YouTube Music MCP server

YouTube Music MCP is a server that integrates with AI assistants like Cursor or Claude Desktop, allowing you to search for and play tracks from YouTube Music directly through your assistant. It provides simple tools to search for music and automatically open tracks in your browser.

Setup Instructions

Getting an API Key

To use this MCP server, you need to obtain a Google YouTube API Key:

1. Visit the Google Cloud Console
2. Create or select a project
3. Enable the YouTube Data API
4. Create credentials to get your API key

Adding to Cursor

Add the MCP configuration to your Cursor settings by editing the .cursor/mcp.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-music-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@instructa/mcp-youtube-music"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "<INSERT_API_KEY_HERE>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Make sure to replace <INSERT_API_KEY_HERE> with your actual YouTube API key.

Using the MCP Server

Once configured, you can interact with YouTube Music through your AI assistant using two main tools:

Searching for Tracks

Use the searchTrack tool to find music on YouTube Music by name. Your assistant can search for songs, albums, or artists.

Playing Tracks

The playTrack tool allows you to directly play music by searching for it and automatically opening the track in your default web browser. Simply ask your assistant to play a specific song, and it will handle the rest.

Examples

Here are some example prompts you can use with your AI assistant:

• "Search for Bohemian Rhapsody on YouTube Music"
• "Play the latest Taylor Swift song"
• "Find jazz music from Miles Davis"
• "Play some relaxing study music"

The assistant will use the appropriate MCP tool to either search for or directly play the requested music in your browser.

How to add this MCP server to Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cursor-rules-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "cursor-rules-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.