Apple Books MCP Server

Apple Books MCP

<!-- mcp-name: io.github.vgnshiyer/apple-books-mcp -->

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Apple Books.

At a glance

• Pick up where you left off — Claude sees the chapter you're on and its text, plus recent highlights in the book.
• Expand on any highlight — get the surrounding paragraph explained in context, with the exact anchor you marked shown in «...».
• Revisit a book — pull your highlights, cluster them by theme, and quote you back to yourself.
• Reflect on your reading — patterns across books, recurring ideas in your highlights, what you're actually drawn to.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/77a5a29b-bfd7-4275-a4af-8d6c51a4527e

And much more!

Available Tools

Collections

Tool	Description	Parameters
list_all_collections	List all collections	limit?: int
get_collection_books	Get all books in a collection	collection_id: str
describe_collection	Get details of a collection	collection_id: str
search_collections_by_title	Search for collections by title	title: str

Editing collections (opt-in)

Off by default. Enable by adding --enable-writes to the server args:

"args": ["apple-books-mcp@latest", "--enable-writes"]

Apple provides no automation API for collections, so these write directly to the library database — behind guard rails: every write refuses while Books is open, takes an automatic WAL-safe backup first (~/.py_apple_books/backups/), validates the schema and aborts on drift, and only touches user-created collections (plus "Want to Read" membership). Deleting a collection never deletes the books in it.

⚠️ If iCloud sync for collections is enabled, direct edits may not propagate to other devices and can be reverted by a cloud re-sync.

Tool	Description	Parameters
create_collection	Create a new collection	title: str, details?: str
rename_collection	Rename a user-created collection	collection_id: int, new_title: str
delete_collection	Delete a user-created collection (books untouched)	collection_id: int
add_book_to_collection	Add a book to a collection (idempotent)	collection_id: int, book_id: int
remove_book_from_collection	Remove a book from a collection (idempotent)	collection_id: int, book_id: int

Books

Tool	Description	Parameters
list_all_books	List all books	limit?: int
describe_book	Get details of a particular book (metadata, progress, annotation count, description)	book_id: str
list_annotations	Get all annotations for a book (id + text + chapter per row, chapter-ordered)	book_id: int, limit?: int
search_books_by_title	Search for books by title	title: str
get_books_by_genre	Get books by genre (substring match)	genre: str, limit?: int

Reading Status

Tool	Description	Parameters
get_books_in_progress	Get books currently being read	limit?: int
get_finished_books	Get books that have been finished	limit?: int
get_unstarted_books	Get books not yet started	limit?: int
get_recently_read_books	Get most recently opened books	limit?: int (default: 10)

Annotations

Tool	Description	Parameters
list_all_annotations	Browse every annotation grouped by book, newest first	limit?: int
recent_annotations	Get most recent annotations (flat, with date + book per row)	limit?: int (default: 10)
describe_annotation	Get full details of a single annotation	annotation_id: str
get_annotation_context	Text window around a highlight (the paragraph it's in), with the highlight marked «...»	annotation_id: int, chars_before?: int (default: 500), chars_after?: int (default: 500)
get_highlights_by_color	Highlights of a particular color, grouped by book	color: str, limit?: int
search_notes	Search user notes (shows highlight + note inline)	note: str, limit?: int
search_annotations	Search across highlights + notes + surrounding text	text: str, limit?: int
get_annotations_by_date_range	Annotations within a date range (flat, with date + book per row)	after?: YYYY-MM-DD, before?: YYYY-MM-DD, limit?: int

Library Stats

Tool	Description	Parameters
get_library_stats	Get library summary with reading stats	None

Book Content

Only works for non-DRM EPUBs (imported books, Project Gutenberg, Standard Ebooks, etc.). Apple Books Store purchases are FairPlay-protected and return a clear error. iCloud-only books return a "not downloaded" hint.

Tool	Description	Parameters
list_book_chapters	Table of contents for a book (chapter titles, order, nesting)	book_id: int
get_chapter_content	Plain-text content of a chapter, with optional offset + max_chars slicing	book_id: int, chapter_id: str, offset?: int, max_chars?: int
get_current_reading_position	The chapter the user last left off reading (via Apple Books' auto-bookmark CFI)	book_id: int

Available Resources

Attachable data objects accessible from Claude Desktop's resource picker.

Resource	URI	Description
Currently Reading	apple-books://currently-reading	The book you're reading right now — most recently opened in-progress book, with metadata, the chapter you left off on plus a preview of its text (for non-DRM EPUBs), and recent annotations. Attach to any conversation to focus Claude on your current read.

Available Prompts

One-click workflows, accessible from Claude Desktop's prompt picker.

Prompt	Description	Arguments
weekly_digest	Summarize what I've read and highlighted in the past week	days?: int (default: 7)
library_snapshot	A reflection on my whole reading life	None
revisit_book	Revisit your notes and highlights from a specific book	book_title: str

Installation

Using uv (recommended)

uvx can be used to directly run apple-books-mcp (without installing it).

brew install uv  # for macos
uvx apple-books-mcp

Using pip

pip install apple-books-mcp

After installing, you can run the server using:

python -m apple_books_mcp

Using Docker

docker run -v ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iBooksX/Data/Documents:/root/Library/Containers/com.apple.iBooksX/Data/Documents:ro ghcr.io/vgnshiyer/apple-books-mcp:latest

First-run permission prompt (macOS)

On first use, macOS will ask whether uvx (or python / docker, depending on how you launched) may "access data from other apps." Click Allow — the MCP reads Apple Books' private container at ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iBooksX/, which macOS treats as another app's sandboxed data. Access is read-only and scoped to that container; the server starts successfully either way, but without permission every tool comes back empty.

Configuration

Claude Desktop Setup

Using uvx (recommended)

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

Using python

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

Using Docker

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apple-books-mcp": {
            "command": "docker",
            "args": [
                "run", "-i", "--rm",
                "-v", "~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iBooksX/Data/Documents:/root/Library/Containers/com.apple.iBooksX/Data/Documents:ro",
                "ghcr.io/vgnshiyer/apple-books-mcp:latest"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Upcoming Features

• PDF content access (currently EPUB-only)
• fuller annotation context via CFI → paragraph resolution

Contribution

Thank you for considering contributing to this project!

Development

If you cloned this repository, you can test it using Claude Desktop with below configuration:

Use uv venv to create a virtual environment and install the dependencies.

uv venv
uv sync

Debugging

With Claude Desktop

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apple-books-mcp": {
            "command": "uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/path/to/apple-books-mcp/",
                "run",
                "apple_books_mcp",
                "-v"
            ]
        }
    }
}

With inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uvx apple-books-mcp

Opening Issues

If you encounter a bug, have a feature request, or want to discuss something related to the project, please open an issue on the GitHub repository. When opening an issue, please provide:

Bug Reports: Describe the issue in detail. Include steps to reproduce the bug if possible, along with any error messages or screenshots.

Feature Requests: Clearly explain the new feature you'd like to see added to the project. Provide context on why this feature would be beneficial.

General Discussions: Feel free to start discussions on broader topics related to the project.

Contributing

1️⃣ Fork the GitHub repository https://github.com/vgnshiyer/apple-books-mcp
2️⃣ Create a new branch for your changes (git checkout -b feature/my-new-feature).
3️⃣ Make your changes and test them thoroughly.
4️⃣ Push your changes and open a Pull Request to main.

Please provide a clear title and description of your changes.

License

Apple Books MCP is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license. See the LICENSE file for details.