Control mpv media player — playback, playlists, YouTube streaming, and downloads.
MCP server for controlling mpv media player. Browse your music library, control playback, stream from YouTube, and download tracks — all from inside an MCP client like Claude Code.
MPV_PATH)Add to your project's .mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"mpv": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mpv-mcp-server"]
}
}
}
Or add at user scope (available in all projects):
claude mcp add mpv --scope user -- npx -y mpv-mcp-server
Add to your Claude Desktop config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"mpv": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mpv-mcp-server"]
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"mpv": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mpv-mcp-server"],
"env": {
"MPV_PATH": "/usr/local/bin/mpv",
"MPV_MEDIA_DIRS": "/home/user/Music,/home/user/Podcasts",
"MPV_DOWNLOAD_DIR": "/home/user/Music"
}
}
}
}
All configuration is via environment variables. Everything has sensible defaults.
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
MPV_PATH | mpv | Path to mpv executable |
MPV_IPC_PATH | \\.\pipe\mpvpipe (Windows) or /tmp/mpv-ipc.sock (Unix) | IPC socket path |
MPV_MEDIA_DIRS | ~/Music,~/Videos | Comma-separated media directories to scan |
MPV_DOWNLOAD_DIR | ~/Downloads | Where downloaded files are saved |
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
mpv_play | Play a file by path or search term |
mpv_pause | Pause playback |
mpv_resume | Resume playback |
mpv_stop | Stop playback |
mpv_status | Get current playback status |
mpv_seek | Seek to position ("90", "1:30", "+10", "-30") |
mpv_volume | Get or set volume (0-150) |
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
mpv_browse | List and search available media files |
mpv_playlist | Show current playlist |
mpv_add | Add a track to the playlist |
mpv_load_playlist | Load a playlist file (.m3u, .pls, .txt) |
mpv_next | Skip to next track |
mpv_prev | Go to previous track |
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
mpv_youtube | Search YouTube and stream through mpv (supports append mode) |
mpv_download | Download from YouTube (audio or video) |
YouTube tools require yt-dlp on your PATH. Audio downloads also require ffmpeg.
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
mpv_info | Get metadata for the current track or any file by search term |
mpv_tag | Write metadata tags (artist, title, album, genre, date, comment) to a file |
Both tools infer artist/title from the "Artist - Title" filename pattern. Requires ffmpeg (includes ffprobe).
The server communicates with mpv via its JSON IPC protocol. On Windows this uses a named pipe, on macOS/Linux a Unix domain socket. If mpv isn't running, the server spawns it automatically in idle mode. The mpv process is detached, so it keeps playing even if the MCP server exits.
Developed and tested on Windows. macOS/Linux support is implemented but untested — issues and PRs welcome!
MIT
Source-derived launch command. Check the maintainer’s required arguments and credentials before running:
npx -y mpv-mcp-serverMerge this template into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Keep existing servers. Add any arguments, credentials, and permissions required by the maintainer; this template has not been install-tested.
{
"mcpServers": {
"io-github-arijit-gogoi-mpv-mcp-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"mpv-mcp-server"
]
}
}
}Restart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect. Confirm the server appears connected in the client’s tool list, then try a read-only example from its documentation.
Claude Desktop setup referencempv-mcp-servernpmio.github.arijit-gogoi/mpv-mcp-server works with any MCP-compatible client. Copy the config snippet from the Configuration section above and add it to the file shown for your client, then restart the application.
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonRestart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect.~/.cursor/mcp.jsonRestart Cursor for changes to take effect..vscode/mcp.jsonReload VS Code window for changes to take effect.~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonRestart Windsurf for changes to take effect..mcp.jsonSave at the project root, then start Claude Code in that project and review the MCP server approval prompt. Keep real credentials out of shared files.