A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for AFFiNE. It exposes AFFiNE workspaces and documents to AI assistants over stdio (default) or HTTP (/mcp) and supports both AFFiNE Cloud and self-hosted deployments.
- Overview
- Choose Your Path
- Quick Start
- Compatibility Matrix
- Tool Surface
- Documentation Map
- Verify Your Setup
- Security and Scope
- Development
- Release Notes
- License
- Support
AFFiNE MCP Server is designed for three common scenarios:
- Run a local stdio MCP server for Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, or Claude Desktop
- Expose a remote HTTP MCP endpoint for hosted or browser-connected clients
- Automate AFFiNE workspace, document, database, organization, and comment workflows through a stable MCP tool surface
Highlights:
- Supports AFFiNE Cloud and self-hosted AFFiNE instances
- Supports stdio and HTTP transports
- Supports token, cookie, and email/password authentication
- Exposes 87 canonical MCP tools backed by AFFiNE GraphQL and WebSocket APIs
- Includes semantic page composition, native template instantiation, database intent composition, capability and fidelity reporting, and workspace blueprint helpers
- Includes Docker images, health probes, and end-to-end test coverage
Scope boundaries:
- This server can access only server-backed AFFiNE workspaces
- Browser-local workspaces stored only in local storage are not available through AFFiNE server APIs
- AFFiNE Cloud requires API-token-based access for MCP usage; programmatic email/password sign-in is blocked by Cloudflare
New in v1.13.0: Added high-level semantic page, native template, fidelity, and workspace blueprint workflows, plus structured receipts and productized setup docs.
| Goal | Start here |
|---|---|
| Set up a local stdio server with the least friction | docs/getting-started.md |
| Run the server in Docker or another OCI runtime | docs/getting-started.md#path-c-run-from-the-docker-image |
| Configure Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex CLI, or Cursor | docs/client-setup.md |
| Run the server remotely over HTTP or behind OAuth | docs/configuration-and-deployment.md |
| Lock down tool exposure for least-privilege deployments | docs/configuration-and-deployment.md#least-privilege-tool-exposure |
| Learn common AFFiNE workflows and tool sequences | docs/workflow-recipes.md |
| Browse the tool catalog by domain | docs/tool-reference.md |
npm i -g affine-mcp-server
affine-mcp --versionYou can also run the package ad hoc:
npx -y -p affine-mcp-server affine-mcp -- --versiondocker run -d \
-p 3000:3000 \
-e MCP_TRANSPORT=http \
-e AFFINE_BASE_URL=https://your-affine-instance.com \
-e AFFINE_API_TOKEN=ut_your_token \
-e AFFINE_MCP_AUTH_MODE=bearer \
-e AFFINE_MCP_HTTP_TOKEN=your-strong-secret \
ghcr.io/dawncr0w/affine-mcp-server:latestThen point your client at:
{
"mcpServers": {
"affine": {
"type": "http",
"url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer your-strong-secret"
}
}
}
}For Docker, health checks, and remote deployment details, see docs/configuration-and-deployment.md#docker.
affine-mcp loginThis stores credentials in ~/.config/affine-mcp/config with mode 600.
- For AFFiNE Cloud, use an API token from
Settings -> Integrations -> MCP Server - For self-hosted AFFiNE, you can use either an API token or email/password
Claude Code project config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"affine": {
"command": "affine-mcp"
}
}
}Codex CLI:
codex mcp add affine -- affine-mcpMore client-specific setup is in docs/client-setup.md.
affine-mcp status
affine-mcp doctorIf you want to expose the server remotely over HTTP instead of stdio, start with docs/configuration-and-deployment.md.
| Target | Transport | Recommended auth | Recommended path |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | stdio | Saved config or API token | docs/client-setup.md#claude-code |
| Claude Desktop | stdio | Saved config or API token | docs/client-setup.md#claude-desktop |
| Codex CLI | stdio | Saved config or API token | docs/client-setup.md#codex-cli |
| Cursor | stdio | Saved config or API token | docs/client-setup.md#cursor |
| Containerized remote deployment | HTTP | Bearer token or OAuth | docs/getting-started.md#path-c-run-from-the-docker-image |
| Remote MCP clients | HTTP | Bearer token or OAuth | docs/configuration-and-deployment.md#http-mode |
| AFFiNE Cloud | stdio or HTTP | API token | docs/configuration-and-deployment.md#auth-strategy-matrix |
| Self-hosted AFFiNE | stdio or HTTP | API token, cookie, or email/password | docs/configuration-and-deployment.md#auth-strategy-matrix |
tool-manifest.json is the source of truth for canonical tool names. The MCP server exposes those tools through tools/list and tools/call.
Domains:
- Workspace: create, inspect, update, delete, and traverse workspaces
- Organization: collections, collection-rule sync, workspace blueprints, and experimental organize or folder helpers
- Documents: search, read, create, publish, move, tag, import/export, semantic composition, template inspection and native instantiation, capability and fidelity reporting, and text mutation
- Databases: create columns, add rows, update cells, inspect schema, and compose database structures from intent
- Comments: list, create, update, delete, resolve, and list unresolved threads
- History: version history listing
- Users and tokens: current user, sign-in, profile/settings, personal access tokens
- Notifications: list and mark notifications as read
- Blob storage: upload, delete, and cleanup blobs
For the grouped catalog, notes, and operational caveats, see docs/tool-reference.md.
| Document | Purpose |
|---|---|
| docs/getting-started.md | First-run setup paths and verification |
| docs/client-setup.md | Client-specific configuration snippets and tips |
| docs/configuration-and-deployment.md | Environment variables, auth modes, Docker, HTTP mode, and deployment guidance |
| docs/workflow-recipes.md | End-to-end workflows and example tool sequences |
| docs/tool-reference.md | Tool catalog grouped by domain |
| CONTRIBUTING.md | Contributor workflow |
| SECURITY.md | Security reporting |
Useful CLI commands:
affine-mcp status- test the effective configurationaffine-mcp status --json- machine-readable status outputaffine-mcp doctor- diagnose config and connectivity issuesaffine-mcp show-config- print the effective config with secrets redactedaffine-mcp config-path- print the config file pathaffine-mcp snippet <claude|cursor|codex|all> [--env]- generate ready-to-paste client configaffine-mcp logout- remove stored credentials
For common failures, see:
- docs/getting-started.md#common-first-run-failures
- docs/configuration-and-deployment.md#deployment-checklist
- Never commit secrets or long-lived tokens
- Prefer API tokens over cookies or passwords in production
- Use HTTPS for non-local deployments
- Rotate access tokens regularly
- Restrict exposed tools with
AFFINE_DISABLED_GROUPSandAFFINE_DISABLED_TOOLSfor least-privilege setups - Use
/healthzand/readyzwhen running the HTTP server behind a container platform or load balancer
Run the main quality gates before opening a PR:
npm run build
npm run test:tool-manifest
npm run pack:checkAdditional validation:
npm run test:comprehensiveboots a local Docker AFFiNE stack and validates the tool surfacenpm run test:e2eruns Docker, MCP, and Playwright togethernpm run test:playwrightruns the Playwright suite only- Focused runners for the new high-level tool surface include
npm run test:create-placement,npm run test:capabilities-fidelity,npm run test:native-template,node tests/test-database-intent.mjs,node tests/test-semantic-page-composer.mjs,node tests/test-structured-receipts.mjs,node tests/test-organize-tools.mjs, andnode tests/test-supporting-tools.mjs
Local clone flow:
git clone https://github.com/dawncr0w/affine-mcp-server.git
cd affine-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build
node dist/index.jsMIT License - see LICENSE.
- Open an issue on GitHub
- Review AFFiNE product documentation at docs.affine.pro
- Built for the AFFiNE knowledge base platform
- Uses the Model Context Protocol specification
- Powered by @modelcontextprotocol/sdk
