase using ahrefs' keywords explorer tool.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Tool Router?

Composio's Tool Router helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Tool Router

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Tool Router works

The Tool Router follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Node.js 18 or higher
  • A Composio account with an active API key
  • An OpenAI API key
  • Basic familiarity with TypeScript

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key.
  • You need credits or a connected billing setup to use the models.
  • Store the key somewhere safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Go to Settings and copy your API key.
  • This key lets your Mastra agent talk to Composio and reach Ahrefs through MCP.

Install dependencies

bash
npm install @composio/core @mastra/core @mastra/mcp @ai-sdk/openai dotenv

Install the required packages.

What's happening:

  • @composio/core is the Composio SDK for creating MCP sessions
  • @mastra/core provides the Agent class
  • @mastra/mcp is Mastra's MCP client
  • @ai-sdk/openai is the model wrapper for OpenAI
  • dotenv loads environment variables from .env

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_USER_ID=your_user_id_here
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates your requests to Composio
  • COMPOSIO_USER_ID tells Composio which user this session belongs to
  • OPENAI_API_KEY lets the Mastra agent call OpenAI models

Import libraries and validate environment

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Agent } from "@mastra/core/agent";
import { MCPClient } from "@mastra/mcp";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";

import type { AiMessageType } from "@mastra/core/agent";

const openaiAPIKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!openaiAPIKey) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey as string,
});
What's happening:
  • dotenv/config auto loads your .env so process.env.* is available
  • openai gives you a Mastra compatible model wrapper
  • Agent is the Mastra agent that will call tools and produce answers
  • MCPClient connects Mastra to your Composio MCP server
  • Composio is used to create a Tool Router session

Create a Tool Router session for Ahrefs

typescript
async function main() {
  const session = await composio.create(
    composioUserID as string,
    {
      toolkits: ["ahrefs"],
    },
  );

  const composioMCPUrl = session.mcp.url;
  console.log("Ahrefs MCP URL:", composioMCPUrl);
What's happening:
  • create spins up a short-lived MCP HTTP endpoint for this user
  • The toolkits array contains "ahrefs" for Ahrefs access
  • session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that Mastra's MCPClient will connect to

Configure Mastra MCP client and fetch tools

typescript
const mcpClient = new MCPClient({
    id: composioUserID as string,
    servers: {
      nasdaq: {
        url: new URL(composioMCPUrl),
        requestInit: {
          headers: session.mcp.headers,
        },
      },
    },
    timeout: 30_000,
  });

console.log("Fetching MCP tools from Composio...");
const composioTools = await mcpClient.getTools();
console.log("Number of tools:", Object.keys(composioTools).length);
What's happening:
  • MCPClient takes an id for this client and a list of MCP servers
  • The headers property includes the x-api-key for authentication
  • getTools fetches the tool definitions exposed by the Ahrefs toolkit

Create the Mastra agent

typescript
const agent = new Agent({
    name: "ahrefs-mastra-agent",
    instructions: "You are an AI agent with Ahrefs tools via Composio.",
    model: "openai/gpt-5",
  });
What's happening:
  • Agent is the core Mastra agent
  • name is just an identifier for logging and debugging
  • instructions guide the agent to use tools instead of only answering in natural language
  • model uses openai("gpt-5") to configure the underlying LLM

Set up interactive chat interface

typescript
let messages: AiMessageType[] = [];

console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n");

const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: "> ",
});

rl.prompt();

rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
  const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

  if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log("\nGoodbye!");
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

  if (!trimmedInput) {
    rl.prompt();
    return;
  }

  messages.push({
    id: crypto.randomUUID(),
    role: "user",
    content: trimmedInput,
  });

  console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

  try {
    const response = await agent.generate(messages, {
      toolsets: {
        ahrefs: composioTools,
      },
      maxSteps: 8,
    });

    const { text } = response;

    if (text && text.trim().length > 0) {
      console.log(`Agent: ${text}\n`);
        messages.push({
          id: crypto.randomUUID(),
          role: "assistant",
          content: text,
        });
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nError:", error);
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    console.log("\nSession ended.");
    await mcpClient.disconnect();
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});
What's happening:
  • messages keeps the full conversation history in Mastra's expected format
  • agent.generate runs the agent with conversation history and Ahrefs toolsets
  • maxSteps limits how many tool calls the agent can take in a single run
  • onStepFinish is a hook that prints intermediate steps for debugging

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Ahrefs and Mastra AI:

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Agent } from "@mastra/core/agent";
import { MCPClient } from "@mastra/mcp";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";

import type { AiMessageType } from "@mastra/core/agent";

const openaiAPIKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!openaiAPIKey) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: composioAPIKey as string });

async function main() {
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID as string, {
    toolkits: ["ahrefs"],
  });

  const composioMCPUrl = session.mcp.url;

  const mcpClient = new MCPClient({
    id: composioUserID as string,
    servers: {
      ahrefs: {
        url: new URL(composioMCPUrl),
        requestInit: {
          headers: session.mcp.headers,
        },
      },
    },
    timeout: 30_000,
  });

  const composioTools = await mcpClient.getTools();

  const agent = new Agent({
    name: "ahrefs-mastra-agent",
    instructions: "You are an AI agent with Ahrefs tools via Composio.",
    model: "openai/gpt-5",
  });

  let messages: AiMessageType[] = [];

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: "> ",
  });

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on("line", async (input: string) => {
    const trimmed = input.trim();
    if (["exit", "quit"].includes(trimmed.toLowerCase())) {
      rl.close();
      return;
    }

    messages.push({ id: crypto.randomUUID(), role: "user", content: trimmed });

    const { text } = await agent.generate(messages, {
      toolsets: { ahrefs: composioTools },
      maxSteps: 8,
    });

    if (text) {
      console.log(`Agent: ${text}\n`);
      messages.push({ id: crypto.randomUUID(), role: "assistant", content: text });
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.disconnect();
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main();

Conclusion

You've built a Mastra AI agent that can interact with Ahrefs through Composio's Tool Router. You can extend this further by:
  • Adding other toolkits like Gmail, Slack, or GitHub
  • Building a web-based chat interface around this agent
  • Using multiple MCP endpoints to enable cross-app workflows

How to build Ahrefs MCP Agent with another framework

OpenAI Agents SDK

OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Ahrefs MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Use Ahrefs MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Google ADK

Google ADK

Use Ahrefs MCP with Google ADK

LangChain

LangChain

Use Ahrefs MCP with LangChain

Vercel AI SDK

Vercel AI SDK

Use Ahrefs MCP with Vercel AI SDK

LlamaIndex

LlamaIndex

Use Ahrefs MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI

CrewAI

Use Ahrefs MCP with CrewAI

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Ahrefs MCP?

With a standalone Ahrefs MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Ahrefs tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Ahrefs and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Mastra AI?

Yes, you can. Mastra AI fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Ahrefs tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Ahrefs while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Ahrefs scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Ahrefs data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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