Navidrome MCP Server

Transform your Navidrome music server with an AI-powered music assistant. This MCP (Model Context Protocol) server enables Claude, ChatGPT, and other AI assistants to interact with your personal music library through natural language, offering intelligent playlist creation, music discovery, and library management.

Table of Contents

• Why Navidrome MCP?
• Features
  • Music Library Management
  • Intelligent Playlist Creation
  • Personalized Music Discovery
  • Smart Radio Management
  • Analytics & Insights
• Installation
  • Prerequisites
  • Quick Setup
  • Configure Claude Desktop
  • Configure ChatGPT Desktop
• Powerful Usage Examples
• Available Tools
• Troubleshooting
• Development
• License

Why Navidrome MCP?

Imagine having an AI assistant that truly understands your music taste. This MCP server enables AI assistants to:

• Analyze your listening patterns and create perfectly curated playlists
• Discover hidden gems in your library based on your mood or activity
• Build custom radio stations from your favorite tracks
• Find music similar to what you love using Last.fm's recommendation engine
• Discover internet radio stations from around the world with advanced filtering
• Get synchronized lyrics with millisecond-precision timestamps for your favorite tracks
• Manage your library with simple conversational commands

This isn't just another music tool – it's your personal music curator powered by AI.

Features

🎵 Music Library Management

• Intelligent Browsing: Navigate songs, albums, artists, and genres with smart filtering
• Deep Search: Full-text search across all metadata or targeted searches for specific content
• Rich Metadata: Access detailed information about tracks, albums, and artists
• Tag Analysis: Explore and analyze metadata tags (genre, composer, label, year, and more)
• Clean Responses: Optimized data transfer with only essential fields (~10 properties vs 50+ raw)

🎶 Intelligent Playlist Creation

• AI Assistant Integration: Enables AI assistants to analyze your taste and build themed playlists
• Smart Management: Create, update, and organize playlists conversationally
• Flexible Track Addition: Add songs by ID, entire albums, artist discographies, or specific discs
• Dynamic Reordering: Rearrange tracks with simple commands
• Cross-Reference: Find which playlists contain specific songs

🎼 Personalized Music Discovery

• Listening Data Access: Provides listening history data for AI assistants to understand your preferences
• Similar Artist/Track Finding: Discover music similar to your favorites via Last.fm
• Artist Deep Dives: Get biographies, popular tracks, and related artists
• Global Trends: Browse worldwide music charts and trending genres
• Library Analysis Tools: Access data to help AI assistants find overlooked tracks in your library

📻 Smart Radio Management

• Stream Validation: Test radio URLs before adding to avoid broken streams
• Format Detection: Automatic detection of MP3, AAC, OGG, FLAC streams
• Metadata Extraction: Pull station info from SHOUTcast/Icecast headers
• Custom Station Creation: Build radio stations from your collection
• One-Time Setup Tips: Smart contextual help that appears only when needed

🌍 Internet Radio Discovery

• Global Station Database: Access thousands of internet radio stations worldwide via Radio Browser
• Advanced Filtering: Search by genre, country, language, codec, bitrate, and more
• Automatic Validation: Discovered stations are tested for availability
• Quality Control: Filter out broken stations and focus on high-quality streams
• Popularity Metrics: Discover stations by vote count and listener engagement
• Station Management: Tools for AI assistants to add discovered stations to your collection

🎤 Synchronized Lyrics

• Time-Synchronized Lyrics: Get lyrics with millisecond-precision timestamps for line-by-line timing
• Dual Format Support: Access both time-synced and plain text lyrics
• Community-Powered: Lyrics sourced from LRCLIB's community database
• Smart Matching: Automatic matching by title, artist, album, and duration
• No API Keys Required: Free lyrics access without registration

📊 Analytics & Insights

• Listening Patterns: Understand your music habits with play statistics
• Taste Evolution: Track how your preferences change over time
• Most/Least Played: Discover your true favorites and forgotten tracks
• Genre Distribution: Access data about your library's composition for analysis
• Recommendation Data: Provides data for AI assistants to generate suggestions based on your history

⭐ Preference Management

• Star System: Mark favorites for quick access
• 5-Star Ratings: Rate content for better recommendations
• Queue Control: Manage playback queues across devices
• Data Access for Organization: Provides preference data for AI assistants to help organize your collection

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+ (Download here)
• Running Navidrome server with your music library
• Claude Desktop or ChatGPT Desktop (or any MCP-compatible client)

Additional for manual build:

• pnpm package manager (Install instructions)

Quick Setup

Method 1: NPM Package (Recommended)

The easiest way to get started is using the published npm package, which auto-updates on launch:

npm install -g navidrome-mcp

📦 Package: navidrome-mcp on npm

This installs the MCP server globally and keeps it up-to-date automatically.

Method 2: Manual Build (Development)

For development or custom builds:

git clone https://github.com/Blakeem/Navidrome-MCP.git
cd navidrome-mcp
pnpm install
pnpm build

Configure Claude Desktop

Find your configuration file:

• Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add the Navidrome MCP server:

Using NPM Package (Recommended)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "navidrome": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["navidrome-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "NAVIDROME_URL": "http://your-server:4533",
        "NAVIDROME_USERNAME": "your_username",
        "NAVIDROME_PASSWORD": "your_password",
        "NAVIDROME_DEFAULT_LIBRARIES": "1,2", // Optional: Set default active libraries (comma-separated IDs)
        "LASTFM_API_KEY": "your_api_key", // Get your own at https://www.last.fm/api/account/create
        "RADIO_BROWSER_USER_AGENT": "Navidrome-MCP/1.0 (+https://github.com/Blakeem/Navidrome-MCP)",
        "LYRICS_PROVIDER": "lrclib",
        "LRCLIB_USER_AGENT": "Navidrome-MCP/1.0 (+https://github.com/Blakeem/Navidrome-MCP)"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using Manual Build (Alternative)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "navidrome": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/navidrome-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "NAVIDROME_URL": "http://your-server:4533",
        "NAVIDROME_USERNAME": "your_username",
        "NAVIDROME_PASSWORD": "your_password",
        "NAVIDROME_DEFAULT_LIBRARIES": "1,2", // Optional: Set default active libraries (comma-separated IDs)
        "LASTFM_API_KEY": "your_api_key", // Get your own at https://www.last.fm/api/account/create
        "RADIO_BROWSER_USER_AGENT": "Navidrome-MCP/1.0 (+https://github.com/Blakeem/Navidrome-MCP)",
        "LYRICS_PROVIDER": "lrclib",
        "LRCLIB_USER_AGENT": "Navidrome-MCP/1.0 (+https://github.com/Blakeem/Navidrome-MCP)"
      }
    }
  }
}

Important:

• NPM method: Uses npx navidrome-mcp which auto-updates on each launch
• Manual method: Requires absolute paths (full path from root) and manual updates
• Library filtering: Use NAVIDROME_DEFAULT_LIBRARIES to set default active libraries (e.g., "1" for one library, "1,2,3" for multiple)
  • If not set, all libraries are active by default
  • You can change active libraries at runtime using the set_active_libraries tool
  • Invalid library IDs are ignored with a warning
• Get a free Last.fm API key at Last.fm (optional - enables music discovery)
• Radio Browser integration requires a User-Agent string (enables station discovery)
• Lyrics integration works without API keys (LRCLIB is free)
• Features are automatically enabled/disabled based on available configuration
• Restart Claude Desktop after saving

Configure ChatGPT Desktop

Using NPM Package (Recommended)

1. Open ChatGPT Desktop
2. Go to Settings → Connectors
3. Click Create and add:
   • Command: npx
   • Args: navidrome-mcp
   • Environment variables: Same as above
4. Save and restart

Using Manual Build (Alternative)

1. Open ChatGPT Desktop
2. Go to Settings → Connectors
3. Click Create and add:
   • Command: node
   • Args: /absolute/path/to/navidrome-mcp/dist/index.js
   • Environment variables: Same as above
4. Save and restart

Powerful Usage Examples

🎯 Smart Discovery & Playlist Creation

• "Look at my most played artists, find what albums I'm missing from their discographies, and tell me which ones are most popular"
• "Create a 'Best of Pink Floyd' playlist using Last.fm's top tracks data, but only with songs I actually own"
• "Analyze my recently played songs, find similar tracks in my library I haven't played in 6 months, and create a rediscovery playlist"
• "Build me a playlist mixing my top 10 most played songs with similar tracks from artists I own but rarely listen to"

🔍 Collection Gap Analysis

• "Show me which albums are missing from my top 5 most played artists and rank them by Last.fm popularity"
• "Find artists where I only own singles or compilations, not their main albums"
• "Identify my favorite genres, then show me highly-rated albums in those genres that I don't own"
• "Look at artists similar to my favorites and tell me which ones I already have in my library but never play"

📻 Radio Station Maintenance

• "Go through all my existing radio stations, validate each one, and remove the broken ones"
• "Here are 10 jazz radio URLs I found online - test them all and add only the working ones with good bitrates"
• "Find the top-voted jazz and classical stations worldwide, validate them, and add the best 5 of each genre"
• "Check all my radio stations and replace any broken ones with similar working stations"

🎼 Advanced Playlist Automation

• "Create a 'Hidden Gems' playlist with 5-star rated songs that have less than 5 plays"
• "Build weekly playlists based on what I listened to most each month of last year"
• "Make a 'Complete Artist Journey' playlist with one top track from each album of my top 10 artists, in chronological order"
• "Generate mood playlists by analyzing my listening patterns: what I play in mornings vs evenings vs weekends"

📊 Listening Insights & Organization

• "Analyze my jazz collection: show play counts, ratings, and find which albums I've never fully listened to"
• "Find duplicate songs across different albums and create a cleanup list"
• "Show me my listening evolution: which genres I've moved away from and which I'm playing more"
• "Identify 'one-hit wonders' in my library - artists where I only play one song repeatedly"

Available Tools

🔧 Core System

Tool	Description
test_connection	Verify Navidrome server connectivity and feature status

📚 Library Management

Tool	Description
get_song	Detailed song information
get_album	Detailed album information
get_artist	Detailed artist information
get_song_playlists	Get all playlists that contain a specific song
get_user_details	Get user information and available libraries
set_active_libraries	Set which libraries are active for filtering content

🔍 Search & Discovery

Tool	Description
search_all	Search across all content types
search_songs	Search for specific songs
search_albums	Search for albums
search_artists	Search for artists
get_similar_artists	Find similar artists (Last.fm)
get_similar_tracks	Find similar tracks (Last.fm)
get_artist_info	Artist biography and tags
get_top_tracks_by_artist	Get top tracks for an artist from Last.fm
get_trending_music	Global music trends

🎵 Playlist Operations

Tool	Description
list_playlists	View all playlists
get_playlist	Get detailed information about a specific playlist by ID
create_playlist	Create new playlist
update_playlist	Update playlist metadata
delete_playlist	Remove playlist
get_playlist_tracks	Get playlist contents
add_tracks_to_playlist	Add multiple types of content (songs/albums/artists) in a single operation
remove_tracks_from_playlist	Remove specific tracks
reorder_playlist_track	Rearrange track order

⭐ Ratings & Favorites

Tool	Description
star_item	Mark as favorite
unstar_item	Remove from favorites
set_rating	Set 0-5 star rating
list_starred_items	View favorites
list_top_rated	View highest rated items

📊 Analytics & History

Tool	Description
list_recently_played	View recent listening activity
list_most_played	Find most played content
get_queue	View playback queue
set_queue	Set playback queue
clear_queue	Clear the playback queue

📻 Radio Management

Tool	Description
validate_radio_stream	Test stream URL validity
list_radio_stations	View all stations
get_radio_station	Get detailed information about a specific radio station by ID
create_radio_station	Create radio stations using JSON array format (single or multiple stations, with optional validation*)
delete_radio_station	Delete an internet radio station by ID
play_radio_station	Start radio playback
get_current_radio_info	Get information about currently playing radio station and stream metadata
discover_radio_stations	Find internet radio stations globally
get_radio_filters	Get available search filters (genres, countries, etc.)
get_station_by_uuid	Get detailed station information
click_station	Register play click for popularity metrics
vote_station	Vote for a radio station

*Note: create_radio_station supports an optional validateBeforeAdd parameter that will test stream URLs before adding them to Navidrome.

🎤 Lyrics & Timestamps

Tool	Description
get_lyrics	Get synchronized and plain text lyrics

🏷️ Metadata & Tags

Tool	Description
search_by_tags	Search by specific tags
get_tag_distribution	Analyze tag usage patterns and distribution
get_filter_options	Get available filter values for search operations

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Connection Problems

• Verify Navidrome server is running
• Check URL includes protocol (http:// or https://)
• Ensure credentials are correct
• Test with curl or browser first

macOS Specific

• See macOS Troubleshooting Guide
• Common issue: Node.js path not found
• Solution: Create symlinks or use full paths

Configuration Issues

• Use absolute paths in config files
• Validate JSON syntax (no trailing commas)
• Check environment variables are set
• Restart client after changes

Limitations

Playback Control: This MCP server manages your library and queues but doesn't directly control playback. Use your Navidrome client app for play/pause/skip.

Recently Played: Navidrome doesn't provide last-played timestamps, only play counts and completion status.

Queue Management: Works with Subsonic-compatible clients that support jukebox mode.

Development

Setup for Contributors

# Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/Blakeem/Navidrome-MCP.git
cd navidrome-mcp
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your credentials

# Development
pnpm dev       # Hot reload mode
pnpm test      # Run tests
pnpm lint      # Check code style
pnpm typecheck # Type checking

Testing with MCP Inspector

# Build first
pnpm build

# Web UI testing
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js

# CLI testing
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli node dist/index.js \
  --method tools/call \
  --tool-name search_all \
  --tool-arg query="jazz"

Project Structure

navidrome-mcp/
├── src/           # TypeScript source
├── dist/          # Compiled JavaScript
├── docs/          # Documentation
├── tests/         # Test suites
└── CLAUDE.md      # AI assistant instructions

License

Code: AGPL-3.0

Source code is licensed under GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE.

Documentation: CC-BY-SA-4.0

Documentation is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

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