tiovikram/ycombinator-mcp

Y Combinator Companies MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server that provides access to Y Combinator's company directory. This server enables LLMs to search through YC companies and retrieve detailed information about specific companies, including founder details, company metrics, job postings, and recent news.

Available Tools

searchCompanies

Search for Y Combinator companies with comprehensive filtering options.

Required arguments: None (all arguments are optional)

Optional arguments:

• query (string): Search query to find companies by name or description
• hitsPerPage (number): Number of results per page (1-1000, default: 100)
• page (number): Page number for pagination (minimum: 0, default: 0)
• industries (array): Filter by industries (e.g., ["Fintech", "Healthcare", "B2B"])
• regions (array): Filter by regions (e.g., ["United States of America", "Europe"])
• batch (array): Filter by YC batch (e.g., ["Summer 2024", "Winter 2025"])
• isHiring (boolean): Filter companies that are currently hiring
• nonprofit (boolean): Filter nonprofit organizations
• top_company (boolean): Filter top-tier companies
• minCompanySize (number): Minimum team size
• maxCompanySize (number): Maximum team size
• hasApplicationAnswers (boolean): Filter companies with public application answers
• hasBonusQuestions (boolean): Filter companies with bonus question answers
• hasPublicApplicationVideo (boolean): Filter companies with public application videos
• hasPublicDemoDayVideo (boolean): Filter companies with public demo day videos

getCompanyDetails

Get detailed information about a specific Y Combinator company.

Required arguments:

• slug (string): The company's URL slug (e.g., "airbnb", "stripe")

Returns:

• Company name, description, and website
• Company logo and tags
• Founder information with social profiles
• Recent company news
• Current job postings
• Social media links

Installation

Using npm

npm install ycombinator-mcp-server

Using pnpm (recommended)

pnpm install ycombinator-mcp-server

After installation, you can run it using:

ycombinator-mcp-server

Using Docker

docker pull ghcr.io/tiovikram/ycombinator-mcp-server
docker tag ghcr.io/tiovikram/ycombinator-mcp-server ycombinator-mcp-server
docker run -i --rm -e APP_ID=<YOUR_APP_ID_ENV_VAR> -e API_KEY=<YOUR_API_KEY_ENV_VAR> ycombinator-mcp-server

Configuration

Environment Variables

• APP_ID (required): The App ID for YC search
• API_KEY (required): The API Key for YC search

Configure for Claude.app

Add to your Claude settings:

Using npx

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "yc-companies": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "ycombinator-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
		"APP_ID": "<YOUR_APP_ID_ENV_VAR>",
		"API_KEY": "<YOUR_API_KEY_ENV_VAR>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using Docker

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ycombinator-mcp-server": {
      "command": "docker",
	  "args": [
		"run",
		"-i",
		"--rm",
		"-e",
		"APP_ID",
		"-e",
		"API_KEY",
		"ghcr.io/tiovikram/ycombinator-mcp-server"
	  ],
	  "env": {
        "APP_ID": "<YOUR_APP_ID_ENV_VAR>",
		"API_KEY": "<YOUR_API_KEY_ENV_VAR>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Example Interactions

1. Search for fintech companies currently hiring:

{
  "name": "searchCompanies",
  "arguments": {
    "industries": ["Fintech"],
    "isHiring": true,
    "hitsPerPage": 10
  }
}

2. Find companies from recent batches:

{
  "name": "searchCompanies",
  "arguments": {
    "batch": ["Summer 2024", "Winter 2025"],
    "regions": ["United States of America"]
  }
}

3. Search for AI/ML companies:

{
  "name": "searchCompanies",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "artificial intelligence machine learning",
    "industries": ["B2B"],
    "top_company": true
  }
}

4. Get detailed information about a specific company:

{
  "name": "getCompanyDetails",
  "arguments": {
    "slug": "openai"
  }
}

5. Find healthcare startups with public demo videos:

{
  "name": "searchCompanies",
  "arguments": {
    "industries": ["Healthcare"],
    "hasPublicDemoDayVideo": true,
    "minCompanySize": 10
  }
}