NPM Package Search MCP server

This MCP server provides functionality to fetch information about npm packages, including detailed package searches and listings of popular packages. It integrates with AI models through the Model Context Protocol to enhance package discovery and analysis.

Installation

Via Smithery

For an automated installation with Claude Desktop:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @mateusribeirocampos/npm-mcp-server --client claude

Manual Installation

To install the server manually:

npm install

After installation, build the server:

npm run build

Running the Server

Start the server in production mode:

npm start

For development with hot reloading:

npm run dev

Usage

The server provides two main functionalities:

Package Search Tool

The searchNpmPackage tool fetches comprehensive information about a specific npm package:

const result = await server.tools.searchNpmPackage({ packageName: "react" });

This returns detailed package information including:

• Package name
• Latest version
• Description
• Author information
• Homepage URL
• Repository URL
• Dependencies list

Example response:

{
  "name": "react",
  "version": "18.2.0",
  "description": "React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces.",
  "author": "Meta Open Source",
  "homepage": "https://reactjs.org/",
  "repository": {
    "url": "https://github.com/facebook/react.git"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "loose-envify": "^1.1.0"
  }
}

Popular Packages Resource

Access information about the 10 most popular npm packages through the resource URI npm://popular:

// Example of accessing the popular packages resource
const popularPackages = await server.resources.get("npm://popular");

Each package entry includes:

• Package name
• Description
• Current version

Example response:

[
  {
    "name": "lodash",
    "description": "Lodash modular utilities",
    "version": "4.17.21"
  }
  // Additional packages...
]

AI Model Integration

When integrated with AI models, this MCP server can help:

• Retrieve package details before installation
• Compare package versions
• Analyze dependency structures
• Discover popular package alternatives
• Get quick summaries of package functionality

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "npm-mcp-server" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@mateusribeirocampos/npm-mcp-server"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For 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 > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

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

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "npm-mcp-server": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@mateusribeirocampos/npm-mcp-server"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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 explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "npm-mcp-server": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@mateusribeirocampos/npm-mcp-server"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect