Notion ReadOnly MCP server

This Model Context Protocol (MCP) server provides a streamlined, read-only interface to the Notion API, optimized specifically for AI assistants. It focuses on efficient data retrieval operations while minimizing the tool set to improve performance.

Getting Started with Notion ReadOnly MCP Server

Setting Up Your Notion Integration

1. Create a Notion integration token:

   • Visit https://www.notion.so/profile/integrations
   • Create a new internal integration or use an existing one
   • For maximum security, configure the integration with only "Read content" access from the Configuration tab

2. Connect your Notion content:

   • Open the Notion page you want to access
   • Click the three dots (...) in the upper right corner
   • Select "Connect to integration" and choose your integration

Installation and Configuration

Using npm

Add the following to your .cursor/mcp.json or claude_desktop_config.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notionApi": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "notion-readonly-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "OPENAPI_MCP_HEADERS": "{\"Authorization\": \"Bearer ntn_****\", \"Notion-Version\": \"2022-06-28\" }"
      }
    }
  }
}

For Claude desktop users on MacOS, the config file is located at: ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Using Docker

Add the following to your .cursor/mcp.json or claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notionApi": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--rm",
        "-i",
        "-e", "OPENAPI_MCP_HEADERS",
        "taewoong1378/notion-readonly-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OPENAPI_MCP_HEADERS": "{\"Authorization\":\"Bearer ntn_****\",\"Notion-Version\":\"2022-06-28\"}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Important: Replace ntn_**** with your actual Notion integration secret token from your integration configuration.

Using the MCP Server

Available Tools

The server provides 7 essential tools for working with Notion content:

• API-retrieve-a-page: Get page information
• API-get-block-children: Get page content blocks (with parallel processing)
• API-retrieve-a-block: Get details about a specific block
• API-retrieve-a-database: Get database information
• API-retrieve-a-comment: Get comments on a page or block
• API-retrieve-a-page-property: Get specific property information from a page
• API-get-one-pager: Recursively retrieve a full Notion page with all content in a single call

Using the One-Pager Tool

The API-get-one-pager tool allows you to retrieve an entire Notion page and its contents in a single call:

{
  "page_id": "YOUR_PAGE_ID",
  "maxDepth": 5,
  "includeDatabases": true,
  "includeComments": true,
  "includeProperties": true
}

Parameters:

• page_id: The ID of the Notion page
• maxDepth: Maximum recursion depth (default: 5)
• includeDatabases: Whether to include linked databases (default: true)
• includeComments: Whether to include comments (default: true)
• includeProperties: Whether to include detailed page properties (default: true)

Example Usage

To retrieve a page's content:

Get the content of page 1a6b35e6e67f802fa7e1d27686f017f2

To retrieve database information:

Get the structure of database 8a6b35e6e67f802fa7e1d27686f017f2

Performance Benefits

This server implementation offers several advantages for AI assistants:

• Reduced Tool Count: Only 7 essential tools compared to 15+ in standard implementations
• Parallel Processing: Asynchronous handling of API requests for faster responses
• Automatic Content Exploration: One-click retrieval of entire page structures
• Optimized for AI Limitations: Stays within the recommended tool limits for AI assistants like Cursor and Claude

These optimizations result in faster, more reliable interactions with Notion content through your AI assistant.

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.