ani-mcp

A smart MCP server for AniList that understands your anime and manga taste - not just raw API calls.

What makes this different

Most AniList integrations mirror the API 1:1. ani-mcp adds an intelligence layer on top:

• Taste profiling - builds a model of your preferences from your completed list
• Personalized picks - "what should I watch next?" based on your taste, mood, and seasonal lineup
• Compatibility - compare taste between two users
• Sequel alerts - find sequels airing this season for shows you've finished
• Watch order - franchise chain traversal for long-running series
• Session planning - "I have 90 minutes, what should I watch?" from your current list
• Year in review - your watching/reading stats wrapped up

Plus the essentials: search, details, trending, seasonal browsing, list management, social features, and community recommendations. All search and browse tools support pagination for browsing beyond the first page of results.

Try it in 30 seconds

No account needed. Works with any MCP-compatible client.

Claude Desktop

Add to your config file (Settings > Developer > Edit Config or ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "anilist": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "ani-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Alternatively, download ani-mcp.mcpb from the latest release and install via Settings > Extensions.

Claude Code

claude mcp add ani-mcp -- npx -y ani-mcp

Personalized features

Add your username for recommendations, taste profiling, and list management:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "anilist": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "ani-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ANILIST_USERNAME": "your_username"
      }
    }
  }
}

For write operations (updating progress, scoring, list edits), also add ANILIST_TOKEN. See Environment Variables for details.

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
ANILIST_USERNAME	No	Default username for list and stats tools. Can also pass per-call.
ANILIST_TOKEN	No	AniList OAuth token. Required for write operations and private lists.
ANILIST_TITLE_LANGUAGE	No	Title preference: english (default), romaji, or native.
ANILIST_SCORE_FORMAT	No	Override score display: POINT_100, POINT_10_DECIMAL, POINT_10, POINT_5, POINT_3.
ANILIST_NSFW	No	Set to true to include adult content in results. Default: false.
ANILIST_MOOD_CONFIG	No	JSON object to add or override mood keywords. See Mood config.
DEBUG	No	Set to true for debug logging to stderr.
MCP_TRANSPORT	No	Set to http for HTTP Stream transport. Default: stdio.
MCP_PORT	No	Port for HTTP transport. Default: 3000.
MCP_HOST	No	Host for HTTP transport. Default: localhost.

Tools

Search & Discovery

Tool	Description
anilist_search	Search anime/manga by title with genre, year, and format filters
anilist_details	Full details, relations, and recommendations for a title
anilist_seasonal	Browse a season's anime lineup
anilist_trending	What's trending on AniList right now
anilist_genres	Browse top titles in a genre with optional filters
anilist_genre_list	List all valid genres and content tags
anilist_recommendations	Community recommendations for a specific title

Lists & Stats

Tool	Description
anilist_list	A user's anime/manga list, filtered by status
anilist_lookup	Check if a specific title is on a user's list
anilist_stats	Watching/reading statistics, top genres, score distribution

Intelligence

Tool	Description
anilist_taste	Generate a taste profile from your completed list
anilist_pick	Personalized "what to watch next" from your backlog, seasonal lineup, or discovery pool
anilist_compare	Compare taste compatibility between two users
anilist_wrapped	Year-in-review summary
anilist_explain	"Why would I like this?" - score a title against your taste profile
anilist_similar	Find titles similar to a given anime or manga
anilist_sequels	Sequels airing this season for titles you've completed
anilist_watch_order	Viewing order for a franchise
anilist_session	Plan a viewing session within a time budget
anilist_mal_import	Import a MyAnimeList user's list and generate recommendations
anilist_kitsu_import	Import a Kitsu user's list and generate recommendations

Cards

Tool	Description
anilist_taste_card	Generate a shareable taste profile card as a PNG image
anilist_compat_card	Generate a compatibility card comparing two users as a PNG image

Info

Tool	Description
anilist_staff	Staff credits and voice actors for a title
anilist_staff_search	Search for a person by name and see all their works
anilist_studio_search	Search for a studio and see their productions
anilist_schedule	Airing schedule and next episode countdown
anilist_airing	Upcoming episodes for titles you're currently watching
anilist_characters	Search characters by name with appearances and VAs
anilist_whoami	Check authentication status and score format

Social

Tool	Description
anilist_profile	View a user's profile, bio, favourites, and stats
anilist_feed	Recent activity from a user's feed
anilist_reviews	Community reviews for a title
anilist_favourite	Toggle favourite on anime, manga, character, staff, or studio
anilist_activity	Post a text activity to your feed
anilist_group_pick	Find anime/manga for a group to watch together
anilist_shared_planning	Find overlap between two users' planning lists
anilist_follow_suggestions	Rank followed users by taste compatibility
anilist_react	Like or reply to an activity

Analytics

Tool	Description
anilist_calibration	Per-genre scoring bias vs community consensus
anilist_drops	Drop pattern analysis - genre/tag clusters and median drop point
anilist_evolution	How your taste shifted across 2-year time windows
anilist_completionist	Franchise completion tracking via relation graph
anilist_seasonal_stats	Per-season pick/finish/drop rates
anilist_pace	Estimated completion date for currently watching titles

Write (requires ANILIST_TOKEN)

Tool	Description
anilist_update_progress	Update episode or chapter progress
anilist_add_to_list	Add a title to your list with a status
anilist_rate	Score a title (0-10)
anilist_delete_from_list	Remove an entry from your list
anilist_undo	Undo the last write operation
anilist_unscored	List completed but unscored titles for batch scoring
anilist_batch_update	Bulk filter + action on list entries (dry-run default)

Resources

MCP resources provide context to your AI assistant without needing a tool call. Clients that support resources can automatically include this information in conversations.

Resource	Description
anilist://profile	Your AniList profile with bio, stats, and favourites
anilist://taste/{type}	Taste profile (genre weights, themes, scoring patterns) for ANIME or MANGA
anilist://list/{type}	Currently watching/reading entries with progress and scores

Prompts

Pre-built conversation starters that clients can offer as quick actions.

Prompt	Description
setup	Walk through connecting your AniList account step by step
seasonal_review	Review this season's anime against your taste profile
what_to_watch	Plan what to watch now with optional mood and time budget
roast_my_taste	Get a humorous roast of your anime taste
compare_us	Compare your taste with another user
year_in_review	Your anime/manga year in review
explain_title	Why would you like (or dislike) a specific title?
find_similar	Find titles similar to one you enjoyed

Examples

Here are some things you can ask your AI assistant once ani-mcp is connected:

"What should I watch next?" Uses anilist_pick to analyze your completed list, build a taste profile, and recommend titles from your Planning list ranked by how well they match your preferences.

"I want something dark and psychological" Uses anilist_pick with mood filtering to boost titles matching that vibe and penalize mismatches.

"What's good this season?" Uses anilist_pick with source: SEASONAL to rank currently airing anime against your taste profile.

"I have 90 minutes, what should I watch tonight?" Uses anilist_session to pick from your currently watching list and fill a time budget with the best-matching episodes.

"Any sequels airing for stuff I've finished?" Uses anilist_sequels to cross-reference your completed list with this season's lineup.

"What order do I watch Fate in?" Uses anilist_watch_order to traverse the franchise relation graph and produce a numbered viewing order.

"Compare my taste with username123" Uses anilist_compare to find shared titles, compute a compatibility score, and highlight biggest disagreements.

"Why would I like Vinland Saga?" Uses anilist_explain to score a title against your taste profile, breaking down genre affinity and theme alignment.

"Show me my anime year in review" Uses anilist_wrapped to summarize everything you watched in a given year.

Mood config

anilist_pick and anilist_session accept a freeform mood string. Built-in keywords include: dark, chill, hype, action, romantic, funny, brainy, sad, scary, epic, wholesome, intense, mystery, fantasy, scifi, trippy, nostalgic, artistic, competitive, cozy.

To add or override keywords, set ANILIST_MOOD_CONFIG as a JSON object:

{
  "ANILIST_MOOD_CONFIG": "{\"cozy\":{\"boost\":[\"Slice of Life\",\"Iyashikei\"],\"penalize\":[\"Horror\"]},\"mykeyword\":{\"boost\":[\"Romance\"],\"penalize\":[]}}"
}

Each key is a mood keyword mapping to { boost: string[], penalize: string[] } arrays of AniList genres and tags.

Privacy

See PRIVACY.md for details. In short: ani-mcp runs locally, sends requests only to the AniList API, stores nothing, and collects no analytics.

Docker

docker build -t ani-mcp .
docker run -e ANILIST_USERNAME=your_username ani-mcp

Runs on port 3000 with HTTP Stream transport by default.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/gavxm/ani-mcp.git
cd ani-mcp
npm install
npm run build
npm test

Support

Bug reports and feature requests: GitHub Issues

License

MIT