Yes, Musicbrainz is free to use.

How do I install Musicbrainz?

Musicbrainz is a local plugin. Install it using npm package: musicbrainz-mcp and add the generated configuration snippet to your AI app's MCP config file. Then restart your AI app.

Is Musicbrainz safe to use?

Yes. Musicbrainz passed MCP Marketplace's automated security scan with a score of 7.4/10 (low risk). Every server on MCP Marketplace is security-scanned before it's listed; see the full security report on this page for the findings and permissions.

What AI apps work with Musicbrainz?

Musicbrainz uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and works with any MCP-compatible AI app, including Claude, ChatGPT / Codex, Gemini, Copilot, Cursor, and more.

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Musicbrainz MCP Server

by Chris Hall

Developer ToolsModerate7.4Local

Free

MusicBrainz MCP — search/browse music metadata, cover art, and submit tags/ratings/collections

About

MusicBrainz MCP — search/browse music metadata, cover art, and submit tags/ratings/collections

Security Report

7.4

Moderate7.4Low Risk

The server talks only to fixed MusicBrainz and Cover Art Archive hosts, reads OAuth credentials from environment variables with no hardcoded secrets, and gates every write behind a confirmation step, which fits its stated purpose. The main open item is that the XML builders in src/xml.ts and the MBID/entity schemas in src/entities.ts were not provided, so escaping of user-supplied tag text and path validation could not be verified. Supply chain analysis found 2 known vulnerabilities in dependencies (0 critical, 1 high severity). Package verification found 1 issue.

7 files analyzed · 9 issues found

Security scores are indicators to help you make informed decisions, not guarantees. Always review permissions before connecting any MCP server.

Permissions Required

This plugin requests these system permissions. Most are normal for its category.

HTTP Network Access

Connects to external APIs or services over the internet.

env_vars

Check that this permission is expected for this type of plugin.

File System Read

Reads files on your machine. Normal for tools that analyze or process local data.

What You'll Need

Set these up before or after installing:

Optional override for the User-Agent sent to MusicBrainz.Optional

Environment variable: MUSICBRAINZ_USER_AGENT

OAuth client ID (write tools only). Register at musicbrainz.org/account/applications.Required

Environment variable: MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID

OAuth client secret (write tools only).Required

Environment variable: MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET

OAuth refresh token with tag/rating/collection scopes (enables the write tools).Required

Environment variable: MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_REFRESH_TOKEN

How to Install

Add this to your MCP configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "io-github-chrischall-musicbrainz-mcp": {
      "env": {
        "MUSICBRAINZ_USER_AGENT": "your-musicbrainz-user-agent-here",
        "MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID": "your-musicbrainz-oauth-client-id-here",
        "MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-musicbrainz-oauth-client-secret-here",
        "MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_REFRESH_TOKEN": "your-musicbrainz-oauth-refresh-token-here"
      },
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "musicbrainz-mcp"
      ],
      "command": "npx"
    }
  }
}

Documentation

View on GitHub

From the project's GitHub README.

musicbrainz-mcp

An MCP server for MusicBrainz, the open music encyclopedia. It gives Claude live access to MusicBrainz metadata — artists, releases, recordings, labels, works, and more — plus Cover Art Archive images, and (optionally) lets you submit your own tags, ratings, and collection edits.

Developed and maintained by AI (Claude Code). Use at your own discretion.

Tools

Read (no credentials required):

Tool	What it does
`musicbrainz_search`	Search any entity type with a Lucene query; returns ranked matches + MBIDs
`musicbrainz_lookup`	Look up an entity by MBID, with `inc` subqueries for linked data
`musicbrainz_browse`	List all entities linked to another (e.g. every release by an artist)
`musicbrainz_cover_art`	Cover Art Archive image URLs for a release / release-group
`musicbrainz_resolve`	Turn a pasted musicbrainz.org URL into its entity
`musicbrainz_healthcheck`	Verify connectivity and whether OAuth writes are configured

Write (OAuth, confirmed before sending):

Tool	What it does
`musicbrainz_submit_tags`	Apply user tags to an entity on your account
`musicbrainz_submit_rating`	Set your 0–100 rating for an entity
`musicbrainz_modify_collection`	Add/remove entities in one of your collections

Each write asks you to confirm before it makes any network call — see Confirmations.

Every read above takes a view, except musicbrainz_cover_art. It defaults to compact, which strips image and avatar URLs — a subtractive rule, so it cannot drop a field nobody knew was there; view: "full" returns MusicBrainz's payload untouched. musicbrainz_cover_art takes none on purpose: the image URLs are its answer, and stripping them would not shrink the response, it would empty it.

Install

This is a Node MCP server (stdio). Point your MCP host at it:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "musicbrainz": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "musicbrainz-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Reads work immediately. MusicBrainz asks clients to make at most one request per second — the server throttles itself to stay within that limit, so large browses are paced automatically.

Enabling the write tools (optional)

Register an application at musicbrainz.org/account/applications (redirect URI urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob).
Complete the OAuth flow with the tag, rating, and collection scopes to obtain a refresh token.
Provide these via your MCP host's env (or a local .env):

MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID=...
MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET=...
MUSICBRAINZ_OAUTH_REFRESH_TOKEN=...

Confirmations

Every write asks you first. A client that can show a confirmation prompt (Claude Code) shows one, with the entity, tags / rating / collection change. A client that cannot (claude.ai, Claude Desktop) gets a two-step flow instead: the first call sends nothing and returns a confirmation-required preview — the exact XML for tags and ratings, the method and path for collections — plus a confirmToken; only a repeat of the same call with that token submits. A token acts once, and changing any argument between the two calls invalidates it.

variable	default
`MCP_CONFIRM_MODE`	`ask-user`	What a write does on a client that cannot show a confirmation prompt (claude.ai, Claude Desktop). `ask-user`: two steps — the first call does nothing and returns a preview plus a token, and the model must get your approval in chat before calling again with it. `auto`: the same two steps, but the model may use the token after reviewing the preview itself. `refuse`: writes are refused on such clients. A client that can show prompts (Claude Code) always gets the real prompt, unless `MCP_CONFIRM_ELICITATION=off`. An unrecognised value is treated as `refuse`.
`MCP_CONFIRM_ELICITATION`	`on`	`off` never shows a confirmation prompt, so every client gets the `MCP_CONFIRM_MODE` behaviour. Set it for a client that says it can show prompts but never does (the write hangs — opencode 2.0.x). Any other value is treated as `on`, with a warning on stderr.
`MCP_CONFIRM_TTL_SECONDS`	`600`	How long a token stays valid.
`MCP_CONFIRM_SECRET`	random per process	Signing key; set it only if tokens must survive a server restart.