xhs-mcp

Lightweight MCP server for Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book / RED) — China's #1 lifestyle platform with 300M+ monthly active users.

No Docker. No Chromium. Just npx.

npx xhs-mcp-server

Why this exists

Xiaohongshu (小红书) is where Chinese consumers discover products, share reviews, and follow trends. If you're building for the Chinese market — or just want to understand what's trending there — you need data from this platform.

Existing solutions require Docker + Chromium (heavy, fragile). This server uses direct HTTP APIs, so it starts in <1 second and works anywhere Node.js runs.

Related MCP server: xiaohongshu-skill

What you can do

Quick start

1. Get your cookie

Log in to xiaohongshu.com in Chrome, then:

1. Open DevTools (F12)

2. Go to Application tab → Cookies → https://www.xiaohongshu.com

3. Copy the entire cookie string (or use a browser extension like "EditThisCookie" to export)

2. Add to your AI tool

Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xhs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "xhs-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "XHS_COOKIE": "your_cookie_string_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xhs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "xhs-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "XHS_COOKIE": "your_cookie_string_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code:

claude mcp add xhs -- npx -y xhs-mcp-server
# Then set XHS_COOKIE in your environment

3. Use it

Ask your AI assistant:

• "Search Xiaohongshu for skincare trends"

• "Find the top creators posting about coffee in Shanghai"

• "What's trending on Xiaohongshu right now?"

• "Analyze this Xiaohongshu creator's content strategy"

Use cases

For cross-border brands:

• Monitor brand mentions and competitor activity on China's top discovery platform

• Understand what products Chinese consumers are excited about

• Find potential KOL/KOC partners by analyzing creator profiles and engagement

For market researchers:

• Track trending topics and consumer sentiment in China

• Analyze content strategies that work on Xiaohongshu

• Discover emerging product categories before they hit Western markets

For developers:

• Build Chinese market intelligence into your AI agents

• Create automated competitor monitoring dashboards

• Integrate Xiaohongshu data into your workflow

How it compares

This server is read-only by design. It focuses on research and analysis. If you need to publish content, use xpzouying/xiaohongshu-mcp — it's excellent for that.

Cookie notes

• Cookies typically last 7-30 days before expiring

• If you get 401 or not_logged_in errors, refresh your cookie

• The server will warn you at startup if XHS_COOKIE is not set

• Never commit your cookie to version control

Roadmap

• Creator analytics (engagement rate calculation, posting frequency)

• Comment analysis (sentiment, themes)

• Trend detection (rising keywords over time)

• Content translation (Chinese → English summaries)

• Cookie refresh helper

• Publish support (opt-in, with rate limiting)

Contributing

PRs welcome. This project is MIT licensed.

About

Built by Tristin — building AI tools for cross-border commerce, in public.

Xiaohongshu is a trademark of Xingyin Information Technology Co., Ltd. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Xiaohongshu.