Hardcover.app GraphQL Read-only Server: Data Query Integration Tool

Hardcover MCP

This is an unofficial read - only MCP server for the Hardcover.app GraphQL API, providing query tools and resources related to books, users, and series, which facilitates developers to access Hardcover data safely and at a low frequency.

Research and data Entertainment and media #Book Query #Reading Data #API Tools .Python

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update time : 2025-12-29

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What is the Hardcover MCP Server?

This is a bridge server that connects an AI assistant (such as Claude) to the Hardcover.app book database. Hardcover is a book tracking and community platform. Through this MCP server, you can directly ask questions about books, authors, user reading habits, and book series in an AI chat, and the AI assistant will query and return the results for you.

How to Use the Hardcover MCP Server?

First, you need an API key for your Hardcover account. Then, add this server to the configuration of your AI assistant (such as Claude Desktop). After the configuration is complete, you can naturally ask questions in the chat, such as 'Find me the fantasy novels by Brandon Sanderson' or 'What books has user 'alice' read recently?'

Use Cases

Suitable for book lovers, readers, authors, and researchers. For example: finding the next book to read, researching the works of an author, understanding the reading order of a book series, checking a friend's reading progress, or collecting materials for a book club.

Main Features

Book Query

Search and filter books by title, author, ISBN, or tags. Get detailed information about books, such as covers, descriptions, ratings, and community tags.

User Data Query

Find the public information of Hardcover users, such as their reading lists, read books, ratings, and reading statuses (want to read, reading, read).

Book Series Query

Explore book series, view which books are included in the series, and their correct reading order.

Read-Only and Secure

The server is in read-only mode and will not modify your Hardcover account or any platform data, ensuring safe use.

Clear Function Classification

All tools are clearly organized by the `books.*`, `users.*`, `series.*` namespace, making it easy to understand and use.

Advantages

Natural language interaction: No need to learn complex API query syntax. You can obtain information by speaking naturally.

Information integration: The AI assistant can combine the queried book information with other contexts to provide more comprehensive answers.

Community-driven: The data comes from a real reader community, including ratings, tags, and reading statuses, which is more valuable for reference.

Configure once, query anywhere: You only need to configure the server in the AI assistant once, and then you can use it in any conversation.

Limitations

Requires an API key: Users must have a Hardcover account and manually apply for an API key.

Read-only access: You cannot add books you want to read, update your reading progress, or write reviews through this server.

Limited by the API: The query ability and the format of the returned data completely depend on the settings of the Hardcover official API.

Rate limit: To avoid putting pressure on the API, there are rate and quantity limits for queries, which is not suitable for obtaining a large amount of data at once.

How to Use

Get an API Key

Log in to your Hardcover.app account and visit the API page in the account settings (https://hardcover.app/account/api). Copy the generated API key, which usually starts with 'Bearer '.

Configure the AI Assistant

In the configuration file of the AI assistant you are using (such as Claude Desktop), add the startup command and environment variables for this MCP server. The specific configuration method varies depending on the assistant.

Start and Use

Restart your AI assistant application. After startup, the server will automatically connect. Now you can try asking questions about books in the chat!

Usage Examples

Find the Next Read

You've just finished reading a book you like and want to find works with a similar style or by the same author.

Prepare for a Book Club Discussion

You need to collect background information and community opinions for a specified book.

Research an Author's Works

You're interested in an author and want to systematically understand all their works and the reading order.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to pay to use Hardcover or this MCP server?

Why does the query return an error or no results?

Will my reading data be made public?

Can I modify or add data on Hardcover?

Is this server officially made by Hardcover?

Related Resources

Hardcover.app Official Website

The homepage of the book community platform for registering an account and using core functions.

Hardcover API Key Page

The place to obtain a read - only API key after logging in.

Model Context Protocol (MCP) Official Website

The official documentation and specifications for understanding the MCP protocol.

Project Code Repository (Example)

The open - source code of this MCP server for developers to refer to or contribute.

🚀 Hardcover MCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides read-only access to the Hardcover.app GraphQL API. Tools are categorized under books.*, users.*, and series.*, along with resources and prompts for safe, low-volume querying.

This is an unofficial, community-maintained server and has no affiliation with Hardcover.app.

🚀 Quick Start

The Hardcover MCP server offers read - only access to the Hardcover.app GraphQL API. It's a great tool for querying book, user, and series data in a safe and controlled manner.

✨ Features

Namespaced tools under books.*, users.*, and series.*.
Resources and prompts to guide safe, low - volume querying.

📦 Installation

You have two options to install the Hardcover MCP server:

Option A: with uv (recommended)

uv pip install -e .

Option B: with pip

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

📚 Documentation

Transport Protocol

This server currently only supports STDIO as the transport protocol.

Usage

Obtain an API key from https://hardcover.app/account/api. Copy the value exactly as provided (it already starts with Bearer ).
Export it for the server:

export HARDCOVER_API_KEY="Bearer <your-token>"

Running the server directly

Start the MCP server:

uv run src/hardcover_mcp/main.py

Configuring STDIO for an AI chat (Codex)

[mcp_servers.hardcover_mcp]
command = "uv"
args = ["run", "src/hardcover_mcp/main.py"]
env = { "HARDCOVER_API_KEY" = "API KEY heRE" }
cwd = "full_path_to/hardcover_mcp"

The server registers the books.*, users.*, and series.* tool namespaces, plus resources like hardcover/tag-categories and usage prompts such as hardcover/fantasy-this-year.

Running the test suite

pytest

Troubleshooting

HARDCOVER_API_KEY environment variable is required: Make sure the variable is set in the same shell where you start the server. Include the leading Bearer prefix.
Hardcover API returned an error response or 401/403: Confirm that the token is valid and not expired.
Slow responses or timeouts: Reduce limit/offset arguments; the API enforces rate limits. Start with limit<=10.
SSL/HTTP transport issues: Check local network/proxy settings and retry with a stable connection.