anime-mcp-server
by cyanheads
README.md
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<h1>@cyanheads/anime-mcp-server</h1>
<p><b>Search anime/manga, get full detail, franchise watch order, seasonal schedule, characters, rankings, and studio filmography via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.</b>
<div>8 Tools • 1 Resource</div>
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[](./CHANGELOG.md) [](./LICENSE) [](https://github.com/users/cyanheads/packages/container/package/anime-mcp-server) [](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/anime-mcp-server) [](https://www.typescriptlang.org/) [](https://bun.sh/)
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[](https://github.com/cyanheads/anime-mcp-server/releases/latest/download/anime-mcp-server.mcpb) [](https://cursor.com/en/install-mcp?name=anime-mcp-server&config=eyJjb21tYW5kIjoibnB4IiwiYXJncyI6WyIteSIsIkBjeWFuaGVhZHMvYW5pbWUtbWNwLXNlcnZlciJdfQ==) [](https://vscode.dev/redirect?url=vscode:mcp/install?%7B%22name%22%3A%22anime-mcp-server%22%2C%22command%22%3A%22npx%22%2C%22args%22%3A%5B%22-y%22%2C%22%40cyanheads%2Fanime-mcp-server%22%5D%7D)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core)
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---
## Overview
Anime and manga data from AniList, Jikan (MyAnimeList), and Kitsu. Search titles, pull full detail with side-by-side AniList and MAL scores, walk a franchise's watch order, check the airing schedule, and look up characters, voice actors, and studio filmographies from any MCP client. Runs as a stdio process or a local Streamable HTTP server.
### Tools
| Tool | Description |
|:---|:---|
| `anime_search_media` | Search anime or manga by title, genre, tag, season, year, format, or status. Returns ranked results with IDs, titles, scores, format, and episode/chapter counts. AniList primary; Jikan (MAL) fallback when AniList has no match for a title-only query. |
| `anime_get_media` | Full detail for one anime or manga by AniList ID — synopsis, format, episode/chapter count, status, season, studios, source material, genres and tags (spoiler-flagged), AniList and MAL scores side by side, streaming links, cover/banner, and direct relations. |
| `anime_get_relations` | Franchise untangler. Walks the related-works graph from a media ID beyond one hop — sequels, prequels, side stories, movies, OVAs, source and adaptation — and returns them in suggested watch/read order. |
| `anime_get_schedule` | Airing schedule for a season or upcoming episode window. Season mode lists all anime airing in a given season/year. Upcoming mode returns the next episode for each airing title within a date window, with UTC timestamp and countdown. |
| `anime_find_characters` | Characters and voice actors for a title, or look up a character/VA by name. Returns characters with role (main/supporting/background), voice actors by language, and cross-links to other media. |
| `anime_get_recommendations` | AniList recommendations with matching Jikan (MAL) vote counts. Optionally echoes what the user liked about the source title to contextualize picks. |
| `anime_get_rankings` | Top, trending, or seasonal rankings. Filterable by genre, tag, and format. Top returns all-time by score; trending uses AniList's trending order; seasonal returns the current or specified season sorted by popularity. |
| `anime_get_studio` | A studio's full filmography by name or AniList studio ID — all titles the studio produced, sortable by year or score, with format, status, and episode count. |
### Resources
| Resource | Description |
|:---|:---|
| `anime://media/{id}` | Compact media record by AniList ID — title, synopsis, scores, genres, streaming count, and cover image. Stable URI for injectable context. |
All resource data is also reachable via tools. Use `anime_search_media` to discover AniList IDs before fetching the resource URI.
---
## Capability reference
### `anime_search_media` <sub>tool</sub>
- Free-text title search with AniList primary. When AniList has no match at all for a query-only search, it falls back to Jikan (MAL) and maps the rows to AniList IDs, honoring `include_adult`. The fallback runs only at `per_page` 25 or less (Jikan's page size); above that, or if Jikan is unavailable, the AniList empty page comes back with a notice instead of an error
- Filter by genre, tag, season/year, format (`TV`, `MOVIE`, `OVA`, `MANGA`, `NOVEL`, etc.), and status (`RELEASING`, `FINISHED`, etc.); up to 5 sort values
- Needs at least one criterion; blank or whitespace `query`/`genre`/`tag` values count as absent, and a sort other than `SEARCH_MATCH` alone browses the catalog (`missing_criteria` otherwise)
- Default sort: `SEARCH_MATCH` with a `query`, `POPULARITY_DESC` without one
- Adult content gated behind explicit `include_adult: true` (default off)
- Pagination via `page` and `per_page` (max 50), driven by `has_next_page`; `total_results` is exact and appears only on the final page. AniList serves the first 5,000 results — the last reachable page carries a notice saying so, and deeper pages fail with `page_depth_exceeded`
---
### `anime_get_media` <sub>tool</sub>
- AniList full-detail query supplemented in parallel by Jikan (MAL score) and Kitsu (streaming links with sub/dub language flags) via `Promise.allSettled`; `data_sources` flags which succeeded
- AniList and MAL scores surfaced side by side — never blended — plus AniList weighted average/popularity and MAL rank/popularity
- Tags carry an `is_spoiler` flag from AniList's `isGeneralSpoiler`; the formatted text view hides spoiler and adult tags while the full array stays in structured output
- Streaming links: Kitsu primary (with per-platform sub/dub language lists), AniList `externalLinks` fallback when Kitsu has none
- `not_found` when the AniList ID doesn't resolve — use `anime_search_media` first
---
### `anime_get_relations` <sub>tool</sub>
- Multi-hop BFS over AniList's relation graph, up to `max_depth` hops (default 2, max 4)
- Entries split into `main` (source, adaptation, prequel, sequel — canonical story) and `supplementary` (side story, spin-off, compilation, and similar) via `watch_order_category`
- Each entry includes `season_year` and episode/chapter count for context
- `not_found` when the root AniList ID doesn't resolve
---
### `anime_get_schedule` <sub>tool</sub>
- Two modes: `season` (all anime airing in a season/year — both `season` and `season_year` required) and `upcoming` (next episode per airing title within `days_ahead`, 7 when omitted, max 30)
- `invalid_season` when mode is `season` but `season`/`season_year` is missing; `conflicting_inputs` when a mode gets the other mode's fields (`upcoming` with `season`/`season_year`, `season` with `days_ahead`)
- Adult titles excluded by default (`include_adult`); pagination via `page`/`per_page` (max 50), driven by `has_next_page`. In season mode `total_results` is exact and appears only on the final page; AniList serves the first 5,000 entries — the last reachable page carries a notice saying so, and deeper pages fail with `page_depth_exceeded`
- Airing timestamps are UTC ISO 8601, with `time_until_airing_seconds` for countdowns
---
### `anime_find_characters` <sub>tool</sub>
- Three lookup modes: `id` (media → cast), `character_name`, or `voice_actor_name` — exactly one per call. None fails `missing_identifier`; more than one fails `conflicting_inputs`. Names are trimmed, and a blank name counts as absent
- By-media mode supports a `language` filter over AniList's `StaffLanguage` enum (JAPANESE, ENGLISH, KOREAN, etc.); `language` with a name search fails `conflicting_inputs`
- Cast list capped at `per_page` (max 25); a capped page returns `truncated: true` with next-page guidance
- `media_not_found` / `not_found` distinguish an invalid media ID from a name search with no match
---
### `anime_get_recommendations` <sub>tool</sub>
- Returns AniList recommendations, adding Jikan/MAL vote counts when the same recommendation appears in both sources; `sources` identifies each contribution
- Scores stay separate — `anilist_rating` and `jikan_votes` are never blended into one figure
- Optional `liked_aspects` free-text field is echoed back unmodified, for the caller to contextualize picks
- AniList page capped at `per_page` (max 25); a capped page returns `truncated: true` with next-page guidance
- `not_found` when the source AniList ID doesn't resolve
---
### `anime_get_rankings` <sub>tool</sub>
- Three modes: `top` (all-time by score), `trending` (current week), `seasonal` (current or specified season/year, sorted by popularity)
- Filterable by `genre`, `tag` (an AniList tag name such as `Isekai`), and `format` in every mode; blank values count as absent. Adult content excluded by default (`include_adult`)
- `seasonal` takes `season` and `season_year` together, or neither for the current season (`invalid_season` otherwise); in `top`/`trending` they restrict the ranking, and `season_label` names the applied filter
- Pagination via `page`/`per_page` (max 50), driven by `has_next_page`; each entry carries a 1-based `rank`. `total_results` is exact and appears only on the final page; AniList serves the first 5,000 entries — the last reachable page carries a notice saying so, and deeper pages fail with `page_depth_exceeded`
---
### `anime_get_studio` <sub>tool</sub>
- Look up by `name` (search, trimmed) or `id` (direct AniList studio ID) — exactly one: neither fails `missing_identifier`, both fail `conflicting_inputs`; a blank `name` counts as absent
- Filmography sortable by `POPULARITY_DESC` (default), `SCORE_DESC`, `START_DATE_DESC`, or `START_DATE`
- One row per distinct title on a page, with `is_main_studio` set when any of the studio's credits on it is a main-studio credit
- `not_found` when neither the name search nor the ID lookup resolves
- Pagination via `page`/`per_page` (max 25, AniList's page size for a studio's titles), driven by `has_next_page`; `total_titles` is exact only when the whole filmography fits on page 1
---
### `anime://media/{id}` <sub>resource</sub>
- Compact media record as `application/json` — title variants, synopsis, scores, genres, streaming count, cover image
- `id` comes from `anime_search_media` or `anime_get_media`
- A flatter subset of `anime_get_media` — no tags, studios, streaming links, or relations
---
## Features
Built on [`@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core`](https://github.com/cyanheads/mcp-ts-core): stdio and Streamable HTTP transports, pluggable auth (`none` / `jwt` / `oauth`), swappable storage (`in-memory`, `filesystem`, `Supabase`, `Cloudflare KV/R2/D1`), structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing.
Anime/manga-specific:
- Three-source architecture: AniList GraphQL (primary), Jikan v4 REST (MAL scores + recommendations), Kitsu JSON:API (streaming links with sub/dub language detail)
- ID reconciliation via AniList's `idMal` bridge — no cross-source ID guessing
- Franchise relation graph traversal with heuristic ordering by relation-type priority, then season year
- Rate-limit-aware service layer: AniList 30 req/30s with automatic backoff; Jikan 350ms floor between calls
- Keyless by design — all three sources are public and require no API credentials
Agent-friendly output:
- Dual scores surfaced separately — AniList `meanScore` (0–100) and MAL `score` (0–10) with population size (`scored_by`) so agents can reason about weight; never blended into a composite
- Spoiler safety — tags carry an `is_spoiler` flag from AniList's `isGeneralSpoiler`; the formatted text view hides spoiler and adult tags while the full array stays in structured output
- Supplement provenance — `anime_get_media.data_sources` reports whether AniList, MAL/Jikan, and Kitsu data was retrieved; an unavailable supplement leaves its flag false
- UTC timestamps throughout; season labels echoed (`WINTER 2024`) to avoid the winter/spring/summer/fall boundary footgun
---
## Getting started
No API keys required — all three upstream sources (AniList, Jikan, Kitsu) are keyless public APIs.
Add the following to your MCP client configuration file:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"anime-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "bunx",
"args": ["@cyanheads/anime-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with npx (no Bun required):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"anime-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/anime-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with Docker:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"anime-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run", "-i", "--rm",
"-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio",
"ghcr.io/cyanheads/anime-mcp-server:latest"
]
}
}
}
```
For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:
```sh
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp
```
### Prerequisites
- [Bun v1.4.0](https://bun.sh/) or higher (or Node.js v24+). No API keys needed.
### Installation
1. **Clone the repository:**
```sh
git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/anime-mcp-server.git
```
2. **Navigate into the directory:**
```sh
cd anime-mcp-server
```
3. **Install dependencies:**
```sh
bun install
```
4. **Configure environment (optional):**
```sh
cp .env.example .env
# edit .env if you want to change transport or log level
```
---
## Configuration
No server-specific env vars are required. All framework variables are optional with sensible defaults.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|:---------|:------------|:--------|
| `MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE` | Transport: `stdio` or `http`. | `stdio` |
| `MCP_HTTP_PORT` | Port for HTTP server. | `3010` |
| `MCP_HTTP_HOST` | Hostname for HTTP server. | `127.0.0.1` |
| `MCP_HTTP_ENDPOINT_PATH` | Endpoint path for the MCP server. | `/mcp` |
| `MCP_SESSION_MODE` | Overrides the source-declared default: `auto`, `stateful`, or `stateless`. The framework schema default `auto` resolves to `stateful`. | `stateless` |
| `MCP_AUTH_MODE` | Auth mode: `none`, `jwt`, or `oauth`. | `none` |
| `MCP_LOG_LEVEL` | Log level (RFC 5424): `debug`, `info`, `notice`, `warning`, `error`. | `info` |
| `OTEL_ENABLED` | Enable [OpenTelemetry instrumentation](https://github.com/cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/tree/main/docs/telemetry). | `false` |
See [`.env.example`](./.env.example) for the full list of optional overrides.
---
## Running the server
### Local development
- **Build and run:**
```sh
# One-time build
bun run rebuild
# Run the built server
bun run start:stdio
# or
bun run start:http
```
- **Run checks and tests:**
```sh
bun run devcheck # Lint, format, typecheck, security
bun run test # Vitest test suite
bun run lint:mcp # Validate MCP definitions against spec
```
### Docker
```sh
docker build -t anime-mcp-server .
docker run --rm -p 3010:3010 anime-mcp-server
```
The Dockerfile defaults to HTTP transport, stateless session mode, and logs to `/var/log/anime-mcp-server`. OpenTelemetry peer dependencies are installed by default — build with `--build-arg OTEL_ENABLED=false` to omit them.
---
## Project structure
| Directory | Purpose |
|:----------|:--------|
| `src/index.ts` | `createApp()` entry point — registers tools, resources, and inits services. |
| `src/mcp-server/tools` | Tool definitions (`*.tool.ts`). |
| `src/mcp-server/resources` | Resource definitions (`*.resource.ts`). |
| `src/services/anilist` | AniList GraphQL client — primary source for all queries. |
| `src/services/jikan` | Jikan v4 REST client — MAL scores and recommendations. |
| `src/services/kitsu` | Kitsu JSON:API client — streaming links with sub/dub language detail. |
| `tests/` | Unit and integration tests mirroring `src/`. |
| `changelog/` | Per-version changelog files (`changelog/<minor>.x/<version>.md`). |
---
## Development guide
See [`CLAUDE.md`/`AGENTS.md`](./CLAUDE.md) for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:
- Handlers throw, framework catches — no `try/catch` in tool logic
- Use `ctx.log` for request-scoped logging, `ctx.state` for tenant-scoped storage
- Register new tools and resources via the barrels in `src/mcp-server/*/definitions/index.ts`
- Wrap external API calls: validate raw → normalize to domain type → return output schema; never fabricate missing fields
- AniList is primary — supplement failures (Jikan, Kitsu) degrade gracefully via `Promise.allSettled`
---
## Contributing
Issues are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:
```sh
bun run devcheck
bun run test
```
---
## License
Apache-2.0 — see [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.
This server cannot be deployed
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