Apple Books MCP Server

What does “Apple Books” MCP Server do?

The Apple Books MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server is a specialized tool designed to connect AI assistants with the Apple Books ecosystem, enabling seamless integration of book-related data and user context into development workflows. By exposing collections, books, annotations, and highlights as structured resources, this MCP server empowers AI agents to organize, search, and analyze a user’s library efficiently. Its tools facilitate tasks such as summarizing highlights, organizing books by genre, recommending similar reads, and comparing notes across multiple books. This capability is particularly valuable for developers building AI-powered reading assistants, productivity tools, or educational applications that benefit from direct, programmatic access to Apple Books data.

List of Prompts

No explicit prompt templates are mentioned in the repository.

List of Resources

No explicit resources are described in the repository or README.

List of Tools

• list_collections()
  Lists all book collections in the user’s Apple Books library.

• get_collection_books(collection_id)
  Retrieves all books within a specified collection.

• describe_collection(collection_id)
  Provides detailed information about a specific collection.

• list_all_books()
  Lists all books in the user’s library.

• get_book_annotations(book_id)
  Retrieves all annotations for a particular book.

• describe_book(book_id)
  Gives detailed information about a specific book.

• list_all_annotations()
  Lists all annotations across all books.

• get_highlights_by_color(color)
  Fetches all highlights filtered by color.

• search_highlighted_text(text)
  Searches highlights in the library by highlighted text.

• search_notes(note)
  Searches for notes in the library.

• full_text_search(text)
  Searches for annotations containing the specified text.

• recent_annotations()
  Retrieves the ten most recent annotations.

• describe_annotation(annotation_id)
  Provides detailed information about a specific annotation.

Use Cases of this MCP Server

• Summarizing Recent Highlights
  Developers can leverage this server to allow AI assistants to summarize the user’s most recent highlights, supporting quick recall and review of important passages.

• Organizing Books by Genre
  Enables the creation of tools that automatically categorize and organize a user’s books by genre for easier navigation and discovery.

• Personalized Book Recommendations
  By analyzing reading history and annotations, the server can power AI-driven recommendations for similar books or new genres.

• Comparing Notes Across Books
  Facilitates comparison of notes on the same subject from different books, enhancing research and study workflows.

• Annotation Search and Management
  Allows advanced search and management of annotations, highlights, and notes, making it easier for users to find and organize their thoughts.

How to set it up

Windsurf

1. Ensure Node.js and Windsurf are installed.
2. Locate your .windsurf/config.json file.
3. Add the Apple Books MCP Server to the mcpServers section using the snippet below.
4. Save the file and restart Windsurf.
5. Verify that the server appears in the Windsurf UI.

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

Securing API Keys (if applicable):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-books-mcp": {
      "command": "apple-books-mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY": "${APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY}"
      },
      "inputs": {
        "api_key": "${APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude

1. Ensure Claude is installed and up to date.
2. Open Claude’s configuration file (e.g., claude.json).
3. Add the Apple Books MCP Server under mcpServers.
4. Save changes and restart Claude.
5. Confirm the server is available in the Claude dashboard.

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

Securing API Keys:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-books-mcp": {
      "command": "apple-books-mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY": "${APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY}"
      },
      "inputs": {
        "api_key": "${APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

1. Install Node.js and Cursor.
2. Open the cursor.json config file.
3. Add the Apple Books MCP Server to mcpServers.
4. Restart Cursor after saving the changes.
5. Check the integration in the Cursor interface.

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

Securing API Keys:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-books-mcp": {
      "command": "apple-books-mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY": "${APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY}"
      },
      "inputs": {
        "api_key": "${APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cline

1. Make sure Node.js and Cline are installed.
2. Edit the cline.json configuration file.
3. Insert the Apple Books MCP Server in the mcpServers section.
4. Save and restart Cline.
5. Confirm server availability within Cline.

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

Securing API Keys:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-books-mcp": {
      "command": "apple-books-mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY": "${APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY}"
      },
      "inputs": {
        "api_key": "${APPLE_BOOKS_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

How to use this MCP inside flows

Using MCP in FlowHunt

To integrate MCP servers into your FlowHunt workflow, start by adding the MCP component to your flow and connecting it to your AI agent:

Click on the MCP component to open the configuration panel. In the system MCP configuration section, insert your MCP server details using this JSON format:

{
  "apple-books-mcp": {
    "transport": "streamable_http",
    "url": "https://yourmcpserver.example/pathtothemcp/url"
  }
}

Once configured, the AI agent is now able to use this MCP as a tool with access to all its functions and capabilities. Remember to change "apple-books-mcp" to whatever the actual name of your MCP server is and replace the URL with your own MCP server URL.

Overview

Based on the above, the Apple Books MCP Server provides a solid range of tools for book management and annotation tasks, but lacks prompt templates, explicit resources, and documented support for roots or sampling. Its documentation is straightforward and it offers a practical API surface for developers working with Apple Books-related workflows.

Our opinion

This MCP server scores a 6 out of 10: it has a clear license, a useful set of actionable tools, and decent documentation, but lacks several advanced MCP features (prompts, resources, roots, and sampling) and has limited community traction.

MCP Score