PythonAnywhere Model Context Protocol Server

1# PythonAnywhere Model Context Protocol Server
2 
3A [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction)
4server acts as a bridge between AI-powered tools and your
5[PythonAnywhere](https://www.pythonanywhere.com/) account, enabling secure,
6programmatic management of files, websites, webapps, and scheduled tasks. By
7exposing a standardized interface, it allows language models and automation
8clients to perform operations—such as editing files, deploying web apps, or
9scheduling jobs -- on your behalf, all while maintaining fine-grained control
10and auditability.
11 
12## Features
13- **File management**: Read, upload, delete files and list directory trees.
14  _(also enables debugging with direct access to log files, which are just
15  files on PythonAnywhere)_
16- **ASGI Web app management**: Create, delete, reload, and list.
17  _(as described in the [PythonAnywhere ASGI
18  documentation](https://help.pythonanywhere.com/pages/ASGICommandLine))_
19- **WSGI Web app management**: Reload only _(at the moment)_.
20- **Scheduled task management**: List, create, update, and delete.
21  _(Note that this enables LLMs to execute arbitrary commands if a task is
22  scheduled too soon after creation and deleted after execution. For that we
23  would suggest running it with [mcp-server-time](https://pypi.org/project/mcp-server-time/)
24  as models easily get confused about time.)_
25 
26## Installation
27The MCP protocol is well-defined and supported by various clients, but
28installation is different depending on the client you are using. We will
29cover cases that we tried and tested.
30 
31In all cases, you need to have `uv` installed and available in your `PATH`.
32 
33Have your PythonAnywhere API token and username ready. You can find (or
34generate) your API token in the [API section of your PythonAnywhere
35account](https://www.pythonanywhere.com/account/#api_token).
36 
37If your account is on `eu.pythonanywhere.com`, you also need to set
38`PYTHONANYWHERE_SITE` to `eu.pythonanywhere.com` (it defaults to
39`www.pythonanywhere.com`).
40 
41### MCP Bundle - works with Claude Desktop
42Probably the most straightforward way to install the MCP server is to use
43the [MCP Bundle](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/mcpb) for Claude Desktop.
44 
451. Open Claude Desktop.
462. **[Download the latest .mcpb file](https://github.com/pythonanywhere/pythonanywhere-mcp-server/releases/latest/download/pythonanywhere-mcp-server.mcpb)**.
473. Double-click on the downloaded .dxt file or drag the file into the window.
484. Configure your PythonAnywhere API token and username.
495. Restart Claude Desktop.
50 
51### Claude Code
52Run:
53   ```bash
54   claude mcp add pythonanywhere-mcp-server \
55   -e API_TOKEN=yourpythonanywhereapitoken \
56   -e PYTHONANYWHERE_USERNAME=yourpythonanywhereusername \
57   -- uvx pythonanywhere-mcp-server
58   ```
59 
60### GitHub Copilot in PyCharm:
61Add it to your `mcp.json`.
62 
63```json
64{
65  "servers": {
66    "pythonanywhere-mcp-server": {
67      "type": "stdio",
68      "command": "uvx",
69      "args": ["pythonanywhere-mcp-server"],
70      "env": {
71        "API_TOKEN": "yourpythonanywhereapitoken",
72        "PYTHONANYWHERE_USERNAME": "yourpythonanywhereusername"
73      }
74    }
75  }
76}
77```
78 
79### Claude Desktop (manual setup) and Cursor:
80Add it to `claude_desktop_config.json` (for Claude Desktop) or (`mcp.json`
81for Cursor).
82 
83```json
84{
85  "mcpServers": {
86    "pythonanywhere-mcp-server": {
87      "type": "stdio",
88      "command": "uvx",
89      "args": ["pythonanywhere-mcp-server"],
90      "env": {
91        "API_TOKEN": "yourpythonanywhereapitoken",
92        "PYTHONANYWHERE_USERNAME": "yourpythonanywhereusername"
93      }
94    }
95  }
96}
97```
98 
99## Caveats
100 
101Direct integration of an LLM with your PythonAnywhere account offers
102significant capabilities, but also introduces risks. We strongly advise
103maintaining human oversight, especially for sensitive actions such as
104modifying or deleting files.
105 
106If you are running multiple MCP servers simultaneously, be
107cautious -- particularly if any server can access external resources you do not
108control, such as GitHub issues. These can become attack vectors. For more
109details, see [this story](https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/6/supabase-mcp-lethal-trifecta/).
110 
111## Implementation
112 
113The server uses the [python mcp sdk](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk)
114in connection with the [pythonanywhere-core](https://github.com/pythonanywhere/pythonanywhere-core)
115package ([docs](https://core.pythonanywhere.com/)), which wraps a subset of the [PythonAnywhere
116API](https://help.pythonanywhere.com/pages/API/) and may be expanded in
117the future as needed.
118