stackoverflow-mcp-server 0.1.0

Stack Overflow MCP server for LLM applications

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.

[!NOTE]

The Stack Overflow MCP Server is currently in Beta. We welcome your feedback and encourage you to report any bugs by opening an issue.

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