Spines

Access SPINES book collections, reading lists, and bookshelf data from AI assistants via the Model Context Protocol.

Features

• Search books by title, author, or ISBN
• Browse and filter book collections
• Manage reading lists (add and remove books)
• Explore personas and categories
• AI prompts for shelf analysis and book recommendations

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• A SPINES API key (get one here)

Installation

npm install -g @spines/mcp-server

Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "spines": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@spines/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SPINES_API_KEY": "gtspn_live_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code / Cursor

Add to your MCP settings:

{
  "spines": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@spines/mcp-server"],
    "env": {
      "SPINES_API_KEY": "gtspn_live_your_key_here"
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
SPINES_API_KEY	Yes	-	Your API key
SPINES_API_URL	No	https://spins.app/api/v1	API base URL
SPINES_DEBUG	No	false	Verbose logging to stderr

Tools

Read Tools

Tool	Description
search_books	Search for books by title, author, or ISBN
get_book_details	Get full details for a specific book
get_collection	Get a book collection with all its books
list_collections	List your collections with optional filters
list_categories	List all approved book categories
get_persona	Get details about a persona

Write Tools

Tool	Description
add_to_reading_list	Add a book to a reading list
remove_from_reading_list	Remove a book from a reading list

Tool Details

search_books

query: string    - Search query (title, author, or ISBN)
limit?: number   - Max results (1-50, default 10)

get_book_details

book_id: string  - The book's unique ID

get_collection

collection_id: string  - The collection's unique ID

list_collections

limit?: number        - Max results (1-50, default 20)
cursor?: string       - Pagination cursor
persona_id?: string   - Filter by persona
category_id?: string  - Filter by category

add_to_reading_list

book_id: string      - The book to add
list_name?: string   - List name (default: "want_to_read")

remove_from_reading_list

entry_id: string     - The reading list entry ID to remove

Resources

URI	Description
spines://collection/{id}	A book collection with metadata
spines://book/{id}	Full book details
spines://persona/{id}	Persona profile and collections
spines://reading-lists	User's reading lists

Prompts

Prompt	Description
analyze_shelf	Analyze a collection for themes and reading patterns
recommend_books	Get recommendations based on your library
compare_collections	Compare two collections for similarities

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
"SPINES_API_KEY is required"	Set the env var in your MCP client config
401 errors	Check your API key is valid and not expired
403 errors	Your key may lack required scopes
429 errors	Rate limited — wait and retry
Tools not appearing	Restart your MCP client

Development

git clone https://github.com/GetSpines/mcp-server
cd mcp-server
npm install
npm run build
npm test

License

MIT