About Crate CLI
Crate CLI is an MCP server in the Search category: crate is an AI-powered music research agent for DJs, collectors, and serious listeners. Ask about any artist, album, label, or recording and Crate will dig through multiple databases to surface credits, pressings, pricing, and connections you won't find in one place.
Install
git clone https://github.com/tmoody1973/crate-cliThis server has no ConduID identity, so agent calls to it are not receipted. Pin the version you install and review the source before granting it credentials.
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README
Crate
AI-powered music research agent for the terminal
Crate is a terminal-first music research tool and MCP server. It lets Claude investigate artists, releases, labels, scenes, and influence chains across multiple music sources, then play music while you work.
What Crate Does
- Cross-references music data instead of relying on one API or model memory
- Plays tracks, playlists, and radio streams directly from the terminal
- Stores local research context with collections, playlists, an influence cache, and scratchpad logs
- Exposes its tools over MCP so other AI clients can use the same research stack
Example Prompts
Who produced Madvillainy?
Trace the influence path from Kraftwerk to Radiohead.
I have a copy of Kind of Blue on Columbia with a 6-eye label.
What pressing is this, what is it worth, and how do I verify it?
Build me a playlist of spiritual jazz records that were sampled in 90s hip-hop,
and verify every track before you add it.
More real workflows live in docs/USE_CASES.md, docs/WORKFLOWS.md, and docs/CASE-STUDY.md.
Quick Start
Prerequisites
# macOS
brew install yt-dlp mpv
# Linux
sudo apt install yt-dlp mpv
Install
npm install -g crate-cli
crate
Or run it without installing:
npx crate-cli
For local development:
git clone https://github.com/tmoody1973/crate-cli.git
cd crate-cli
npm install
npm run dev
Crate defaults to Claude Haiku. You can also start with sonnet or opus:
npx tsx src/cli.ts --model sonnet
npx tsx src/cli.ts --model opus
Detailed setup, keys, commands, and environment variables live in docs/CONFIGURATION.md.
Documentation
Start here:
- docs/README.md - docs index and canonical sources
- docs/CONFIGURATION.md - install, models, commands, keys, local data
- docs/MCP.md - MCP server mode and client setup
- docs/DEVELOPMENT.md - repo layout, workflows, and docs maintenance
- docs/ARCHITECTURE.md - actual runtime architecture
- docs/PRD.md - current product framing
Reference and research docs:
Data Sources At A Glance
Always-on sources:
- MusicBrainz, Wikipedia, Bandcamp, YouTube, Radio Browser, News/RSS
- Collection, Playlist, Influence Cache, Telegraph, iTunes
Available out of the box via shared fallback keys:
- Discogs, Last.fm, Ticketmaster
Bring your own key:
- Genius, Mem0, Tavily, Exa, Tumblr, Kernel.sh
- Kernel enables both Browser and WhoSampled
The canonical key matrix is in docs/CONFIGURATION.md.
MCP Server Mode
Crate can run as a standard MCP stdio server for Claude Desktop, Cursor, OpenClaw, and other MCP-compatible clients:
crate --mcp-server
crate-mcp
npx crate-cli --mcp-server
Setup examples and behavior notes are in docs/MCP.md.
Repository Layout
This repo has two main workspaces:
src/- the CLI, agent loop, servers, and testswww/- the Next.js marketing/demo site
Development commands and repo conventions are documented in docs/DEVELOPMENT.md and www/README.md.
License
MIT
README copy captured when this server was indexed; it may lag the repository. The original is authoritative.