A free backlink exchange for indie builders, driven from your coding agent.
Submit a site, get matched with another builder in your category, and trade one link each. The whole exchange is exposed as an MCP server, so the trade happens where the work happens.
Built by nicklaunches.com · @nicklaunches
Why MCP is the point, not a feature
Ranking Raccoon publishes that 71% of link requests get a reply and only 35% become a published link. So roughly half of agreed trades die, not because anyone changed their mind, but because placing the link means opening an editor, finding the right page, writing a sentence, committing, and deploying.
An agent is already sitting in that repository.
> trade a link
⏺ list_matches a masked partner in your category
⏺ respond_to_match both sides accept, identities unlock
⏺ get_link_brief target URL, approved anchors, guidance
⏺ Edit content/blog/… the agent writes it into your repo
⏺ mark_link_placed ✓ verified live · content · dofollow
Install
claude mcp add --transport http builders-backlinks \
https://builders-backlinks.com/api/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer bb_live_..."Get a key at /app/key. The read tools (search_partners, get_categories, get_rules) need no key at all, so the server connects and is useful before you sign in to anything.
Eleven tools, fully documented at /docs/mcp. Cursor, Codex, and Gemini CLI config is on that page too, though only the Claude Code and Cursor forms have been confirmed against the real clients.
Local development
Requires Node 22+, pnpm, and a local PostgreSQL. The app lives in next-app/; there is no root package.
cd next-app pnpm install cp .env.example .env.local # then fill it in createdb builders_backlinks # or point DATABASE_URL anywhere pnpm db:migrate pnpm dev
pnpm dev is Next on Node, which is convenient and is not the production runtime. CLAUDE.md has the full command list, how to run it the way it actually deploys, and the workerd behaviour that only shows up there.
Hosting
Cloudflare Workers via OpenNext, with Postgres (Neon in production) behind a Hyperdrive binding. Analytics is Cloudflare Web Analytics, which is cookieless, and which is what keeps the claim on /privacy true: the only cookie this site sets is your sign-in session.
Deploys are automatic. Push to main and .github/workflows/deploy.yml typechecks, lints, tests, applies migrations, builds and deploys. Nothing is run by hand.
Licence
MIT. See LICENSE.