FirstHandAPI

ARCHIVED 2026-08-22 — FirstHandAPI is shut down and this server no longer works.

api.firsthandapi.com is permanently offline. Every tool in this MCP server returns a network error, and the @firsthandapi/mcp-server npm package is deprecated on all versions. The signup flow below cannot issue keys.

Write-up of what was built and why it was killed: https://jjfisher.dev/writing/2026-w34-firsthandapi-postmortem

Kept read-only as a reference implementation of an MCP server with a keyless bootstrap tool.

@firsthandapi/mcp-server — FirstHandAPI MCP Server

Zero-to-job for agents (bootstrap mode)

No API key yet? Start the server anyway — it exposes a single signup tool:

npx @firsthandapi/mcp-server        # no env var needed

Call signup with an org_name and email to receive an API key and $2.50 in free credits (the key is shown once — save it), then restart configured:

claude mcp add firsthandapi -e FIRSTHAND_API_KEY=fh_live_... -- npx @firsthandapi/mcp-server

With the key set, all 7 job tools unlock: create_job, create_job_and_wait, get_job, list_jobs, get_job_files, cancel_job, get_credits.

Official MCP server for FirstHandAPI — human-in-the-loop (HITL) crowdsourced data collection. Enables Claude Code, Cursor, and other AI agents to collect photos, audio, video, and screen recordings from real human workers with automated AI quality scoring.

Use cases: UGC collection, ground truth data for AI evaluation, LLM training data for multimodal models.

Installation

npm install @firsthandapi/mcp-server

Configuration

Claude Code

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "firsthand": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@firsthandapi/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "FIRSTHAND_API_KEY": "fh_live_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "firsthand": {
    "command": "npx @firsthandapi/mcp-server",
    "env": { "FIRSTHAND_API_KEY": "fh_live_..." }
  }
}

Tools

Tool	Description
create_job	Post a content collection job
get_job	Get job status and details
create_job_and_wait	Post a job and wait for completion
list_jobs	List all jobs with filters
cancel_job	Cancel an open job
get_job_files	Get approved files with download URLs
get_credits	Check credit balance

All job creation tools accept an optional location parameter: { city, state } for text-based or { latitude, longitude, radius_km } for coordinate-based constraints.

Environment Variables

• FIRSTHAND_API_KEY (required) — Your API key
• FIRSTHAND_BASE_URL (optional) — API base URL (default: https://api.firsthandapi.com)
• FIRSTHAND_TIMEOUT_MS (optional) — Request timeout (default: 30000)

License

Proprietary