Anytype Server

CI License: MIT

Talk to your Anytype knowledge base in plain language from AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and any other MCP client.

This is a self-hosted fork of the official anyproto/anytype-mcp that adds a Docker container and a Streamable-HTTP transport, so the server can run quietly in the background and be reached by any MCP client over HTTP. (The original speaks stdio only.)

Why this one?

The official Anytype MCP server is great, but it runs as a stdio subprocess that each client has to launch on demand. This project keeps 100% of its capabilities and adds a production-style deployment: one always-on server, in Docker, that any number of MCP clients can reach over HTTP.

Capability	This project	Official anyproto/anytype-mcp	Other community servers*
Full Anytype API coverage (dynamic OpenAPI → MCP tools)	✅	✅	✅
stdio transport	✅	✅	✅
Streamable-HTTP transport (via mcp-remote)	✅	❌	❌
Always-on background service	✅	❌	❌
One server → many clients at once	✅	❌	❌
Docker + docker-compose	✅	❌	❌
Health-check endpoint + auto-restart	✅	❌	❌
Optional bearer-token auth on the endpoint	✅	❌	❌
🟢 / 🟡 / 🔴 read-only / write / destructive tool hints	✅	➖	➖
Automated test suite (Vitest)	✅	✅	➖
License	MIT	MIT	varies

_{*Community servers such as Qwinty/anytype-mcp (JS), wethegreenpeople/anytype-mcp (Python) and anytype-mcp-plus — most are stdio-only and launched via npx. "➖" = not documented / varies. Snapshot from July 2026; check each project for its latest.}

In short: if you just want to try Anytype from your AI client, the official server is perfect. If you want it running in the background, always ready, and shared across every MCP client on your machine, use this one.

What you can do

Once it's connected, ask your assistant things like:

• "Search my Anytype for notes about the Q3 launch."
• "Create a task 'Write the report', due in 3 days."
• "Make a new space called 'Travel' and add a packing checklist."

Tools are generated automatically from your running Anytype app and grouped into 🟢 read-only, 🟡 write, and 🔴 delete.

The server is tuned to keep your assistant fast and frugal with tool calls:

• API-get-overview — a synthesized tool that returns all spaces with their types (or, given a space_id, that space's types and property definitions) in a single call, instead of a list-spaces → list-types → list-properties cascade.
• Slim responses — API payloads are compacted before they reach the assistant: empty property values, object discriminators, and nulls are dropped, and the type embedded in each search/list result is reduced to its identifiers. This typically shrinks list/search responses by well over half, which means less context burned per call and fewer follow-up calls. Set ANYTYPE_MCP_SLIM_RESPONSES=false to get raw API payloads instead.
• Routing hints — tool descriptions tell the assistant which tool is cheapest for a job (e.g. search instead of paginating lists, and that only get-object returns the full markdown body).

How it works

Claude / Cursor / …  ──MCP──►  this server  ──HTTP──►  Anytype desktop app (local API)

The server only talks to the local API of the Anytype desktop app on your own machine. Your data stays on your computer.

Requirements

• The Anytype desktop app, installed and running (it serves a local API at 127.0.0.1:31009).
• Docker (Docker Desktop on macOS/Windows) for the setup below.

Quick start (Docker)

1. Add your API key. Copy the example config and paste in a key:

cp .env.example .env
# open .env and set ANYTYPE_API_KEY=...   (see "Get an API key" below)

2. Start the server:

docker compose up -d --build

3. Confirm it's running:

curl -s http://localhost:8769/healthz     # → {"status":"ok"}

4. Connect your MCP client. Add this under mcpServers in your client config (e.g. Claude Desktop or Claude Code), then fully quit and reopen the app:

"anytype": {
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "http://localhost:8769/mcp", "--allow-http"]
}

That's it — ask your assistant to search or create something in Anytype.

Get an API key

In the Anytype desktop app: Settings → API Keys → Create new. Copy the key into .env as ANYTYPE_API_KEY=. Your key stays in .env, which git ignores, so it is never committed.

Configuration

Everything is set in .env (copied from .env.example):

Variable	Default	What it does
ANYTYPE_API_KEY	—	Your Anytype API key. Required.
ANYTYPE_VERSION	2025-11-08	Anytype API version header.
ANYTYPE_API_BASE_URL	http://host.docker.internal:31009	Where the Anytype app's API is reachable from the container.
PORT	8769	Host port for the MCP endpoint.
MCP_SHARED_TOKEN	(empty)	Optional bearer token to protect the endpoint. Empty = open, for localhost only.
ANYTYPE_MCP_SLIM_RESPONSES	true	Compact API responses before sending them to the assistant. Set to false for raw payloads.

After changing .env, reload with docker compose up -d --force-recreate.

For logs, restart, key rotation, and verification commands, see DOCKER.md.

Run from source (stdio, no Docker)

Prefer the classic stdio mode? Build it locally:

npm install
npm run build

Then register it with your client using a stdio command and your key in OPENAPI_MCP_HEADERS — see the upstream README for the exact stdio configuration.

Security

• Your API key lives only in .env, which is git-ignored. Never commit real keys.
• The HTTP endpoint is unauthenticated by default (fine on localhost). To expose it beyond your machine, set MCP_SHARED_TOKEN and send it as a Bearer header or ?token=….

Credits & license

Built on the official Anytype MCP server by Any Association. Licensed under the MIT License.