Windows System Sounds MCP Server

An MCP server for Windows that plays built-in Windows system sounds or existing WAV files.

It can be used with LM Studio or any other MCP-compatible client to notify the user when a local model finishes a stage, needs attention, requests permission, or completes the whole task.

The server uses the standard Windows winsound module and does not require downloading additional audio files.

Features

• One MCP tool: play_sound.

• Two built-in presets:

  • attention — stage finished, user attention needed, or permission requested.

  • done — whole job finished.

• Plays WAV files from the Windows Media folder:

  • %SystemRoot%\Media

• Plays WAV files by full path:

  • C:/my-sounds/my_sound.wav

• Repeats a sound multiple times.

• Pause between repeats: 3 seconds.

• • Minimal diagnostic stderr output by default.

• Optional debug logging via SOUND_MCP_DEBUG.

Requirements

• Windows

• Python 3.10 or newer

• LM Studio or another MCP client

• mcp Python package

Installation

Install the MCP SDK:

python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install "mcp[cli]"

Save sound_mcp_server.py to a folder, for example:

C:\mcp\sound_mcp_server.py

LM Studio configuration

Example MCP server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "windows-system-sounds": {
      "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_USERNAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Python\\Python312\\python.exe",
      "args": [
        "C:\\mcp\\sound_mcp_server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace the Python path and script path with your actual paths.

To find your Python executable path, run:

python -c "import sys; print(sys.executable)"

Restart LM Studio after adding the server.

Tool: play_sound

The server exposes one tool:

play_sound

Parameters

At least one sound source must be specified:

• sound_type

• or system_file

• or full_path

If both system_file and full_path are provided, the server returns an error.

Examples

Attention preset

{
  "name": "play_sound",
  "arguments": {
    "sound_type": "attention"
  }
}

Done preset

{
  "name": "play_sound",
  "arguments": {
    "sound_type": "done"
  }
}

Play a file from the Windows Media folder

{
  "name": "play_sound",
  "arguments": {
    "system_file": "Windows Notify Calendar.wav"
  }
}

Play a file by full path

{
  "name": "play_sound",
  "arguments": {
    "full_path": "C:/my-sounds/my_sound.wav"
  }
}

Repeat a sound three times

{
  "name": "play_sound",
  "arguments": {
    "system_file": "Windows Notify Calendar.wav",
    "repeat": 3
  }
}

Playback order:

play
pause 3 seconds
play
pause 3 seconds
play

No extra pause is added after the last repeat.

Logging

The server produces minimal diagnostic stderr output by default.

Debug logging can be enabled with the environment variable:

SOUND_MCP_DEBUG=1

Example LM Studio configuration with debug logging:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "windows-system-sounds": {
      "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_USERNAME\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Python\\Python312\\python.exe",
      "args": [
        "C:\\mcp\\sound_mcp_server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SOUND_MCP_DEBUG": "1"
      }
    }
  }
}

Some MCP clients, including LM Studio, may display MCP server stderr output as [ERROR] even when the message is only diagnostic.

Security notes

The full_path parameter can play arbitrary WAV files on the local machine.

For local personal use this is usually fine.

If the server is exposed to untrusted clients, consider:

• removing full_path support;

• or allowing only specific directories;

• or using only system_file.

Limitations

• Windows only.

• Only .wav files are supported.

• system_file accepts only a file name, not a folder path.

• full_path must be an absolute path to an existing file.

Recommended System Prompt

To make the local model use the tool automatically, add the following instructions to your LM Studio system prompt:

When an important stage is finished or user permission is required, call:
play_sound(sound_type="attention")

When the whole job is fully finished, call:
play_sound(sound_type="done")

(You can also find this prompt in the examples/prompts.md).

License

MIT. See LICENSE.