Arena

License: MIT Python 3.10+ MCP

A Model Context Protocol server that lets AI agents interact with Are.na — the platform for creative research and knowledge curation. Built for the Are.na API v3.

• Search and browse channels, blocks, users, and groups
• Create and manage channels and blocks
• Connect content across channels
• Comment on blocks
• Explore networks of related content
• Visual content support — vision analysis for image blocks

No API token needed for browsing — only required for write operations.

Installation

pip install mcp httpx pydantic python-dotenv

For write access, add your Are.na token:

# Get one at: https://are.na/settings/personal-access-tokens
echo "ARENA_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_token_here" > .env

Setup with Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arena": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/arena_mcp.py"]
    }
  }
}

Setup with Claude Code

claude mcp add arena python /absolute/path/to/arena_mcp.py

Response Formats

All tools support three response formats via the response_format parameter:

Format	Default	Description
compact	Yes	One line per item with all IDs. Best for agents.
markdown		Detailed multi-line view. Good for reading.
json		Clean JSON (image blobs stripped by default).

Compact format example:

[Page 1/3 | 72 total | more: page=2]
id:12345 | Image | conn:67890 | "Architecture Photo" | https://example.com | @username
id:12346 | Text | conn:67891 | "Research Notes" | @username | [First 100 chars of content...]
id:12347 | Link | conn:67892 | "Reference Article" | https://example.com/article | @username

Available Tools

Search

• arena_search — Unified search across blocks, channels, users, groups. Supports type/scope/sort filters.

Channels

• arena_get_channel — Channel metadata
• arena_get_channel_contents — Paginated contents with sorting
• arena_get_channel_connections — Channels connected to this channel
• arena_get_channel_followers — Channel followers
• arena_create_channel — Create a channel
• arena_update_channel — Update title, visibility, description
• arena_delete_channel — Delete a channel (irreversible)

Blocks

• arena_get_block — Block details with optional vision support for images
• arena_get_block_comments — Comments on a block
• arena_get_block_connections — Channels containing a block
• arena_create_block — Create a block (URL or text) and connect to channels
• arena_update_block — Update title, description, content

Comments

• arena_create_comment — Comment on a block (supports @mentions)
• arena_delete_comment — Delete a comment

Connections

• arena_create_connection — Connect a block or channel to channel(s)
• arena_delete_connection — Remove a connection
• arena_bulk_delete_connections — Delete up to 50 connections at once
• arena_move_connection — Reorder items within a channel

Users

• arena_get_me — Current authenticated user
• arena_get_user — User profile
• arena_get_user_contents — Blocks and channels by a user
• arena_get_user_following — Who/what a user follows (filterable by type)
• arena_get_user_followers — User's followers

Groups

• arena_get_group — Group profile
• arena_get_group_contents — Blocks and channels by a group

License

MIT License — see LICENSE file for details.

Links

• Are.na
• Are.na API Documentation
• Model Context Protocol