Raycast AI supports MCP servers natively. Add Trends MCP and you can query live trend data across Google, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Amazon, and more directly from the Raycast command bar - the fastest way to research trends on a Mac.
Updated 2026-08-19
Trends MCP is the shared server. Raycast AI is a Mac launcher client that can call it without opening an IDE. The HTTP server URL is https://api.trendsmcp.ai/mcp with Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY. Raycast Settings → Extensions → MCP → Add Server → HTTP is the path documented in the public Connect guide. After the server is on, Raycast AI can run get_trends, get_growth, and get_top_trends. Free plans include 100 requests per month. Starter is $19 per month. Raycast is the right client when the question is a 20-second pulse check while Slack, Figma, or a browser has focus, and a full Cursor or Windsurf session would be heavier than the decision.
Open Raycast Settings, then Extensions, then MCP. Add a server, choose HTTP, and paste https://api.trendsmcp.ai/mcp. Put Bearer YOUR_API_KEY in the Authorization header (the word Bearer plus the tmcp_liv… token from signup). Enable the server. Raycast AI should list the three tools.
Raycast is not Cursor. There is no ~/.cursor/mcp.json and no transport key to paste. There is no Windsurf serverUrl file under .codeium. There is no .vscode/mcp.json. People who live in IDEs all day still copy those snippets into Raycast and then report that MCP is broken. The launcher wants a URL plus a header.
Claude.ai Connectors use OAuth at https://www.trendsmcp.ai/mcp. That www URL is wrong in Raycast. Raycast is a Bearer client on the api host, same family as Cursor and VS Code. The Connect section is the canonical snippet list if the Settings labels move between Raycast versions.
Quit Raycast from the menu bar and reopen it if tools do not appear after the first save. A 401 in the AI pane is almost always a missing Bearer prefix.
Raycast wins on interruption cost. A PM in a pricing meeting can ask whether a category is still growing on Google Search and Amazon without sharing an entire IDE window on the projector. A founder can check TikTok Trending Hashtags between calls. An editor can grow-check a headline candidate while the CMS stays frontmost.
Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code remain better when the next step is a patch, a test, or a committed research file. Cursor in particular is the better home for “should this package go into package.json.” Raycast is a poor place to dump a five-year weekly series into a tiny result pane; get_growth fits the UI, get_trends is better copied into a doc afterward.
ChatGPT and Perplexity beat Raycast when the user wants citations, long synthesis, and follow-up questions in a full conversation layout. Raycast beats them when the Mac is the workstation and the hands never leave the keyboard chord that already opens Raycast.
Default to get_growth. It returns percent change, direction, and dates in a compact object. Request 6M and 1Y together. That is still one request per source plus keyword. Name two sources, not twelve. get_top_trends with type Google Trends and limit 10 is the other launcher native: no keyword, fast list, one request. Save get_trends for the moment someone says “show the curve,” then paste the JSON into Notes. REST clones of that history call should use mode: "get_time_series".
Always say “using TrendsMCP” in the Raycast AI prompt. Otherwise the model answers from general knowledge and the MCP server sits idle. Feed types are case-sensitive. Google Trends works. google trends may not. Source google search is a keyword source for growth and history, not a live feed type. The data sources page is worth pinning as a Raycast snippet.
A healthy daily habit is three calls: one live feed, two growth checks on yesterday’s shortlist. That is 3 of the 100 free monthly requests, not 30.
Raycast is a Mac product. Windows operators should use Cursor, VS Code, or the REST API instead of looking for a Raycast config path. iCloud or backup tools that sync Raycast settings can copy the Bearer token to another machine. Treat the key like a password. Rotate it if a screenshot of Settings went into Slack.
Raycast AI usage is also gated by the Raycast subscription that enables AI. That seat is separate from Trends MCP’s Free or Starter plan. Both have to be valid.
The free 100 requests per month vanish quickly if every hotkey run pages get_top_trends at limit 200. Keep limits small. Do not bind a Raycast scheduled command to Trends MCP on Free; use n8n REST for clocks. 429 is the monthly cap. 400 invalid_source means the AI guessed a platform string.
History grain is weekly over about five years. Raycast will not produce a minute-level tick. Huge percent moves on tiny baselines still look dramatic in a launcher card; read recent and baseline values before repeating the number in a meeting. A second hotkey on the same keyword should reuse the last JSON instead of spending another request.
Raycast is the low-friction Mac client for the shared Trends MCP server. It is not a dashboard, not a Windows host, and not a replacement for IDE-side coding agents.
Tools for this workflow
get_trendsFrom the Raycast command bar, pull weekly history for a topic while a spreadsheet or browser stays in the foreground.
get_trends(keyword='remote work', source='google search', data_mode='weekly')get_growthAsk Raycast AI whether interest in a topic is growing or declining. get_growth returns compact percent windows that fit a launcher result.
get_growth(keyword='remote work', source='google search, reddit', percent_growth=['6M', '1Y'])get_ranked_trendsRun a 30-second discovery pass from the launcher, then grow-check two names that are worth a longer IDE session later.
get_ranked_trends(source='google search', sort='wow_pct_change', limit=20)get_top_trendsCheck a live Google Trends or TikTok hashtag feed from Raycast without opening a dashboard tab.
get_top_trends(type='Google Trends', limit=15)FAQ