applemusic-mcp

MCP server for Apple Music — lets your AI assistant (Claude, Cursor, Cline, Windsurf, or any MCP client) manage playlists, add music, control playback, and browse your library.

Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Access

Developer token is included with Apple Developer membership (free for App Store developers), valid 6 months — setup. Web token is a free fallback captured by applemusic-mcp signin; it uses Apple's web-player API the same way open-source clients such as Cider and Sidra do.

Features

Catalog, library, and playlist features run over the Apple Music API — same on every platform (sign in once). Playback is macOS-only for now (native AppleScript control of Music.app); cross-platform browser playback is in progress. Play-from-URL on macOS uses a small AppleScript UI step and needs the screen unlocked + Accessibility permission.

Related MCP server: Sound

Quick Start (macOS)

Requirements: Python 3.10+, Apple Music app with subscription.

No Apple Developer account needed. On macOS, playback and local library features work instantly via AppleScript. To add catalog music to your library/playlists (any platform), sign in once — see Enable catalog features below.

git clone https://github.com/epheterson/applemusic-mcp.git
cd applemusic-mcp
python3 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

Add to your MCP client config. Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json); Cursor / Cline / Windsurf use the same mcpServers shape — see your client's docs for the file location.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Apple Music": {
      "command": "/full/path/to/applemusic-mcp/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "applemusic_mcp"]
    }
  }
}

That's it! Restart your client and try: "List my Apple Music playlists" or "Play my favorites playlist"

Windows/Linux users: AppleScript playback requires macOS, but catalog/library/playlist features work cross-platform — just sign in.

Enable Catalog Features (sign in once)

Adding catalog music to your library and playlists runs over the Apple Music API. Sign in once:

applemusic-mcp signin     # opens Chrome to music.apple.com; sign in once
applemusic-mcp status     # verify

Captures your media-user-token from a local, signed-in Chrome profile (your password never touches this tool); uses your installed Chrome when present. The sign-in persists.

Have an Apple Developer membership? A generated token (6-month, sanctioned) is preferred — see Appendix: Developer token setup.

Add to Your MCP Client (Windows/Linux)

Same mcpServers shape works across clients (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, Windsurf, etc.) — only the config file path differs.

Claude Desktop:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Apple Music": {
      "command": "/full/path/to/applemusic-mcp/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "applemusic_mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Optional Preferences

Add to config.json:

{
  "preferences": {
    "auto_search": true,
    "clean_only": false,
    "fetch_explicit": false,
    "reveal_on_library_miss": false
  }
}

• auto_search: Enables catalog search + library-add fallback for playlist(action="add") when a track isn't already in the user's library (default: false to avoid unintended library writes — set to true for "fill this playlist" workflows). On macOS works without an API token by falling back to Music.app UI automation (requires display + Accessibility permissions for the host process).

• clean_only: Filter explicit content, for search_catalog, search_library, browse_library (default: false)

• fetch_explicit: Fetch explicit status (cached), for get_playlist_tracks, search_library, browse_library (default: false)

• reveal_on_library_miss: Open catalog tracks in Music app, for play (default: false)

Usage Examples

Playlist management:

• "List my Apple Music playlists"

• "Create a playlist called 'Road Trip' and add some upbeat songs"

• "Add Hey Jude by The Beatles to my Road Trip playlist"

• "Remove the last 3 tracks from my workout playlist"

• "Export my library to CSV"

Folder organization (macOS):

• "Create a folder called Genres and put subfolders for Rock, Jazz, and Electronic in it"

• "Move my Road Trip playlist into the Summer folder"

• "Show me my folder hierarchy"

• "Where is my workout playlist?"

Discovery & playback (macOS):

• "What have I been listening to recently?"

• "Play my workout playlist on shuffle"

• "Skip to the next track"

• "What's playing right now?"

With API enabled:

• "Search Apple Music for 90s alternative rock"

• "Find songs similar to Bohemian Rhapsody and add them to my library"

• "What are the top charts right now?"

• "Get me personalized recommendations"

Tools

playlist(action=...)

Playlist and folder operations - list, manage tracks, create, copy, remove (macOS), delete (macOS), rename (macOS), folder management (macOS)

Folder paths: Use / for nesting: create(folder="Music/Genres/Jazz") creates all levels. Works with move, delete, and create.

Note: The Apple Music API only supports creating single-level folders. Nested paths, move, delete, rename, tree, and path operations require macOS (AppleScript). Snapshots on macOS capture full folder hierarchy.

*Move-to-root limitation: Music.app's AppleScript interface cannot move playlists out of folders. folder="" recreates the playlist at root with the same tracks — the playlist's persistent ID will change. Moving INTO folders preserves the ID.

Examples:

playlist(action="list")
playlist(action="create", name="Road Trip", description="Summer vibes")
playlist(action="create", folder="Summer/Chill")                           # nested folders
playlist(action="create", name="Road Trip", folder="Summer/Chill")         # playlist in nested folder
playlist(action="move", playlist="Road Trip", folder="Summer/Chill")       # into nested folder
playlist(action="move", playlist="Road Trip", folder="")                   # back to root
playlist(action="move", playlist="Chill", folder="Archive")                # folder into folder
playlist(action="path")                                                    # show full hierarchy
playlist(action="path", playlist="Road Trip")                              # "Summer/Chill/Road Trip"
playlist(action="path", folder="Chill")                                    # "Summer/Chill"
playlist(action="delete", folder="Summer/Chill")                           # delete nested folder
playlist(action="rename", folder="Summer", new_name="Summer 2026")
playlist(action="add", playlist="Road Trip", track="Hey Jude", artist="Beatles")

Unified track parameter auto-detects and batches: a single name/ID, a comma-separated CSV, a newline-separated list (one per line — safe for titles containing commas), or a JSON array (["A","B"] or [{"name":"A","artist":"X"}]). Add entire albums with album parameter.

library(action=...)

Library management - search, add, browse, favorites (macOS), rate, recently played/added, remove (macOS), snapshot (macOS)

Snapshot sub-commands via query:

Examples:

library(action="search", query="Beatles", types="songs", limit=25)
library(action="add", album="Abbey Road", artist="Beatles")
library(action="recently_played", limit=30)
library(action="rate", rate_action="love", track="Hey Jude")

catalog(action=...)

Catalog search and details - search, albums, songs, artists, genres, stations

search accepts fuzzy queries — typos, partial lyrics, vague descriptions ("whistling beatles song"). On macOS it falls back to Music.app's built-in UI search when no API token is available, so you can find a half-remembered song without credentials.

Examples:

catalog(action="search", query="90s alternative", types="songs", limit=50)
catalog(action="album_tracks", album="Abbey Road", artist="Beatles")
catalog(action="album_details", album="GNX", artist="Kendrick Lamar")
catalog(action="artist_details", artist="The Beatles")

discover(action=...)

Discovery and recommendations - personalized stations, charts, top songs, similar artists

Optional: All catalog-based discover actions (charts, top_songs, similar_artists, song_station) accept an optional storefront parameter to query other regions without changing your default storefront.

Examples:

discover(action="recommendations")
discover(action="charts", chart_type="songs", storefront="it")  # Italy charts
discover(action="top_songs", artist="The Beatles")

Playback (macOS only)

play accepts ONE of: track, playlist, album, or url. Use shuffle=True for shuffled playback. Response shows source: [Library], [Catalog], [Catalog→Library], [UI Catalog] (UI played a track API resolved), or [UI Search] (UI played a track only the UI search found). Catalog items can be added first (add_to_library=True) or opened in Music (reveal=True).

URL playback — albums, playlists (including personal pl.u-), and songs via ?i=:

playback(action="play", url="https://music.apple.com/us/album/ok-computer/1097861387")
playback(action="play", url="https://music.apple.com/us/album/cowboy-carter/1738363766?i=1738363961")
playback(action="play", url="https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/todays-hits/pl.f4d106fed2bd41149aaacabb233eb5eb")

Uses UI scripting (requires display + Accessibility permissions). The mouse cursor may briefly move for ?i= track selection.

Utilities

Config actions: info, set-pref, list-storefronts, audit-log, clear-tracks, clear-exports, clear-audit-log

All modifying operations are logged — view with config(action="audit-log").

Output Format

Most list tools support these output options:

Text format auto-selects the best tier that fits:

• Full: Name - Artist (duration) Album [Year] Genre id

• Compact: Name - Artist (duration) id

• Minimal: Name - Artist id

Examples:

library(action="search", query="beatles", format="json")                      # JSON response
library(action="browse", item_type="songs", export="csv")                     # Text + CSV file
library(action="browse", item_type="songs", format="none", export="csv")      # CSV only (saves tokens)
playlist(action="tracks", playlist="p.123", export="json", full=True)         # JSON file with all metadata

MCP Resources

Exported files are accessible via MCP resources (any MCP client that supports resource reads):

Limitations

Windows/Linux

Adding songs to your library and to existing playlists works cross-platform (after signin).

Both Platforms

• Brand-new playlists take a moment to be addable: a just-created playlist needs to propagate to the cloud library before tracks can be added over the API; existing playlists are immediate.

• Sign-in persists, but can expire: if catalog actions start failing, re-run applemusic-mcp signin (or applemusic-mcp generate-token for the developer-token path).

• Screen must be unlocked for macOS playback/play-from-URL: those drive Music.app via System Events; a locked screen blocks them. The MCP detects this and returns a clear error.

• A few playlists silently revert AppleScript edits (known Music.app/AppleScript bug). The MCP detects the rollback automatically and returns an actionable error.

Troubleshooting

CLI Reference

applemusic-mcp status          # Check tokens and connection
applemusic-mcp generate-token  # New developer token (180 days)
applemusic-mcp authorize       # Browser auth for user token
applemusic-mcp serve           # Run MCP server (auto-launched by your MCP client)

Config: ~/.config/applemusic-mcp/ (config.json, .p8 key, tokens)

Appendix: Developer token setup

The preferred path if you have an Apple Developer Program membership — a sanctioned, 6-month token.

1. Get a MusicKit key — Apple Developer Portal → Keys → + → name it, check MusicKit, Register → download the .p8 (one-time). Note your Key ID and Team ID (from Membership).

2. Configure:

mkdir -p ~/.config/applemusic-mcp
cp ~/Downloads/AuthKey_XXXXXXXXXX.p8 ~/.config/applemusic-mcp/

Create ~/.config/applemusic-mcp/config.json:

{
  "team_id": "YOUR_TEAM_ID",
  "key_id": "YOUR_KEY_ID",
  "private_key_path": "~/.config/applemusic-mcp/AuthKey_XXXXXXXXXX.p8"
}

3. Generate + authorize:

applemusic-mcp generate-token   # developer token (180 days)
applemusic-mcp authorize        # capture your user token
applemusic-mcp status           # verify

Star History

License

MIT · Unofficial community project, not affiliated with Apple.

Credits

FastMCP · Apple MusicKit · Model Context Protocol

Built with ❤️ in California by @epheterson and Claude Code.