io.github.discourse/mcp

Discourse MCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) stdio server that exposes Discourse forum capabilities as tools and resources for AI agents.

• Entry point: src/index.ts → compiled to dist/index.js (binary name: discourse-mcp)
• SDK: @modelcontextprotocol/sdk
• Node: >= 24
• Version: 0.2.4 (0.2.x has breaking changes from 0.1.x - JSON-only output, resources replace list tools)

Quick start (release)

• Run (read‑only, recommended to start)

npx -y @discourse/mcp@latest

Then, in your MCP client, either:

• Call the discourse_select_site tool with { "site": "https://try.discourse.org" } to choose a site, or

• Start the server tethered to a site using --site https://try.discourse.org (in which case discourse_select_site is hidden).

• Enable writes (opt‑in, safe‑guarded)

npx -y @discourse/mcp@latest --allow_writes --read_only=false --auth_pairs '[{"site":"https://try.discourse.org","api_key":"'$DISCOURSE_API_KEY'","api_username":"system"}]'

• Use in an MCP client (example: Claude Desktop) — via npx

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "discourse": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@discourse/mcp@latest"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Alternative: if you prefer a global binary after install, the package exposes discourse-mcp.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "discourse": { "command": "discourse-mcp", "args": [] }
  }
}

Configuration

The server registers tools under the MCP server name @discourse/mcp. Choose a target Discourse site either by:

• Using the discourse_select_site tool at runtime (validates via /about.json), or

• Supplying --site <url> to tether the server to a single site at startup (validates via /about.json and hides discourse_select_site).

• Auth

  • None by default.
  • Admin API Keys (require admin permissions): --auth_pairs '[{"site":"https://example.com","api_key":"...","api_username":"system"}]'
  • User API Keys (any user can generate): --auth_pairs '[{"site":"https://example.com","user_api_key":"...","user_api_client_id":"..."}]'
  • HTTP Basic Auth (for sites behind a reverse proxy): Add http_basic_user and http_basic_pass to any auth_pairs entry. This is useful for Discourse sites protected by HTTP Basic Authentication at the reverse proxy level.
  • You can include multiple entries in auth_pairs; the matching entry is used for the selected site. If both user_api_key and api_key are provided for the same site, user_api_key takes precedence.

• Write safety

  • Writes are disabled by default.
  • Write tools (discourse_create_post, discourse_create_topic, discourse_create_category, discourse_update_topic, discourse_create_user, discourse_update_user, discourse_upload_file, discourse_save_draft, discourse_delete_draft) are only registered when --allow_writes AND not --read_only.
  • Write tools require a matching auth_pairs entry for the selected site; otherwise they return an error.
  • A ~1 req/sec rate limit is enforced for write actions.

• Flags & defaults

  • --read_only (default: true)
  • --allow_writes (default: false)
  • --timeout_ms <number> (default: 15000)
  • --concurrency <number> (default: 4)
  • --log_level <silent|error|info|debug> (default: info)
    • debug: Shows all HTTP requests, responses, and detailed error information
    • info: Shows retry attempts and general operational messages
    • error: Shows only errors
    • silent: No logging output
  • --show_emails (default: false). includes emails in user tools. Requires admin access
  • --tools_mode <auto|discourse_api_only|tool_exec_api> (default: auto)
  • --site <url>: Tether MCP to a single site and hide discourse_select_site.
  • --default-search <prefix>: Unconditionally prefix every search query (e.g., tag:ai order:latest).
  • --max-read-length <number>: Maximum characters returned for

... View full README on GitHub