The engine, not just the app.

Everything the hosted product does is reachable from your own code. How do I call Ascent? A typed client or the HTTP service. Can my own agent drive it? An MCP server. Can I self-host Ascent? A licensed build, on your own infrastructure with your own provider keys.

Six ways to ship it.

Analyze a site in about a minute.

Install the SDK, point it at a site with the sitemap content adapter, and run an audit. No keys needed for analyze().

# install (licensed — see the access note below)
npm i @ascent/seo-agent

import { createSeoAgent, sitemapAdapter } from '@ascent/seo-agent'

// the sitemap adapter is the no-code source of pages to audit
const { listIndexableEntities } = sitemapAdapter({ origin: 'https://acme.com' })

const seo = createSeoAgent(
  { site: { domain: 'acme.com' } },
  { listIndexableEntities },
)

const { issues } = await seo.analyze()
console.log(issues)

generate() (AI content proposals) and run() (the job loop) take the provider and storage seams — see the SDK section.

The SDK — one facade, four profiles.

createSeoAgent(config, deps) wraps the pure cores and returns { analyze, generate, run }. A runtime layer detects Node / Deno / edge / browser and splits trusted (server, holds keys) from untrusted (browser, proxies secret calls to the service). An offline ES256 license gate reuses your entitlements.

import { createSeoAgent, sitemapAdapter, memoryStore } from '@ascent/seo-agent'

const seo = createSeoAgent(
  { site: { domain: 'acme.com' }, serviceUrl: 'https://your-service' },
  {
    listIndexableEntities: sitemapAdapter({ origin: 'https://acme.com' }).listIndexableEntities,
    store: memoryStore(),
    // callClaude, db, auth … wire the seams you need for generate()/run()
  },
)

const { issues } = await seo.analyze()
const draft   = await seo.generate()   // human-approved content proposals

• @ascent/seo-agent/license — verifyLicense(token, {now, publicKey}), offline.
• @ascent/seo-agent/config · /runtime — resolve config + the runtime/trust split.
• Four init profiles: headless · api · frontend · admin.

One handler. N routes. Server-side secrets.

A single Web-standard handleRequest(Request) → Response router over every backend shell, with unified Authorization: Bearer license auth, CORS, and fail-soft responses. This is the endpoint the browser SDK proxies to — so keys stay on the server.

import { createSeoService, defaultHandlers, toNodeHandler } from '@ascent/seo-agent/service'

const service = createSeoService({ handlers: defaultHandlers, secrets: process.env })

// Web-standard (edge / Deno / Bun):
export default (request) => service.handleRequest(request)

// or adapt to a Node http handler:
export const nodeHandler = toNodeHandler(service)

# call it with a license
curl -X POST https://your-service/analyze \
  -H "authorization: Bearer $ASCENT_LICENSE" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"site":{"domain":"acme.com"}}'

Six SEO tools, over MCP.

A hand-rolled, zero-dependency Model Context Protocol server over stdio, exposing analyze · generate · rankings · competitors · content · status. Runs against a remote service (SP1) or a local in-process SDK.

// add to your MCP client config (e.g. Claude Desktop)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ascent-seo": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ascent/seo-agent-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ASCENT_SERVICE_URL": "https://your-service",
        "ASCENT_LICENSE": "your-license-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Prefer to import it? @ascent/seo-agent/mcp exposes runServer, defineTools, and resolveBackend.

A drop-in Claude skill.

The ascent-seo skill lets Claude run SEO tasks for you. It prefers the MCP server when it’s connected and falls back to a zero-dep CLI script otherwise — so it works whether or not MCP is wired up. An honesty reference keeps measured and projected results clearly separated in what Claude reports back.

• Ships as skill/ascent-seo/ — SKILL.md + honesty reference + fallback CLI.
• MCP-preferred; the script path needs only ASCENT_SERVICE_URL + ASCENT_LICENSE.
• Pairs naturally with the MCP server above.

Browser widgets — pure build, thin mount.

Zero-dependency, XSS-escaped browser widgets: a meta injector, a rank badge (measured), a potential gauge (projected), and an honest result card. Each is a pure buildX(data) → html plus a thin mountX(el, data), with a base theme.css.

import { mountRankBadge } from '@ascent/seo-agent/widgets'
import '@ascent/seo-agent/widgets/theme.css'

mountRankBadge(document.querySelector('#rank'), {
  keyword: 'best crm',
  position: 5,          // measured on Google — not a projection
})

A browser ascentClient talks to your SP1 service; only the token is sent, never secrets.

An operator cockpit you control.

Six actionable panels — proposals, keywords, rankings, competitors, autonomy, status — built on a small panel framework. Panels read through the ascentClient and write through an onAction callback you wire, so there’s no hidden write endpoint pretending to exist.

import { mountProposals } from '@ascent/seo-agent/admin'

mountProposals(document.querySelector('#proposals'), {
  client,                              // reads via SP1
  onAction: (action) => approve(action) // you own the write path,
})

Two ways to pay for paid ops.

Paid operations (SERP + AI) cost money to run. How they’re billed depends on where the engine runs — on your infrastructure, or on Ascent’s hosted API.

Self-hosted / licensed → your keys, no Ascent credits

Run the engine on your own infrastructure with your own Serper/Anthropic keys. You pay those providers directly — Ascent credits don’t apply and there’s nothing to top up. Your cost is your provider bill plus the annual license. Generate a key from any 🔒 Generate license button.

Hosted API / Service → Ascent credits

Call Ascent’s hosted Service (Authorization: Bearer). Ascent runs the ops on its keys and meters them in Ascent credits — the same wallet as the app. Each dispatched run debits credits (refunded on provider failure); an empty wallet returns 402 insufficient_credits.

// check your balance (Bearer = your session token)
POST /rest/v1/rpc/credit_balance
{ "p_account": "<account_id>" }   // → { total, planRemaining, topupBalance, resetsAt }

// top up: buy a credit pack (redirects to the hosted card page)
POST /api/payments/mips/create-payment
{ "kind": "credit_pack", "packId": "pack_5k", "accountId": "<account_id>" }

Bring your own keys (BYOK): connect your Serper/Claude keys in Account settings and hosted ops run on your keys at near-zero credits — the natural fit for agencies and high-volume dispatch.

During an open beta the operator may pause metering — hosted calls then run free (usage is still recorded).

Grab the free components.

The open pieces are yours to download and use now. The licensed engine — SDK core, service/API, MCP server, admin cockpit — is available on request.