usemotion-mcp-server

MCP server for the Motion API, running on Bun. Supports two transports, selected with the MCP_TRANSPORT environment variable:

• stdio (default) — local use; reads MOTION_API_KEY from the environment

• http — streamable HTTP, deployable to Vercel; each client sends its own Motion API key as a request header (X-API-Key or Authorization: Bearer), which is forwarded to the Motion API for that request only. The server stores no credentials; requests without a key get a 401.

Setup

1. Create an API key in Motion (Settings → API).

2. For stdio mode, create a .env file in the project root:

   cp .env.example .env   # then fill in MOTION_API_KEY

3. Install dependencies:

   bun install

Related MCP server: motion-mcp-server

Build

Compile a standalone binary (no Bun required at runtime):

bun run compile   # produces bin/usemotion-mcp-server

The binary still auto-loads .env from the directory it runs in; otherwise set MOTION_API_KEY in its environment.

Usage

HTTP mode (local)

MCP_TRANSPORT=http bun run src/index.ts   # serves http://localhost:3000/api/mcp (PORT to override)

Clients authenticate per request:

claude mcp add --transport http motion http://localhost:3000/api/mcp --header "X-API-Key: your-key-here"

Deploy to Vercel

api/mcp.ts + vercel.json ("bunVersion": "1.x") make the repo deployable as-is:

vercel deploy   # then connect clients to https://<your-app>.vercel.app/api/mcp

Do not set MOTION_API_KEY on the deployment — keys come from client headers and are never stored.

stdio mode — Claude Code

claude mcp add motion -- bun run /path/to/usemotion-mcp-server/src/index.ts

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "motion": {
      "command": "bun",
      "args": ["run", "/path/to/usemotion-mcp-server/src/index.ts"],
      "env": { "MOTION_API_KEY": "your-key-here" }
    }
  }
}

Note: Bun auto-loads .env from the working directory, so the env block is only needed if the server isn't started from the project root.

Tools

Notes

• Motion's rate limit is 12 requests/minute on individual plans; the client retries 429s with backoff (honors Retry-After).

• List endpoints are cursor-paginated: pass cursor from the previous response's meta.nextCursor.

Development

bun run typecheck             # tsc --noEmit
bun run scripts/smoke.ts      # stdio smoke test: lists tools, then create → get → update → delete a task
bun run scripts/smoke-http.ts # HTTP smoke test: 401 without key, then list tools + workspaces via header auth
                              # (start the server first: MCP_TRANSPORT=http bun run src/index.ts)