About Recao
Recao is a hosted MCP server for app developers researching competitors’ EU App Store ads. It searches Apple’s public Ad Repository and ranks ads by how long they have run, with creative and placement details.
Key features
- 01Find advertisers by app or developer
- 02List EU App Store ads by longevity
- 03View creative and placement details
- 04Inspect locale variants and asset URLs
- 05Access Apple Search Ads playbooks
Use cases
- 01Compare competitors’ long-running ads
- 02Review localization across ad variants
- 03Explore competitor creatives and placements
MCP support
The hosted MCP server connects over streamable HTTP at https://recao.app/api/mcp. It exposes tools to search advertisers, retrieve ads and details, and access playbooks.
Configuration
Remote servers need no local install. Pick your client, then copy the config or install in one click.
https://recao.app/api/mcpclaude mcp add --transport http app-recao-recao https://recao.app/api/mcp{"mcpServers":{"app-recao-recao":{"type":"http","url":"https://recao.app/api/mcp"}}}Open in Cursor{"servers":{"app-recao-recao":{"type":"http","url":"https://recao.app/api/mcp"}}}Open in VS Code{"mcpServers":{"app-recao-recao":{"type":"http","url":"https://recao.app/api/mcp"}}}{"mcpServers":{"app-recao-recao":{"serverUrl":"https://recao.app/api/mcp"}}}Run commands in a terminal; paste JSON into the client’s MCP config and restart. Servers that need sign-in will prompt on first connect.
Tools
17| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| name | string | Yes | App or developer name to search for |
| types | enum | No | APP | DEVELOPER |
Details
From the project READMERecao MCP
Query your competitors' App Store ads from inside Claude Code.
Recao is a weekly competitor-ad report for app developers. You paste your app once at recao.app, and every week you get the ads your competitors are running on the EU App Store: the creative copy, the placements, the formats, and how long each ad has stayed live. This repository documents the hosted MCP server that Indie and Pro users point their MCP client at to ask the same questions live, between reports.
The product source is not in this repo. This is the manifest and docs for the hosted remote endpoint.
Install
claude mcp add --transport http recao https://recao.app/api/mcp
Any MCP client that speaks streamable HTTP can connect to https://recao.app/api/mcp. No auth during early access.
Tools
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
search_app_advertiser | Find an app or developer in Apple's Ad Repository by name. Returns the ids the other tools take. Start here. |
get_competitor_ads | Pull every App Store ad an advertiser ran in the EU (up to 1 year back), sorted by how long each has been live. An ad the advertiser keeps paying for is the closest public signal that it converts. |
get_ad_details | Full detail for one ad: every locale variant, creative asset URLs, icon variations, placements, and date range. Shows how a competitor localizes a winning ad. |
get_playbook | An Apple Search Ads playbook for indie apps, wired to the data tools. Call with no argument to list the available playbooks. |
Example
> Which ads has Fabulous kept running the longest in the EU?
search_app_advertiser "fabulous" → Fabulous: Daily Habit Tracker
get_competitor_ads (APP, LAST_YEAR)
Longest-running creatives first:
1. "Healthy Routines & Motivation" — search results,
16 storefronts, live 365+ days
2. "Santé Mentale & Motivation" — FR only, live 365+ days
(a mental-health angle running only in France)
One angle funded for over a year across 16 countries.
France runs a different first line — a live localization
test you can read for free.
> Show me every locale variant of creative #1
get_ad_details
The German variant leads on data privacy, the Spanish one
on prediction accuracy. Same placement, same format,
different opening line.
Numbers depend on live data; run the query to see current results.
Data source and legality
- Source: Apple's official Ad Repository, published under Article 39 of the EU Digital Services Act. Public, free, no auth. Recao adds search, normalization, longevity ranking, and the MCP interface on top.
- Coverage: 25 EU storefronts (the DSA's scope), roughly 1 year of rolling history, about a 7-day publication lag.
- No keywords, bids, or spend. No legal source publishes competitor keywords, bids, or spend. Tools that show those numbers are estimating them. Recao reports only what is measurable: the creatives and how long each has run.
- Channels: Apple App Store is live today. Meta is in setup and uses the equivalent EU ad transparency data.
Pricing
Free (weekly report), Indie €29/mo, Pro €79/mo. Live MCP querying is included on Indie and Pro. See recao.app for current terms.
Links
- Site: https://recao.app
- Endpoint:
https://recao.app/api/mcp
License
MIT. See LICENSE. This repo covers the server manifest, schema, and examples. The underlying ad data belongs to Apple's public Ad Repository and its terms.
Comments
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