Spotify MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects Claude to Spotify. It exposes 21 tools that let Claude control playback, manage playlists, fetch lyrics, and recommend music - all through natural language.

Blog post: https://samit.bearblog.dev/mcp-servers/ Video demo: https://youtu.be/BExl8jhthoE

How it works

MCP is a protocol that lets AI assistants call external tools. This server registers Spotify actions as MCP tools, so when you ask Claude Desktop something like "play some chill music," it can directly call the Spotify API on your behalf.

You (natural language) -> Claude Desktop -> MCP Server -> Spotify API

Related MCP server: Spotify MCP Server

Prerequisites

• Python 3.13+

• uv (package manager)

• A Spotify Developer account with a registered app

• A Genius API key (for lyrics)

• Claude Desktop

Setup

1. Clone and install dependencies

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/spotify-mcp.git
cd spotify-mcp
uv sync

2. Configure environment variables

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your credentials:

• SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID and SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET from your Spotify Developer Dashboard

• SPOTIFY_REDIRECT_URI - your redirect URI (use ngrok since Spotify doesn't support localhost)

• GENIUS_API_KEY from the Genius API

3. Set up the redirect URI

Spotify doesn't support localhost as a redirect URI. Use ngrok to tunnel:

ngrok http 3000

Copy the ngrok URL and add it as a redirect URI in your Spotify Developer Dashboard app settings. Set it as SPOTIFY_REDIRECT_URI in your .env.

4. Configure Claude Desktop

Open Claude Desktop settings and edit claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "spotify": {
      "command": "<path-to-uv>",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "<path-to-spotify-mcp>",
        "run",
        "server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID": "your_client_id",
        "SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET": "your_client_secret",
        "SPOTIFY_REDIRECT_URI": "your_redirect_uri",
        "GENIUS_API_KEY": "your_genius_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace <path-to-uv> with the output of which uv and <path-to-spotify-mcp> with the project directory.

5. Start the server

uv run server.py

Restart Claude Desktop. You should see the Spotify MCP tools available.

Features

Playback Controls

• Play, pause, skip tracks

• Shuffle and repeat modes

• Play a full album by name

• Queue songs by name

Playlist Management

• Create playlists by genre, mood, or custom song list

• Add songs to existing playlists by name

• Delete playlists by name

• List all playlists with links

• Fetch playlist contents

Lyrics and Info

• Get lyrics for any song (via Genius API)

• Get lyrics for the currently playing song

• Show current track metadata

Discovery

• Recommend songs based on listening history

• List recently played artists

• Find albums by artist

• List liked songs

Development

# Run tests
uv run pytest

# Lint
uv run ruff check .

# Format
uv run ruff format .

License

MIT