namecheap-mcp

A Model Context Protocol server that wraps the Namecheap API, giving AI assistants the ability to manage domains, DNS records, SSL certificates, and account information directly from your conversations.

Features

• Domains — check availability, register, list, renew, reactivate, manage contacts and privacy

• DNS — read and write host records (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS), safe single-record updates, set custom or default nameservers

• Email Forwarding — get and set per-domain forwarding rules

• SSL — list, purchase, activate, reissue certificates; full DCV support (email, HTTP, CNAME)

• Transfers — initiate inbound transfers, track status, list all transfers

• Account — check balances, query pricing

• TLD Browser — search available TLDs with filtering by name or registerability

• Interactive Setup — configure credentials via an in-editor form or a standalone CLI tool

Related MCP server: MCP Namecheap Server

Requirements

• Node.js 18+

• A Namecheap account with API access enabled

• Your public IP whitelisted in the Namecheap dashboard

Installation

See INSTALL.md for full setup instructions.

Quick start (npx — no install needed)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "namecheap": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "namecheap-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Global install

npm install -g namecheap-mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "namecheap": {
      "command": "namecheap-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Setup

Credentials are stored globally at ~/.config/namecheap-mcp/.env and are picked up automatically by any project using this server — you only need to configure once per machine.

Option 1: In-editor form (Claude Code ≥ 2.1.76)

Call the setup tool from within Claude Code. A form will appear prompting for your credentials. Your public IP is auto-detected as a default.

Tip: Submit the form promptly — the request will time out if left idle. If it times out, just call setup again.

Option 2: Interactive CLI

namecheap-mcp-setup

Option 3: Environment variables

Why isn't there an "Authenticate" button in /mcp?

Claude Code's native Authenticate button in the /mcp dialog is part of the MCP 2025-06-18 HTTP+OAuth handshake, which only applies to HTTP-transport servers. namecheap-mcp uses stdio transport, so the button never appears for it. The supported auth flows are the setup elicitation tool (Option 1 above), the namecheap-mcp-setup CLI (Option 2), or the /namecheap-mcp:setup slash command.

To help you tell at a glance whether the server is actually authenticated, namecheap-mcp hides its full tool suite until credentials validate. If you see only setup and auth_status in /mcp, the server is not yet authenticated — run setup. Call auth_status anytime to see a full diagnostic (error code, whitelisted IP, config file path, and a recommended next action).

Tools

Domains

DNS

⚠️ DNS zone safety. The underlying Namecheap setHosts API is a full-replacement operation — any record not in the call is deleted. Use update_dns_record for single-record adds/updates/deletes. Never hand-call set_dns_hosts to add a record. Every read and every write produces a local snapshot at ~/.config/namecheap-mcp/snapshots/<domain>__<timestamp>-<rand>.json (up to 50 per domain), so list_dns_snapshots + restore_dns_snapshot can recover from any accidental damage.

SSL

Transfers

Account

API Notes

• DNS tools accept a full domain name like example.com — SLD/TLD splitting is handled internally

• Error 1011102 means your NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP is not whitelisted in the Namecheap dashboard

• Set NAMECHEAP_SANDBOX=true to use api.sandbox.namecheap.com for testing

Development

git clone https://github.com/ringo380/namecheap-mcp
cd namecheap-mcp
npm install
npm run dev        # tsx watch — no build needed
npm run build      # compile TypeScript
npm run type-check # type-check without emitting

After making changes: npm run build && npm install -g . to update the global install.

License

MIT