Stack Overflow MCP Server

This Model Context Protocol (MCP) server enables AI assistants like Claude to search and access Stack Overflow content through a standardized protocol, providing seamless access to programming solutions, error handling, and technical knowledge.

Features

• 🔍 Multiple Search Methods: Search by query, error message, or specific question ID
• 📊 Advanced Filtering: Filter results by tags, score, accepted answers, and more
• 🧩 Stack Trace Analysis: Parse and find solutions for error stack traces
• 📝 Rich Formatting: Get results in Markdown or JSON format
• 💬 Comments Support: Optionally include question and answer comments
• ⚡ Rate Limiting: Built-in protection to respect Stack Exchange API quotas

👇 Use case examples with Claude — toggle

Find solutions to error messages	Search for code examples
Analyze stack traces	Find specific questions

Prerequisites

Before using this MCP server, you need to:

1. Get a Stack Exchange API key (see below)
2. Have Python 3.8+ installed
3. Install uv (recommended)

Getting a Stack Exchange API Key

To use this server effectively, you'll need a Stack Exchange API key:

1. Go to Stack Apps OAuth Registration
2. Fill out the form with your application details:
   • Name: "Stack Overflow MCP" (or your preferred name)
   • Description: "MCP server for accessing Stack Overflow"
   • OAuth Domain: "localhost" (for local usage)
   • Application Website: Your website or leave blank
3. Submit the form
4. Copy your API Key (shown as "Key" on the next page)

This API key is not considered a secret and may be safely embedded in client-side code or distributed binaries. It simply allows you to receive a higher request quota when making requests to the Stack Exchange API.

Installation

Installing from PyPI

# Using pip
pip install stackoverflow-mcp

# Using uv (recommended)
uv pip install stackoverflow-mcp

Installing from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/stackoverflow-mcp-server.git
cd stackoverflow-mcp-server

# Install with uv
uv pip install -e .

Adding to Claude Desktop

To run the Stack Overflow MCP server with Claude Desktop:

1. Download Claude Desktop.

2. Launch Claude and navigate to: Settings > Developer > Edit Config.

3. Update your claude_desktop_config.json file with the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stack-overflow": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "main.py"],
      "env": {
        "STACK_EXCHANGE_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

You can also specify a custom directory:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stack-overflow": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/stackoverflow-mcp-server",
        "run",
        "main.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "STACK_EXCHANGE_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration

Environment Variables

The server can be configured using these environment variables:

# Required
STACK_EXCHANGE_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

# Optional
MAX_REQUEST_PER_WINDOW=30     # Maximum requests per rate limit window
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=60000    # Rate limit window in milliseconds (1 minute)
RETRY_AFTER_MS=2000           # Delay after hitting rate limit

Using a .env File

You can create a .env file in the project root:

STACK_EXCHANGE_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
MAX_REQUEST_PER_WINDOW=30
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=60000
RETRY_AFTER_MS=2000

Usage

Available Tools

The Stack Overflow MCP server provides the following tools:

1. search_by_query

Search Stack Overflow for questions matching a query.

Parameters:
- query: The search query
- tags: Optional list of tags to filter by (e.g., ["python", "pandas"])
- excluded_tags: Optional list of tags to exclude
- min_score: Minimum score threshold for questions
- has_accepted_answer: Whether questions must have an accepted answer
- include_comments: Whether to include comments in results
- response_format: Format of response ("json" or "markdown")
- limit: Maximum number of results to return

2. search_by_error

Search Stack Overflow for solutions to an error message.

Parameters:
- error_message: The error message to search for
- language: Programming language (e.g., "python", "javascript")
- technologies: Related technologies (e.g., ["react", "django"])
- min_score: Minimum score threshold for questions
- include_comments: Whether to include comments in results
- response_format: Format of response ("json" or "markdown")
- limit: Maximum number of results to return

3. get_question

Get a specific Stack Overflow question by ID.

Parameters:
- question_id: The Stack Overflow question ID
- include_comments: Whether to include comments in results
- response_format: Format of response ("json" or "markdown")

4. analyze_stack_trace

Analyze a stack trace and find relevant solutions on Stack Overflow.

Parameters:
- stack_trace: The stack trace to analyze
- language: Programming language of the stack trace
- include_comments: Whether to include comments in results
- response_format: Format of response ("json" or "markdown")
- limit: Maximum number of results to return

5. advanced_search

Advanced search for Stack Overflow questions with many filter options.

Parameters:
- query: Free-form search query
- tags: List of tags to filter by
- excluded_tags: List of tags to exclude
- min_score: Minimum score threshold
- title: Text that must appear in the title
- body: Text that must appear in the body
- answers: Minimum number of answers
- has_accepted_answer: Whether questions must have an accepted answer
- sort_by: Field to sort by (activity, creation, votes, relevance)
- include_comments: Whether to include comments in results
- response_format: Format of response ("json" or "markdown")
- limit: Maximum number of results to return

Development

This section is for contributors who want to develop or extend the Stack Overflow MCP server.

Setting Up Development Environment

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/stackoverflow-mcp-server.git
cd stackoverflow-mcp-server

# Install dev dependencies
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

Running Tests

# Run all tests
pytest

# Run specific test modules
pytest tests/test_formatter.py
pytest tests/test_server.py

# Run tests with coverage report
pytest --cov=stackoverflow_mcp

Project Structure

stackoverflow-mcp-server/
├── stackoverflow_mcp/          # Main package
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── api.py                  # Stack Exchange API client
│   ├── env.py                  # Environment configuration
│   ├── formatter.py            # Response formatting utilities
│   ├── server.py               # MCP server implementation
│   └── types.py                # Data classes
├── tests/                      # Test suite
│   ├── api/
│   │   └── test_search.py      # API search tests
│   ├── test_formatter.py       # Formatter tests
│   ├── test_general_api_health.py  # API health tests
│   └── test_server.py          # Server tests
├── main.py                     # Entry point
├── setup.py                    # Package configuration
├── LICENSE                     # License file
└── README.md                   # This file

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can contribute:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature
3. Commit your changes: git commit -am 'Add new feature'
4. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/my-feature
5. Submit a pull request

Please make sure to update tests as appropriate and follow the project's coding style.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

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Stack Overflow MCP Server: AI-accessible programming knowledge