audiobookshelf-mcp

Appearance

audiobookshelf-mcpYour audiobook library, in the conversation

An MCP server for Audiobookshelf. Browse your libraries, ask what you own and what you have listened to, and keep progress, bookmarks, collections and playlists in sync.

Get started
Tools reference
GitHub

  • 44 tools, 29 of them read-only

    Libraries, items, search, series, authors, chapters, podcast episodes, listening progress, statistics and sessions, bookmarks, collections and playlists — plus 15 write tools you can switch off entirely.

  • Built for a model's context

    An expanded library item carries every audio file, track and chapter with full ffprobe metadata. Every media response is a compact projection instead, with detail="full" when you really want the raw object.

  • Safe by default

    Destructive tools need a server-issued confirmation token, upstream content is marked untrusted, and read-only mode simply does not register the write tools.

audiobookshelf-mcp architectureAn MCP client talks to audiobookshelf-mcp over stdio. The server exposes 29 read tools and 15 write tools, compacts every response, and calls the Audiobookshelf REST API over HTTPS with a bearer API key. Deleting requires a confirmation token.MCP clientClaude Code · DesktopCodex · Inspectorstdiono portaudiobookshelf-mcp29 read toolslibraries · items · progress · stats15 write toolsprogress · bookmarks · collectionsdeletes need a confirmation tokenREAD_ONLY=truewrite tools are never registeredevery response compacted, lists cappedHTTPSbearer API keyno redirectsAudiobookshelf2.26.0 or neweryour self-hosted server
The server holds one Audiobookshelf API key and speaks stdio — it never listens on a port.

Terminal recording: the server reports 44 tools, lists library items as a compact projection, and answers the first delete_collection call with a single-use confirmation token instead of deleting anything

In one command ​

sh
claude mcp add audiobookshelf \
  -e AUDIOBOOKSHELF_URL=https://abs.example.com \
  -e AUDIOBOOKSHELF_API_KEY=… \
  -- npx -y audiobookshelf-mcp

Then ask things like "what am I in the middle of?", "do I own anything by Frank Schätzing?", "how much did I listen to last month?" or "put the three unfinished ones in a playlist called Backlog".

What it does not do ​

By design: no user management, no server settings, no backups, no cache purging, no filesystem browsing, no library or item deletion, no metadata rewriting, no file uploads — even when the API key would permit them. See Security.

Released under the MIT License.

Copyright © 2026 Willi Thiel