Claude SEO started as a single SEO audit skill for Claude Code. Seven months and 3,500+ GitHub stars later, it has grown into a complete SEO operating system: 19 sub-skills, 12 parallel subagents, 3 MCP extensions, and 21 Python scripts totaling over 10,000 lines of production code. Version 1.7.2 is the biggest feature release since launch, adding Firecrawl-powered site crawling, backlink analysis with toxic link detection, Excel workbook export, and full Anthropic marketplace compliance. Here is everything that shipped across v1.7.0, v1.7.1, and v1.7.2.

What's new in v1.7.2

Firecrawl extension

The biggest addition in v1.7.2 is full-site crawling powered by Firecrawl. Traditional SEO crawlers miss content on JavaScript-rendered sites because they only fetch raw HTML. Firecrawl renders every page in a real browser engine, capturing content from React, Next.js, Vue, and Angular applications that basic HTTP fetching misses entirely.

The Firecrawl extension adds 4 commands:

  • /seo crawl - full-site crawl with JS rendering, returning structured markdown for every page
  • /seo map - discover all URLs on a site without downloading full content
  • /seo scrape - scrape a single URL with full JS execution
  • /seo search - search across a crawled site for specific content patterns

Firecrawl connects via MCP and requires a Firecrawl API key. The free tier includes 500 credits per month, which covers roughly 500 pages crawled.

Backlink analysis skill

Claude SEO can now analyze your backlink profile through the DataForSEO extension. The /seo backlinks command produces a 7-section report:

  1. Profile overview - total backlinks, referring domains, domain authority distribution
  2. Referring domains - top linking domains with authority scores
  3. Anchor text distribution - branded vs exact match vs generic anchors
  4. Link quality assessment - overall backlink health score (0-100)
  5. Toxic link detection - identifies spammy, paid, and PBN links that could trigger penalties
  6. Competitor backlink gap - domains linking to competitors but not to you
  7. Disavow export - generates a ready-to-upload disavow file for Google Search Console

This pairs naturally with the full site audit skill, which already covers on-page SEO. Now you get both on-page and off-page analysis from a single tool.

Excel export

Every audit command now supports --format xlsx for Excel workbook output. Instead of reading results in the terminal or copying text, you get a multi-sheet workbook with styled headers, auto-column widths, conditional formatting for scores, and separate tabs for each audit section. The export uses the openpyxl library and produces files compatible with Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice Calc.

/seo audit https://yoursite.com --format xlsx

This is especially useful for client deliverables and team collaboration where terminal output is not practical.

Ecosystem cross-links

v1.7.2 adds cross-linking with AI Marketing Claude, a companion tool for AI-driven marketing workflows. Claude SEO handles the analysis and optimization side, while AI Marketing Claude connects the broader strategy, content calendar, and campaign management pieces. Both tools are built by Daniel Agrici and designed to work together.

What shipped in v1.7.1

Version 1.7.1 was a stability release focused on reliability and testing infrastructure:

  • Installer path fix - resolved an issue where the install script failed on certain macOS and Linux shell configurations due to path resolution in symlinked directories
  • CI pipeline expansion - expanded continuous integration from 4 to 15 Python scripts, adding lint checks, type validation, security scanning, import verification, and cross-platform compatibility tests
  • Google API credential caching - fixed a bug where OAuth tokens were not being refreshed correctly when cached credentials expired mid-session

What shipped in v1.7.0

Version 1.7.0 introduced the Google SEO APIs integration, which has its own dedicated blog post with full details. The highlights:

  • 10 Google APIs - PageSpeed Insights, Chrome UX Report (CrUX), CrUX History, Search Console URL Inspection, Search Console Performance, GA4 Data API, Google Indexing API, YouTube Data API, Knowledge Graph Search, Natural Language API
  • 21 new commands - covering performance metrics, Core Web Vitals trends, indexation status, search analytics, and video data
  • PDF report generator - professional A4 reports with charts, tables, and recommendations using WeasyPrint and matplotlib. Four report types: Core Web Vitals audit, Search Console performance, indexation status, and full combined report
  • 4-tier credential system - from free API key (Tier 0, covers 7 APIs) to full OAuth with service account (Tier 3, covers all 10 APIs). No billing account required for normal usage
  • 11 Python scripts and 10 reference files - production-grade tooling with error handling, rate limiting, and automatic credential refresh

If you use technical SEO analysis, the Google APIs integration gives you real field data (CrUX) alongside the lab data (Lighthouse) that Claude SEO already provided.

The extension system

Claude SEO's architecture separates the core from extensions. The core includes 17 skills that require zero API keys and zero external dependencies. Every free SEO audit feature works out of the box.

Extensions plug in via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), the same open standard used by Claude Code for tool integration. Each extension runs as a separate MCP server:

CLAUDE SEO ARCHITECTURE CORE 17 skills, 0 API keys Free forever, MIT licensed DataForSEO SERP, keywords, backlinks Firecrawl JS crawling, 4 commands Banana AI image generation MCP EXTENSIONS 19 sub-skills 12 subagents 3 extensions 21 Python scripts 10,000+ lines of production code Extensions connect via MCP. Add or remove without modifying core.

This design means the core tool never breaks when an extension API changes, and users who only need the free features never encounter API key prompts or configuration complexity.

Anthropic marketplace compliance

Claude SEO now passes the claude plugin validate check and has been submitted to the official Anthropic skill marketplace. The validation covers manifest structure, security scanning (no hardcoded secrets, no unsafe shell commands), proper error handling, and documentation completeness.

Once approved, users will be able to install Claude SEO directly from the marketplace with a single command, without needing to clone a git repository. In the meantime, the current installer remains the recommended method.

The GitHub repository continues to be the source of truth for releases, issues, and contribution. With over 3,500 stars, Claude SEO is one of the most popular open-source skills for Claude Code.

Install Claude SEO

New install (30 seconds):

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AgriciDaniel/claude-seo.git && bash claude-seo/install.sh

Update existing installation:

cd claude-seo && git pull

Both commands give you the full v1.7.2 release with all 19 skills, 12 subagents, and 3 extension slots ready to configure. The step-by-step audit guide walks through your first audit if you are new to the tool.