stackexchange-mcp-server

<div align="center">
  <h1>@cyanheads/stackexchange-mcp-server</h1>
  <p><b>Search Stack Exchange questions, fetch complete Q&A threads as clean markdown, browse tag FAQs, and look up user profiles via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.</b>
  <div>5 Tools</div>
  </p>
</div>

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[![Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/Version-0.1.10-blue.svg?style=flat-square)](./CHANGELOG.md) [![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Apache%202.0-orange.svg?style=flat-square)](./LICENSE) [![Docker](https://img.shields.io/badge/Docker-ghcr.io-2496ED?style=flat-square&logo=docker&logoColor=white)](https://github.com/users/cyanheads/packages/container/package/stackexchange-mcp-server) [![MCP SDK](https://img.shields.io/badge/MCP%20Server-2.0.0-green.svg?style=flat-square)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) [![npm](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/@cyanheads/stackexchange-mcp-server?style=flat-square&logo=npm&logoColor=white)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/stackexchange-mcp-server) [![TypeScript](https://img.shields.io/badge/TypeScript-^7.0.2-3178C6.svg?style=flat-square)](https://www.typescriptlang.org/) [![Bun](https://img.shields.io/badge/Bun-v1.4.0-blueviolet.svg?style=flat-square)](https://bun.sh/)

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[![Install in Claude Desktop](https://img.shields.io/badge/Install_in-Claude_Desktop-D97757?style=for-the-badge&logo=anthropic&logoColor=white)](https://github.com/cyanheads/stackexchange-mcp-server/releases/latest/download/stackexchange-mcp-server.mcpb) [![Install in Cursor](https://cursor.com/deeplink/mcp-install-dark.svg)](https://cursor.com/en/install-mcp?name=stackexchange-mcp-server&config=eyJjb21tYW5kIjoibnB4IiwiYXJncyI6WyIteSIsIkBjeWFuaGVhZHMvc3RhY2tleGNoYW5nZS1tY3Atc2VydmVyIl19) [![Install in VS Code](https://img.shields.io/badge/VS_Code-Install_Server-0098FF?style=for-the-badge&logo=visualstudiocode&logoColor=white)](https://vscode.dev/redirect?url=vscode:mcp/install?%7B%22name%22%3A%22stackexchange-mcp-server%22%2C%22command%22%3A%22npx%22%2C%22args%22%3A%5B%22-y%22%2C%22%40cyanheads%2Fstackexchange-mcp-server%22%5D%7D)

[![Framework](https://img.shields.io/badge/Built%20on-@cyanheads/mcp--ts--core-67E8F9?style=flat-square)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core)

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**Public Hosted Server:** [https://stackexchange.caseyjhand.com/mcp](https://stackexchange.caseyjhand.com/mcp)

</div>

---

## Tools

Five tools for working with Stack Overflow and the wider Stack Exchange network:

| Tool | Description |
|:---|:---|
| `stackexchange_search_questions` | Search questions across a Stack Exchange site with full-text query, tag filters, score threshold, and sort order |
| `stackexchange_get_thread` | Fetch a complete Q&A thread — question body and all answers as clean markdown, accepted answer first |
| `stackexchange_get_tag_faq` | Fetch the highest-voted answered questions for a tag — the canonical "best answers in X" list |
| `stackexchange_get_user` | Fetch a user profile by ID: reputation, badge counts, top tags by answer score, and account metadata |
| `stackexchange_list_sites` | Enumerate all Stack Exchange network sites and their `api_site_parameter` values |

### `stackexchange_search_questions`

Search questions across any Stack Exchange site.

- Full-text search with optional tag filters, minimum score threshold, and accepted-only filter
- Sort by relevance, votes, activity, or newest
- Returns question ID, title, score, answer count, tags, and excerpt — IDs flow directly into `stackexchange_get_thread`
- Quota remaining surfaced on every response so agents can plan around rate limits

---

### `stackexchange_get_thread`

Fetch a complete Q&A thread in one call — the server's primary value-add.

- Accepts a numeric question ID or a full Stack Exchange question URL
- Fetches question body + all answers in parallel (two upstream calls via `Promise.all`)
- HTML→markdown normalization baked in: `<pre><code>` → fenced code blocks, `<p>`, `<a>`, lists, headers, blockquotes all converted
- Accepted answer always first, then sorted by score descending
- Attribution (author display name + profile link + score) included on each answer per CC BY-SA 4.0
- Configurable `maxAnswers` (default 10, up to 100)

---

### `stackexchange_get_tag_faq`

Browse the authoritative community answers on a topic.

- Maps to `/tags/{tag}/faq` — the highest-voted answered questions in a tag
- Returns question list without bodies; pipe any result into `stackexchange_get_thread` for full content
- Useful for "what are the canonical resources on Python async?" type queries

---

### `stackexchange_get_user`

Credibility context for an answer author.

- Fetches profile + top tags in parallel (two upstream calls)
- Returns reputation, badge counts (gold/silver/bronze), location, website, post counts, and top 10 tags by answer score
- `owner.user_id` from `stackexchange_get_thread` output can be passed directly

---

### `stackexchange_list_sites`

Discover `api_site_parameter` values for any Stack Exchange community.

- Fetches the full ~190-site network list live; optional case-insensitive name filter applied client-side
- The `api_site_parameter` value (e.g. `stackoverflow`, `superuser`, `serverfault`) is what every other tool's `site` parameter accepts

---

## Features

Built on [`@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core):

- Declarative tool definitions — single file per primitive, framework handles registration and validation
- Unified error handling — handlers throw, framework catches, classifies, and formats
- Pluggable auth: `none`, `jwt`, `oauth`
- Swappable storage backends: `in-memory`, `filesystem`, `Supabase`, `Cloudflare KV/R2/D1`
- Structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing
- STDIO and Streamable HTTP transports

Stack Exchange-specific:

- Custom HTML→markdown normalizer covers the full SE post tag set with no external dependencies
- Backoff tracking: respects the `backoff` field in SE API responses to avoid throttling
- Quota logging: `quota_remaining` and `quota_max` surfaced via enrichment on every tool call
- Typed error contracts for `invalid_site`, `question_not_found`, `user_not_found`, `invalid_id_or_url`, and `quota_exceeded`
- Parallel upstream calls in `get_thread` and `get_user` via `Promise.all`
- Optional `STACKEXCHANGE_API_KEY` lifts the per-IP quota from ~300/day to ~10,000/day with no OAuth required

Agent-friendly output:

- Quota remaining on every response — agents can plan around rate limits without the server needing to fail
- Accepted-answer-first ordering is hardcoded — the community's explicit quality signal, not a preference
- Attribution on every answer per CC BY-SA 4.0 — provenance preserved without agent effort
- Typed `not_found` errors for missing questions and users (SE returns HTTP 200 with empty `items[]` — the server handles this correctly)

---

## Getting started

### Public Hosted Instance

A public instance is available at `https://stackexchange.caseyjhand.com/mcp` — no installation required. Point any MCP client at it via Streamable HTTP:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stackexchange-mcp-server": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://stackexchange.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Self-Hosted / Local

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stackexchange": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@cyanheads/stackexchange-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Or with npx (no Bun required):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stackexchange": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/stackexchange-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Or with Docker:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stackexchange": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio",
        "ghcr.io/cyanheads/stackexchange-mcp-server:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:

```sh
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp
```

**Rate limits:** The Stack Exchange API allows ~300 requests/day per IP without a key. Set `STACKEXCHANGE_API_KEY` in `env` to lift this to ~10,000/day. Register a key at [stackapps.com/apps/oauth/register](https://stackapps.com/apps/oauth/register) (the OAuth flow is only required for write access — a key alone is sufficient for read-only use).

### Prerequisites

- [Bun v1.3.0](https://bun.sh/) or higher (or Node.js v24+)
- A `STACKEXCHANGE_API_KEY` is optional but strongly recommended for any sustained use

### Installation

1. **Clone the repository:**

```sh
git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/stackexchange-mcp-server.git
```

2. **Navigate into the directory:**

```sh
cd stackexchange-mcp-server
```

3. **Install dependencies:**

```sh
bun install
```

4. **Configure environment:**

```sh
cp .env.example .env
# edit .env and set STACKEXCHANGE_API_KEY if desired
```

---

## Configuration

| Variable | Description | Default |
|:---------|:------------|:--------|
| `STACKEXCHANGE_API_KEY` | Optional. Stack Exchange API key — lifts per-IP quota from ~300/day to ~10,000/day. | — |
| `MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE` | Transport: `stdio` or `http`. | `stdio` |
| `MCP_HTTP_PORT` | Port for HTTP server. | `3010` |
| `MCP_HTTP_HOST` | Host for HTTP server. | `127.0.0.1` |
| `MCP_SESSION_MODE` | HTTP session mode: `auto`, `stateful`, or `stateless`. `auto` resolves to stateful; this server sets stateless explicitly. | `stateless` |
| `MCP_AUTH_MODE` | Auth mode: `none`, `jwt`, or `oauth`. | `none` |
| `MCP_LOG_LEVEL` | Log level (RFC 5424). | `