Apple Books MCP

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Apple Books.

At a glance

• Ask Claude to summarize your recent highlights
• Ask Claude what books you're currently reading and your progress
• Ask Claude to find a book by title
• Ask Claude to organize books in your library by genre
• Ask Claude to recommend similar books based on your reading history
• Ask Claude to compare notes from different books read on the same subject

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/77a5a29b-bfd7-4275-a4af-8d6c51a4527e

And much more!

Available Tools

Collections

Tool	Description	Parameters
list_all_collections	List all collections	limit?: int
get_collection_books	Get all books in a collection	collection_id: str
describe_collection	Get details of a collection	collection_id: str
search_collections_by_title	Search for collections by title	title: str

Books

Tool	Description	Parameters
list_all_books	List all books	limit?: int
describe_book	Get details of a particular book	book_id: str
get_book_annotations	Get all annotations for a book	book_id: str
search_books_by_title	Search for books by title	title: str
get_books_by_genre	Get books by genre (substring match)	genre: str, limit?: int

Reading Status

Tool	Description	Parameters
get_books_in_progress	Get books currently being read	limit?: int
get_finished_books	Get books that have been finished	limit?: int
get_unstarted_books	Get books not yet started	limit?: int
get_recently_read_books	Get most recently opened books	limit?: int (default: 10)

Annotations

Tool	Description	Parameters
list_all_annotations	List all annotations	limit?: int
recent_annotations	Get most recent annotations	limit?: int (default: 10)
describe_annotation	Get details of an annotation	annotation_id: str
get_highlights_by_color	Get all highlights by color	color: str, limit?: int
search_highlighted_text	Search highlights by text	text: str, limit?: int
search_notes	Search annotations by note	note: str, limit?: int
full_text_search	Search annotations by any text	text: str, limit?: int
get_annotations_by_date_range	Get annotations within a date range	after?: YYYY-MM-DD, before?: YYYY-MM-DD, limit?: int

Library Stats

Tool	Description	Parameters
get_library_stats	Get library summary with reading stats	None

Available Resources

Attachable data objects accessible from Claude Desktop's resource picker.

Resource	URI	Description
Currently Reading	apple-books://currently-reading	The book you're reading right now — most recently opened in-progress book, with its metadata and recent annotations. Attach to any conversation to focus Claude on your current read.

Available Prompts

One-click workflows, accessible from Claude Desktop's prompt picker.

Prompt	Description	Arguments
weekly_digest	Summarize what I've read and highlighted in the past week	days?: int (default: 7)
explain_recent_highlight	Take my most recent highlight and explain what it means	None
what_am_i_reading	Quick snapshot of books I'm currently in the middle of	None
library_snapshot	A reflection on my whole reading life	None
revisit_book	Revisit your notes and highlights from a specific book	book_title: str

Installation

Using uv (recommended)

uvx can be used to directly run apple-books-mcp (without installing it).

brew install uv  # for macos
uvx apple-books-mcp

Using pip

pip install apple-books-mcp

After installing, you can run the server using:

python -m apple_books_mcp

Using Docker

docker run -v ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iBooksX/Data/Documents:/root/Library/Containers/com.apple.iBooksX/Data/Documents:ro ghcr.io/vgnshiyer/apple-books-mcp:latest

Configuration

Claude Desktop Setup

Using uvx (recommended)

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apple-books-mcp": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [ "apple-books-mcp@latest" ]
        }
    }
}

Using python

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apple-books-mcp": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": ["-m", "apple_books_mcp"]
        }
    }
}

Using Docker

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apple-books-mcp": {
            "command": "docker",
            "args": [
                "run", "-i", "--rm",
                "-v", "~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iBooksX/Data/Documents:/root/Library/Containers/com.apple.iBooksX/Data/Documents:ro",
                "ghcr.io/vgnshiyer/apple-books-mcp:latest"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Upcoming Features

• book content access for non-DRM EPUBs

Contribution

Thank you for considering contributing to this project!

Development

If you cloned this repository, you can test it using Claude Desktop with below configuration:

Use uv venv to create a virtual environment and install the dependencies.

uv venv
uv sync

Debugging

With Claude Desktop

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apple-books-mcp": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/path/to/apple-books-mcp/",
                "run",
                "apple_books_mcp",
                "-v"
            ]
        }
    }
}

With inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uvx apple-books-mcp

Opening Issues

If you encounter a bug, have a feature request, or want to discuss something related to the project, please open an issue on the GitHub repository. When opening an issue, please provide:

Bug Reports: Describe the issue in detail. Include steps to reproduce the bug if possible, along with any error messages or screenshots.

Feature Requests: Clearly explain the new feature you'd like to see added to the project. Provide context on why this feature would be beneficial.

General Discussions: Feel free to start discussions on broader topics related to the project.

Contributing

1️⃣ Fork the GitHub repository https://github.com/vgnshiyer/apple-books-mcp
2️⃣ Create a new branch for your changes (git checkout -b feature/my-new-feature).
3️⃣ Make your changes and test them thoroughly.
4️⃣ Push your changes and open a Pull Request to main.

Please provide a clear title and description of your changes.

License

Apple Books MCP is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license. See the LICENSE file for details.