Nextcloud MCP Server

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Note: This project is a complete rewrite in TypeScript of the original Python-based cbcoutinho/nextcloud-mcp-server, now with Smithery deployment support for one-click cloud deployment.
Key Differences from the Original Repository:
Language: This project is written in TypeScript, while the original is in Python.
Smithery Support: Added full support for Smithery deployment and local testing via Smithery playground.
Project Structure: The project structure has been adapted for a Node.js/TypeScript environment with MCP SDK integration.
Dependencies: This project uses npm for package management, whereas the original uses Python's dependency management tools.
Deployment: Now supports both local development and cloud deployment via Smithery.

The Nextcloud MCP (Model Context Protocol) server allows Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI's GPT, Google's Gemini, or Anthropic's Claude to interact with your Nextcloud instance. This enables automation of various Nextcloud actions across Notes, Calendar, Contacts, Tables, and WebDAV file operations.

Features

The server provides integration with multiple Nextcloud apps, enabling LLMs to interact with your Nextcloud data through a comprehensive set of 30 tools across 5 main categories.

Supported Nextcloud Apps

App	Support Status	Description
Notes	✅ Full Support	Create, read, update, delete, search, and append to notes.
Calendar	✅ Full Support	Complete calendar integration - manage calendars and events via CalDAV.
Tables	✅ Full Support	Complete table operations - list tables, get schemas, and perform CRUD operations on rows.
Files (WebDAV)	✅ Full Support	Complete file system access - browse directories, read/write files, create/delete resources.
Contacts	✅ Full Support	Create, read, update, and delete contacts and address books via CardDAV.

Available Tools (30 Total)

📝 Notes Tools (5 tools)

Tool	Description
`nextcloud_notes_create_note`	Create a new note with title, content, and category
`nextcloud_notes_update_note`	Update an existing note by ID with optional title, content, or category
`nextcloud_notes_append_content`	Append content to an existing note with a clear separator
`nextcloud_notes_search_notes`	Search notes by title or content with result filtering
`nextcloud_notes_delete_note`	Delete a note by ID

📅 Calendar Tools (6 tools)

Tool	Description
`nextcloud_calendar_list_calendars`	List all available calendars for the user
`nextcloud_calendar_create_event`	Create a calendar event with summary, description, dates, and location
`nextcloud_calendar_list_events`	List events from a calendar with optional date filtering
`nextcloud_calendar_get_event`	Get detailed information about a specific event
`nextcloud_calendar_update_event`	Update any aspect of an existing event
`nextcloud_calendar_delete_event`	Delete a calendar event

👥 Contacts Tools (6 tools)

Tool	Description
`nextcloud_contacts_list_addressbooks`	List all available addressbooks for the user
`nextcloud_contacts_create_addressbook`	Create a new addressbook with display name and description
`nextcloud_contacts_delete_addressbook`	Delete an addressbook by ID
`nextcloud_contacts_list_contacts`	List all contacts in a specific addressbook
`nextcloud_contacts_create_contact`	Create a new contact with full name, emails, phones, addresses, and organizations
`nextcloud_contacts_delete_contact`	Delete a contact from an addressbook

📊 Tables Tools (6 tools)

Tool	Description
`nextcloud_tables_list_tables`	List all tables available to the user
`nextcloud_tables_get_schema`	Get the schema/structure of a specific table including columns
`nextcloud_tables_read_table`	Read all rows from a table
`nextcloud_tables_insert_row`	Insert a new row into a table with key-value data
`nextcloud_tables_update_row`	Update an existing row in a table
`nextcloud_tables_delete_row`	Delete a row from a table

📁 WebDAV File System Tools (6 tools)

Tool	Description
`nextcloud_webdav_search_files`	🔍 NEW! Unified search across filenames, content, and metadata - no need to specify exact paths
`nextcloud_webdav_list_directory`	List files and directories in any Nextcloud path
`nextcloud_webdav_read_file`	Read file content from Nextcloud
`nextcloud_webdav_write_file`	Create or update files in Nextcloud with content
`nextcloud_webdav_create_directory`	Create new directories in Nextcloud
`nextcloud_webdav_delete_resource`	Delete files or directories from Nextcloud

🔍 Revolutionary Unified WebDAV Search Feature

The crown jewel of this MCP server is the powerful unified search system for WebDAV files, inspired by modern search interfaces like on an another MCP that I have created: mcp-datagovmy. This completely transforms how you interact with your Nextcloud files by eliminating the need to specify exact file paths.

✨ Key Features

🎯 Multi-scope Search: Search across filenames, file content, and metadata simultaneously
🧠 Smart File Type Detection: Automatically handles text files, code, configuration files, documents, and media
🔧 Advanced Filtering: Filter by file type, size range, modification date, and directory
📈 Intelligent Ranking: Results ranked by relevance with bonuses for recent files and exact matches
👀 Content Preview: Optional content previews for matched text files
⚡ Performance Optimized: Intelligent caching, timeout protection, and parallel processing
🛡️ Error Recovery: Fallback strategies prevent timeouts and provide helpful suggestions

🚀 Usage Examples

// Basic search - find all files containing "FAQ Dean List" await nextcloud_webdav_search_files({ query: "FAQ Dean List" }); // Advanced search - find PDF reports from 2024 await nextcloud_webdav_search_files({ query: "report 2024", fileTypes: ["pdf"], searchIn: ["filename", "content"], limit: 20, includeContent: true, quickSearch: true }); // Directory-specific search with date range await nextcloud_webdav_search_files({ query: "meeting notes", basePath: "/Documents", searchIn: ["filename", "content"], dateRange: { from: "2024-01-01", to: "2024-12-31" } }); // Search by file characteristics await nextcloud_webdav_search_files({ query: "configuration files", sizeRange: { min: 1024, max: 102400 }, // 1KB - 100KB fileTypes: ["json", "yaml", "xml", "conf"] }); // Quick search for large directories (optimized) await nextcloud_webdav_search_files({ query: "budget", basePath: "/", // Root directory quickSearch: true, // Enables optimizations limit: 25, maxDepth: 2 // Limit search depth });

📋 Complete Parameter Reference

Parameter	Type	Default	Description	Example
`query`	string	required	Search terms - supports multiple words	`"FAQ Dean List"`
`searchIn`	array	`["filename", "content"]`	Search scope: `filename` , `content` , `metadata`	`["filename", "content", "metadata"]`
`fileTypes`	array	all types	File extensions to include	`["pdf", "txt", "md", "docx"]`
`basePath`	string	`"/"`	Directory to search in	`"/Documents/Reports"`
`limit`	number	`50`	Maximum results to return	`20`
`includeContent`	boolean	`false`	Include content previews for text files	`true`
`caseSensitive`	boolean	`false`	Case-sensitive matching	`true`
`quickSearch`	boolean	`true`	Use optimized mode for root searches	`false`
`maxDepth`	number	`3`	Maximum directory depth (1-10)	`5`
`sizeRange`	object	unlimited	File size filters in bytes	`{min: 1024, max: 1048576}`
`dateRange`	object	all dates	Last modified date filters	`{from: "2024-01-01", to: "2024-12-31"}`

🎯 Performance Tips

For root directory searches: Use quickSearch: true and maxDepth: 2-3 for faster results
For specific directories: Use basePath: "/Documents" instead of searching root "/"
For large result sets: Add fileTypes filter to narrow scope
For timeout issues: Enable quickSearch and use smaller limit values

🧪 Test Tool (1 tool)

Tool	Description
`hello`	Verify server connectivity and list all available tools

🔄 Before vs After: The Search Revolution

Before Unified Search

// You had to know exact paths await nextcloud_webdav_read_file({ path: "/Documents/Finance/Reports/Q4_Budget_Analysis_2024.pdf" }); // Multiple calls needed to explore await nextcloud_webdav_list_directory({ path: "/" }); await nextcloud_webdav_list_directory({ path: "/Documents" }); await nextcloud_webdav_list_directory({ path: "/Documents/Finance" }); // ... and so on

After Unified Search ✨

// Natural language search across entire Nextcloud! await nextcloud_webdav_search_files({ query: "Q4 budget analysis 2024", fileTypes: ["pdf"] }); // Finds files instantly regardless of location!

🛠️ Advanced Search Strategies

Content-Aware Search

The system intelligently extracts and searches content from:

📝 Text Files: .txt, .md, .csv - Full content indexing
💻 Code Files: .js, .ts, .py, .html, .css - Syntax-aware search
⚙️ Config Files: .json, .xml, .yaml - Structure-aware indexing
📄 Documents: .pdf, .docx - Metadata and properties
🎬 Media Files: Images, videos - EXIF data and metadata

Smart Ranking System

Results are ranked using advanced algorithms:

Exact filename matches → 100 points
Word boundaries in filenames → 80 points
Partial filename matches → 60+ points (position bonus)
Content frequency matches → 50+ points (term density)
Recent file bonus → +10 points (last 30 days)
File type preference → +5 points (text/code files)
Size convenience → +5 points (files under 100KB)

Error Handling & Recovery

🕐 20-second timeout protection - Prevents hanging operations
🔄 Automatic fallback search - Falls back to directory listing if indexing fails
💡 Intelligent suggestions - Provides helpful tips for optimization
📊 Performance metrics - Shows search duration and result counts

Installation

Quick Start with npm (Recommended)

Install directly from npm and run as an MCP server:

# Install globally npm install -g mcp-nextcloud # Or install locally in your project npm install mcp-nextcloud

Usage as MCP Server

After installation, you can run the MCP server directly:

# If installed globally mcp-nextcloud # If installed locally npx mcp-nextcloud # Or using npm script npm exec mcp-nextcloud

Environment Setup: Create a .env file with your Nextcloud credentials:

NEXTCLOUD_HOST=https://your.nextcloud.instance.com NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME=your_nextcloud_username NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD=your_nextcloud_app_password

Integration with LLM Applications

Add to your MCP client configuration (e.g., Claude Desktop, Continue, etc.):

{ "mcpServers": { "nextcloud": { "command": "mcp-nextcloud", "env": { "NEXTCLOUD_HOST": "https://your.nextcloud.instance.com", "NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME": "your_username", "NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD": "your_app_password" } } } }

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+
Access to a Nextcloud instance
npm or yarn package manager

Local Development Setup

Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/hithereiamaliff/mcp-nextcloud.git cd mcp-nextcloud
Install dependencies:
npm install
Configure your Nextcloud credentials (see Configuration section)
Build the project:
npm run build

Configuration

Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory based on .env.sample:

# .env NEXTCLOUD_HOST=https://your.nextcloud.instance.com NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME=your_nextcloud_username NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD=your_nextcloud_app_password_or_login_password

Important Security Note: Use a dedicated Nextcloud App Password instead of your regular login password. Generate one in your Nextcloud Security settings.

Smithery Configuration

When deploying via Smithery, you can configure credentials through:

Environment variables (as above)
Smithery configuration interface (recommended for cloud deployment)

Deployment & Usage

Option 1: npm Package (Recommended for End Users)

The easiest way for users to get started:

npm install -g mcp-nextcloud mcp-nextcloud

This installs a global CLI that can be used directly with MCP clients.

Option 2: Local Development with Smithery Playground

The fastest way to test your server locally during development:

npm run dev

This will:

Build the TypeScript project
Start the Smithery development server
Automatically open the Smithery playground in your browser
Connect to your local server for immediate testing

Option 3: Cloud Deployment via Smithery

Ensure your project is configured:
npm run build
Deploy to Smithery:
npm run deploy
Follow the Smithery deployment prompts to configure your Nextcloud credentials securely.

Manual Local Development

For traditional local development:

npm run start

The server will start and listen for MCP connections.

Publishing to npm

For Maintainers

To publish this package to npm:

Prepare the release:
npm run build npm version patch|minor|major
Publish to npm:
npm publish
Verify the publication:
npm view mcp-nextcloud

Publishing Checklist

All tests pass (Smithery deployment confirmed working)
TypeScript builds without errors (npm run build)
Version bumped appropriately (npm version)
README updated with changes
.npmignore properly excludes development files
CLI executable works (dist/cli.js)

Dual Deployment Strategy

This project supports both deployment methods simultaneously:

Smithery: For cloud deployment and development testing
npm: For end-user installation and MCP client integration

The Smithery configuration (smithery.yaml) and npm package configuration coexist without interference.

Smithery Integration

This project includes full Smithery support with:

smithery.yaml: Specifies TypeScript runtime
Development server: Local testing with hot reload
One-click deployment: Deploy to cloud with a single command
Configuration management: Secure credential handling
Playground integration: Immediate testing interface

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

404 Errors on WebDAV/Calendar/Contacts:
- Ensure your Nextcloud credentials are correct
- Verify the Nextcloud apps (Calendar, Contacts) are installed and enabled
- Check that your app password has the necessary permissions
Authentication Failures:
- Use an App Password instead of your regular password
- Verify the NEXTCLOUD_HOST URL is correct (including https://)
- Ensure the Nextcloud instance is accessible
Missing Tools:
- Run the hello tool to verify all 30 tools are available
- Check the server logs for any initialization errors
Search Timeout Issues:
- Use quickSearch: true for root directory searches
- Specify a basePath like "/Documents" instead of searching root "/"
- Add fileTypes filters to narrow the search scope
- Reduce maxDepth parameter for faster results

Development

Project Structure

├── src/ │ ├── index.ts # Main Smithery entry point │ ├── app.ts # Legacy entry point │ ├── client/ # Nextcloud API clients │ ├── models/ # TypeScript interfaces │ └── server/ # Tool implementations ├── smithery.yaml # Smithery configuration ├── package.json # Project dependencies and scripts └── README.md # This file

Contributing

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Make your changes
Test with npm run dev
Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0) - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

Original Python implementation by cbcoutinho
Built with Model Context Protocol
Deployable via Smithery