RedNote MCP

RedNote MCP provides the following capabilities for interacting with Xiaohongshu (RedNote):

• Session Management: Automatic login and cookie management.
• Search: Search through notes using specific keywords.
• Content Retrieval: View note content using direct URLs.
• CLI Tools: Access various command-line utilities for interaction.

Note: Accessing comment sections via URLs is a planned feature.

RedNote MCP provides the following capabilities:

• Authentication management (with Cookie persistence)
• Keyword-based note searching
• Command-line initialization tools
• Accessing note content via URL

Developers can use the MCP Inspector to verify the server's behavior and inspect requests/responses through an interactive interface.

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx rednote-mcp --stdio

RedNote MCP requires an active login session to interact with Xiaohongshu. The init command automates the login process using a browser.

Initialization Process

Run the following command:

rednote-mcp init

(If running from source, use npm run dev -- init)

1. A browser will open automatically to the Xiaohongshu login page.
2. Perform your standard login.
3. Upon successful login, your session information is automatically saved to ~/.mcp/rednote/cookies.json.

Note: Keep this cookie file secure as it contains your login credentials. If your session expires, simply run the init command again.

If you prefer to build the project manually, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/ifuryst/rednote-mcp.git
cd rednote-mcp

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. (Optional) Install globally for CLI access:

npm install -g .

4. Or run the initialization directly from the source directory:

npm run dev -- init

Before using the service, you must perform an initial login to authenticate. This process opens a browser window where you manually complete the Xiaohongshu (RedNote) login. Once successful, the session cookies are automatically saved to ~/.mcp/rednote/cookies.json for persistent authentication.

# If installed globally
rednote-mcp init

# If running from source
npm run dev -- init

To use RedNote MCP as an MCP server within the Cursor editor, add the server configuration to your settings.json file. You can use either the global command or npx.

Important: You must include the --stdio flag to enable communication with Cursor.

Configuration via Global Command

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "RedNote MCP": {
      "command": "rednote-mcp",
      "args": [
        "--stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Configuration via npx

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "RedNote MCP": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "rednote-mcp",
        "--stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "RedNote MCP": {
      "command": "rednote-mcp",
      "args": ["--stdio"]
    }
  }
}

The quickest way to install RedNote MCP is via a global NPM installation. You must also ensure that playwright is installed on your system to handle browser automation.

Prerequisites

Install Playwright browsers:

npx playwright install

Installation Steps

1. Install the package globally:

npm install -g rednote-mcp

2. Initialize your account to save login cookies:

rednote-mcp init

If you prefer to run from source, clone the repository, install dependencies, and you can either install it globally or run it using npm run dev.

# Clone the project
git clone https://github.com/ifuryst/rednote-mcp.git
cd rednote-mcp

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Option 1: Global install (recommended for CLI usage)
npm install -g .

# Option 2: Run directly (e.g., for initialization)
npm run dev -- init

To use RedNote as an MCP server (e.g., for integration with Claude Desktop or other MCP clients), run the executable with the --stdio flag. This enables the Model Context Protocol over standard input/output.

rednote-mcp --stdio

If you need to inspect requests and responses or debug the server behavior, use the Model Context Protocol (MCP) Inspector.

Run the following command to start the Inspector with RedNote MCP:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx rednote-mcp --stdio

When instantiating AuthManager, you can provide a custom file path for storing session cookies. If no path is provided, the manager automatically creates the directory structure ~/.mcp/rednote/ and saves cookies to cookies.json within that directory.

// Use a custom path for cookie storage
const auth = new AuthManager('/path/to/your/custom_cookies.json');