affine-mcp-server MCP — Use Cases, Install & Live Demo

Why use it

Key features

87 tools across 8 domains (workspaces, docs, dbs, comments, history, users, blobs, orgs)
Document search + creation + publishing
Database ops — structured AFFiNE databases, not just free docs
Auth: API token (recommended), cookie, or email/password (self-host only)
stdio + Docker deploy

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

affine.replay ▶ ready

0/0

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "affine": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "affine-mcp-server"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "affine": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "affine-mcp-server"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "affine": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "affine-mcp-server"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "affine": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "affine-mcp-server"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "affine",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "affine-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "affine": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": [
          "-y",
          "affine-mcp-server"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add affine -- npx -y affine-mcp-server

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use affine-mcp-server

Capture quick notes into AFFiNE from Claude

👤 AFFiNE users using it as their main notes tool ⏱ ~5 min beginner

When to use: You're in a conversation and want to capture the takeaway into AFFiNE without context-switching.

Prerequisites

AFFiNE API token — AFFiNE Cloud: Settings > Integrations > MCP Server

Flow

Find the workspace

List my AFFiNE workspaces. I want to write into 'Personal'.✓ Copied

→ Workspace list
Create a doc

Create a new doc titled '2026-04-14 meeting notes' with content [paste]. Put it under /Meetings.✓ Copied

→ Doc created + URL

Outcome: Notes in AFFiNE without leaving chat.

Pitfalls

Email/password auth blocked on Cloud by Cloudflare — Use API token on Cloud; email/password only on self-hosted

Add a row to an AFFiNE database from external signal

👤 Knowledge workers using AFFiNE databases as lightweight CRM / tracker ⏱ ~10 min intermediate

When to use: You want each newsletter subscriber from an email to land in your 'Contacts' AFFiNE DB.

Flow

List DBs

Show me databases in my 'Work' workspace.✓ Copied

→ DB list
Add row

To database 'Contacts', add a row: name='Jane Doe', email='[email protected]', source='Newsletter', date=today.✓ Copied

→ Row added with UUID

Outcome: AFFiNE as a lightweight CRM driven by LLM.

Pitfalls

Field types must match the DB schema — Get schema first via describe-database-like tool

Search across AFFiNE workspaces and summarize findings

👤 AFFiNE power users with many docs ⏱ ~10 min beginner

When to use: You remember writing about X somewhere but can't remember where.

Flow

Search

Search across my workspaces for 'series A process'. List top 10 docs with snippet.✓ Copied

→ Doc hits with highlights
Summarize

Load the top 3 docs and summarize the key points + any contradictions.✓ Copied

→ Cross-doc summary

Outcome: Institutional knowledge surfaced from your own notes.

Combinations

Pair with other MCPs for X10 leverage

affine + gmail-like + youtube-transcript

Capture content into AFFiNE

Summarize this video and save to my 'Talks Notes' DB in AFFiNE.✓ Copied

Tools

What this MCP exposes

Tool	Inputs	When to call	Cost
list_workspaces		Navigate your AFFiNE graph	1 API call
search_documents	workspace_id, query, limit?	Find docs by text	1 API call
create_document	workspace_id, title, content, parent_id?	Add a new doc	1 API call
update_document	doc_id, content \| title	Edit existing docs	1 API call
add_database_row	database_id, fields: obj	Structured data entry	1 API call

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: AFFiNE plan limits
Tokens per call: Doc contents vary widely — trim by section where possible
Monetary: Free on AFFiNE self-hosted; Cloud has paid tiers
Tip: Prefer search_documents over listing + filtering in code.

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Minimum scopes: Workspace-scoped API token where possible

Credential storage: AFFINE_API_TOKEN env var; never commit

Data egress: Your AFFiNE data to LLM provider

Never grant: Cookie auth on a shared machine — cookies are user-session-equivalent

Browser-local-only workspaces are invisible to the MCP — only server-backed workspaces work.
Cloudflare blocks email/password on AFFiNE Cloud for programmatic login — use API tokens.

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

401 / token invalid

Regenerate at Settings > Integrations > MCP Server. Paste fresh token into env.

Cannot find workspace

Server-backed vs local-only confusion. Only server-backed workspaces are accessible.

Verify: Open AFFiNE UI; is the workspace cloud-synced?

DB row rejected — field type mismatch

Get schema first, match types. Dates often need ISO-8601 strings.

Alternatives

affine-mcp-server vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
Notion MCP	You use Notion instead of AFFiNE	Different product; more mature ecosystem
Obsidian MCP	You're all-in on Obsidian markdown files	Local-first; different philosophy

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

🔍 Browse all 400+ MCP servers and Skills