provision_app_password validated the supplied app password by calling the OCS cloud/user endpoint with BasicAuth as the *path user_id* (the UID). Nextcloud keys app-password BasicAuth on the loginName, which differs from the UID for OIDC-provisioned accounts whose UID is their display name (UID "Chris Coutinho", loginName "chris@coutinho.io"). Authenticating as the UID is rejected with HTTP 401 ("App password validation failed"), so provisioning never completes. Parse the request body up front and authenticate the OCS validation as the body's `username` (the Nextcloud loginName), falling back to the path user_id for legacy callers where UID == loginName. The OCS-returned account id is still checked against the path user_id (the UID), and the password is still stored keyed by UID with the loginName alongside. Note this is not an encoding issue: BasicAuth places the user-id literally in the header (RFC 7617, no URL-encoding); %20/+/literal-space forms of the UID all fail — only the loginName authenticates. Adds a regression test asserting the OCS BasicAuth uses the loginName while storage is keyed by the UID, plus a backward-compat assertion that callers without a loginName fall back to the UID. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Nextcloud MCP Server
A production-ready MCP server that connects AI assistants to your Nextcloud instance.
Enable Large Language Models like Claude, GPT, and Gemini to interact with your Nextcloud data through a secure API. Create notes, manage calendars, organize contacts, work with files, and more - all through natural language conversations.
This is a dedicated standalone MCP server designed for external MCP clients like Claude Code and IDEs. It runs independently of Nextcloud (Docker, VM, Kubernetes, or local) and provides deep CRUD operations across Nextcloud apps.
Note
Looking for AI features inside Nextcloud? Nextcloud also provides Context Agent, which powers the Assistant app and runs as an ExApp inside Nextcloud. See docs/comparison-context-agent.md for a detailed comparison of use cases.
Tip
Don't want to self-host? Astrolabe Cloud is a managed hosting service for this MCP server, aimed at users and teams who want advanced features like background sync and semantic search without operating the infrastructure themselves. The service is currently under development — sign up on the landing page to join the early-adopter list.
Quick Start
Run the server locally with uvx (no installation required):
NEXTCLOUD_HOST=https://your.nextcloud.instance.com \
NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME=your_username \
NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD=your_app_password \
uvx nextcloud-mcp-server run --transport stdio
Or add it directly to your MCP client configuration (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or .claude/settings.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"nextcloud": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["nextcloud-mcp-server", "run", "--transport", "stdio"],
"env": {
"NEXTCLOUD_HOST": "https://your.nextcloud.instance.com",
"NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME": "your_username",
"NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD": "your_app_password"
}
}
}
}
Tip
Generate an app password in Nextcloud under Settings > Security > Devices & sessions instead of using your login password.
Docker
For full features including semantic search, run with Docker:
docker run -p 127.0.0.1:8000:8000 --rm \
-e NEXTCLOUD_HOST=https://your.nextcloud.instance.com \
-e NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME=your_username \
-e NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD=your_app_password \
ghcr.io/cbcoutinho/nextcloud-mcp-server:latest
Then connect your MCP client (Claude Desktop, IDEs, mcp dev, etc.) to http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp.
For Kubernetes, see cbcoutinho/helm-charts. For other deployment options and Compose profiles, see docs/installation.md.
Key Features
- 110+ MCP Tools - Comprehensive API coverage across 10 Nextcloud apps
- MCP Resources - Structured data URIs for browsing Nextcloud data
- Semantic Search (Experimental) - Optional vector-powered search for Notes, Files, News items, and Deck cards (requires Qdrant + Ollama)
- Document Processing - OCR and text extraction from PDFs, DOCX, images with progress notifications
- Flexible Deployment - Docker, Kubernetes (Helm chart), VM, or local installation
- Production-Ready Auth - Basic Auth with app passwords; multi-user via Login Flow v2 — MCP clients authenticate via OAuth, the server handles Nextcloud app passwords transparently
- Tag-Based File Exclusion - Hide sensitive files/folders from MCP file tools by tagging them with a configured Nextcloud system tag (
EXCLUDED_TAGS). See docs/configuration.md - Multiple Transports - streamable-http (default) and stdio
Supported Apps
| App | Tools | Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Notes | 7 | Full CRUD, keyword search, semantic search |
| Calendar | 20+ | Events, todos (tasks), recurring events, attendees, availability |
| Contacts | 8 | Full CardDAV support, address books |
| Files (WebDAV) | 12 | Filesystem access, OCR/document processing |
| Deck | 15 | Boards, stacks, cards, labels, assignments |
| Cookbook | 13 | Recipe management, URL import (schema.org) |
| Tables | 5 | Row operations on Nextcloud Tables |
| Sharing | 10+ | Create and manage shares |
| News | 8 | Feeds, folders, items, feed health monitoring |
| Collectives | 16 | Full CRUD on collectives, pages, and tags |
| Talk (spreed) | 6 | List conversations, read/post messages, mark as read, list participants |
| Semantic Search | 2+ | Vector search for Notes, Files, News items, and Deck cards (experimental, opt-in, requires infrastructure) |
Want to see another Nextcloud app supported? Open an issue or contribute a pull request!
Authentication
The MCP server authenticates to Nextcloud using app-specific passwords (Basic Auth). Three deployment modes are supported:
| Mode | Best for |
|---|---|
| Single-User (BasicAuth) | Personal use, development, single-user deployments |
| Multi-User (BasicAuth pass-through) | Multi-user setups where clients send credentials via Authorization header |
| Multi-User (Login Flow v2) | Multi-user / hosted deployments — clients authenticate to the MCP server via OAuth, and the server obtains a per-user app password from Nextcloud and uses it transparently |
OAuth-direct-to-Nextcloud is no longer supported (it required upstream patches to user_oidc that were never merged). Login Flow v2 replaces it for multi-user deployments and works with stock Nextcloud.
See docs/authentication.md for setup instructions.
Semantic Search
An experimental RAG pipeline that lets MCP clients find Nextcloud content by meaning rather than keywords — a query for "car" also surfaces notes about "vehicle" or "transportation". Disabled by default (ENABLE_SEMANTIC_SEARCH=false); requires a vector database and embedding service. See docs/semantic-search-architecture.md and docs/configuration.md.
Tip
Don't want to run Qdrant and an embedding service? Astrolabe Cloud (under development) provides semantic search and background sync as a managed service.
Documentation
- Installation — Docker, Compose profiles, local, VM
- Configuration — Environment variables, document processing, semantic search setup
- Authentication — Basic Auth, Login Flow v2
- Running the Server — Start, manage, troubleshoot
- App Documentation — Per-app guides (Notes, Calendar, Contacts, WebDAV, Deck, Cookbook, Tables)
- Semantic Search Architecture + Vector Sync UI
- Login Flow v2 — recommended multi-user setup (architecture, env vars, scope reference, troubleshooting)
- Troubleshooting · Comparison with Context Agent
Contributing
Contributions are welcome!
- Report bugs or request features: GitHub Issues
- Submit improvements: Pull Requests
- Development guidelines: CLAUDE.md
Security
Found a security issue? Do not open a public GitHub issue. Use GitHub's private vulnerability reporting, or email security@astrolabecloud.com if you can't use GitHub. See SECURITY.md for details.
License
This project is licensed under the AGPL-3.0 License. See LICENSE for details.
