Apple Music MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that integrates with Apple Music, allowing Claude and other MCP clients to search the catalog, manage playlists, and access your library.

Features

• Search the Apple Music catalog (songs, albums, artists, playlists)
• List your playlists and browse their tracks
• Create new playlists with optional initial tracks
• Add tracks to existing playlists
• Browse your library songs
• View recently played tracks
• Get personalized recommendations

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• An Apple Developer Program membership
• A MusicKit identifier and private key

Apple Developer Setup

1. Create a MusicKit Identifier

1. Go to Apple Developer > Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles
2. Click + to register a new identifier
3. Select MusicKit IDs (or Media IDs)
4. Enter a description (e.g., "MCP Server") and an identifier (e.g., com.yourname.musicmcp)
5. Click Continue and Register

2. Create a MusicKit Private Key

1. Go to Apple Developer > Keys
2. Click + to create a new key
3. Name it (e.g., "MusicKit MCP Key")
4. Check MusicKit and configure it with your MusicKit identifier
5. Click Continue and Register
6. Download the .p8 file (you can only download it once!)
7. Note the Key ID shown on the page

3. Find Your Team ID

Your Team ID is visible at the top right of the Apple Developer portal, or under Membership Details.

Installation

git clone <this-repo>
cd AppleMusicMCP
npm install
npm run build

Configuration

The server is configured via environment variables:

Variable	Required	Description
APPLE_MUSIC_TEAM_ID	Yes	Your Apple Developer Team ID
APPLE_MUSIC_KEY_ID	Yes	Your MusicKit Key ID (from the key you created)
APPLE_MUSIC_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH	Yes	Absolute path to your .p8 private key file
APPLE_MUSIC_STOREFRONT	No	ISO 3166 alpha-2 country code (default: us)
APPLE_MUSIC_CONFIG_DIR	No	Config directory path (default: ~/.apple-music-mcp/)
APPLE_MUSIC_AUTH_PORT	No	Port for auth server (default: 7829)

Authorization

Before using library features (playlists, library songs, recommendations), you need to authorize with your Apple Music account:

APPLE_MUSIC_TEAM_ID=YOUR_TEAM_ID \
APPLE_MUSIC_KEY_ID=YOUR_KEY_ID \
APPLE_MUSIC_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH=/path/to/AuthKey.p8 \
node dist/index.js auth

This will:

1. Open your browser to a local authorization page
2. You click "Authorize with Apple Music" and sign in with your Apple ID
3. The Music User Token is captured and stored in ~/.apple-music-mcp/tokens.json
4. The token is valid for approximately 6 months

Note: Catalog search works without authorization. Only library/personal features require it.

Adding to Claude Desktop

Add this to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-music": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/AppleMusicMCP/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_MUSIC_TEAM_ID": "YOUR_TEAM_ID",
        "APPLE_MUSIC_KEY_ID": "YOUR_KEY_ID",
        "APPLE_MUSIC_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH": "/absolute/path/to/AuthKey_XXXXXXXX.p8",
        "APPLE_MUSIC_STOREFRONT": "us"
      }
    }
  }
}

Adding to Claude Code

Add to your Claude Code settings (.claude/settings.json or global settings):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-music": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/AppleMusicMCP/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_MUSIC_TEAM_ID": "YOUR_TEAM_ID",
        "APPLE_MUSIC_KEY_ID": "YOUR_KEY_ID",
        "APPLE_MUSIC_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH": "/absolute/path/to/AuthKey_XXXXXXXX.p8"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

search_music

Search the Apple Music catalog.

• query (string, required): Search term
• types (array, optional): ["songs", "albums", "artists", "playlists"] (default: songs, albums, artists)
• limit (number, optional): 1-25 results per type (default: 10)
• storefront (string, optional): Country code

get_user_playlists

List your playlists.

• limit (number, optional): 1-100 (default: 25)
• offset (number, optional): Pagination offset

get_playlist_tracks

Get tracks from a playlist.

• playlist_id (string, required): Playlist ID
• limit (number, optional): 1-100 (default: 100)
• offset (number, optional): Pagination offset

create_playlist

Create a new playlist.

• name (string, required): Playlist name
• description (string, optional): Playlist description
• track_ids (string[], optional): Song IDs to add initially

add_tracks_to_playlist

Add tracks to an existing playlist.

• playlist_id (string, required): Playlist ID
• track_ids (string[], required): Song IDs to add (max 100)

remove_tracks_from_playlist

Remove tracks from a playlist (limited Apple API support).

• playlist_id (string, required): Playlist ID
• track_ids (string[], required): Song IDs to remove

get_library_songs

Get songs from your library.

• limit (number, optional): 1-100 (default: 25)
• offset (number, optional): Pagination offset

get_recently_played

Get recently played tracks.

• limit (number, optional): 1-10 (default: 10)

get_recommendations

Get personalized music recommendations.

• limit (number, optional): 1-30 recommendation groups (default: 10)

Example Usage

Once configured, you can ask Claude things like:

• "Search for Taylor Swift songs on Apple Music"
• "Show me my Apple Music playlists"
• "Create a new playlist called 'Road Trip' with some rock songs"
• "What have I been listening to recently?"
• "Get my music recommendations"
• "Add the song 'Bohemian Rhapsody' to my Road Trip playlist"

Troubleshooting

"Music User Token required"

Run the auth flow: node dist/index.js auth

"Authentication failed (401)"

Your developer token may be invalid. Check your Team ID, Key ID, and private key path.

"Access forbidden (403)"

Your Music User Token may have expired (they last ~6 months). Re-run: node dist/index.js auth

Auth page doesn't load in browser

Ensure port 7829 isn't in use. Set a different port with APPLE_MUSIC_AUTH_PORT.

"remove_tracks_from_playlist" doesn't work

This is a known Apple Music API limitation. The API has limited DELETE support for playlist tracks. Use the workaround: create a new playlist with the tracks you want to keep.

Development

npm run dev    # Run with tsx (no build needed)
npm run build  # Compile TypeScript
npm start      # Run compiled version

Architecture

• Transport: stdio (JSON-RPC over stdin/stdout)
• API: Direct REST calls to api.music.apple.com/v1/
• Auth: ES256 JWT developer tokens + browser-based MusicKit JS for user tokens
• Caching: In-memory with per-endpoint TTLs
• Error handling: Typed errors with helpful messages and retry logic for rate limits