Connect Ahrefs to VS Code
Give VS Code governed access to Ahrefs’s 135 tools through Runlayer, with identity, policy, scanning, and audit on every call.
Set up
Add Ahrefs to VS Code in four steps
Admins approve the server once. Everyone in VS Code then gets it through the same governed connection.
- 1
Approve Ahrefs in Runlayer
Add Ahrefs from the catalog and choose who can use it and which of its tools are allowed.
- 2
Connect VS Code to Runlayer
Runlayer’s CLI installs the Runlayer Plugin natively in VS Code; users can also add it over MCP. With direct tool listing turned on for your deployment, Ahrefs’s 135 tools show up in VS Code’s own tool list (VS Code 1.103 or newer).
VS Code setup guide - 3
Sign in to Ahrefs
Sign in the way Ahrefs requires. Runlayer holds the credentials so they stay out of the client’s configuration.
- 4
Use Ahrefs from VS Code
Ahrefs’s approved tools appear in VS Code. Every call is checked against policy and recorded.
Tools
135 Ahrefs tools in VS Code
Runlayer policy decides which of these VS Code users can call. 93 read data only.
Batch analysis
Performs a batch analysis of multiple URLs, domains, or subdomains to retrieve selected SEO, backlink, organic, and paid traffic metrics.
Brand radar AI responses
Provides questions asked to AI assistants and the corresponding AI-generated responses that mention your brand or competitors’ brands, including cited sources and search volume estimates.
Brand radar AI responses entities
Provides questions asked to AI assistants and the corresponding AI-generated responses that mention your brand or competitors’ brands, including cited sources and search volume estimates.
Brand radar citations history entities
Provides the historical number of citations for your and competitors' brand URLs in an LLM you specify.
Brand radar citations overview entities
Provides the number of citations for your and competitors's brands in an LLM you specify, with filters for locations, query text, URL, and more.
Brand radar cited domains
Provides domains cited in AI-generated responses that mention your brand or competitors' brands in an LLM you specify, including how many responses referenced each domain (broken down by brand) and…
Brand radar cited domains entities
Provides domains cited in AI-generated responses that mention your brand or competitors' brands in an LLM you specify, including how many responses referenced each domain (broken down by brand) and…
Brand radar cited pages
Provides the pages cited in AI-generated responses that mention your brand or competitors' brands in an LLM you specify, including how many responses referenced each page (broken down by brand) and…
Control
What Runlayer can see and stop in VS Code
Some controls apply to every client at the gateway. Others depend on what VS Code exposes to Runlayer.
Gateway policy (available)
Every Ahrefs call from VS Code passes through Runlayer, where your policies can allow, alert, mask, or block it.
Audit trail (available)
Each call is recorded with the user, VS Code as the client, the tool, and the policy and scanner decisions.
Client hooks (available)
Capture supported prompts, reasoning, local and MCP tool calls, responses, and scanner decisions in real time.
Stop a call before it runs (available)
Runlayer can deny a tool call before VS Code runs it.
Block output after it runs (available)
Runlayer can block a tool’s output before VS Code’s model sees it.
Redact output in place (available)
Runlayer can mask sensitive parts of a tool’s output in VS Code and pass the rest through.
Frequently asked questions
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