Are.na MCP

Graph-native MCP server for Are.na.

Compatible with any MCP client that supports command-based servers (for example Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code).

Quick Start (Local STDIO)

Requirements:

• Node.js 22+

• Are.na personal access token

Run directly from GitHub (recommended):

ARENA_ACCESS_TOKEN="YOUR_TOKEN" npm exec --yes --package=github:xaelophone/arena-mcp arena-mcp

Or run from a local clone:

npm install
npm run build
ARENA_ACCESS_TOKEN="YOUR_TOKEN" npm run start

Related MCP server: Orchestra MCP Server

MCP Client Config

Generic command pattern:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arena": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["--yes", "--package=github:xaelophone/arena-mcp", "arena-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ARENA_ACCESS_TOKEN": "YOUR_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Client-specific setup:

• Claude Desktop

• Cursor

• VS Code

Known Issues and Workarounds

• search_arena may hit 403 on v3 endpoints for premium-gated contexts. By default the server retries via v2 when ARENA_ENABLE_V2_SEARCH_FALLBACK=true.

• Remote HTTP clients must send Accept: application/json, text/event-stream during MCP initialize, or you can get 406 Not Acceptable.

• Missing/invalid auth keys on HTTP mode return 401 Unauthorized on /mcp.

Details and troubleshooting:

• Self-host HTTP mode

• API reference: response and error notes

Docs

Start here:

• Docs index

Core references:

• API reference

• Self-host HTTP mode

• Developer guide

• Docs maintenance checklist

Validation

npm run docs:check
npm run lint
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run build

STDIO smoke test (requires real token):

ARENA_ACCESS_TOKEN="YOUR_TOKEN" npm run build && npm run smoke:stdio

Landing Page

npm run landing

Open http://localhost:4173.