appstore

The App Store MCP Server is a native macOS binary that exposes a set of MCP tools for searching the App Store, ranking keywords, analyzing competition, and discovering trends. It runs locally and communicates over the MCP protocol via standard input/output. You can use the included tools to perform iTunes Search API-based queries, retrieve ranked results from the MZStore API, look up apps by ID or URL, view top charts, and run guided workflows for competitive analysis and market research. Typical workflows involve invoking the server with the --mcp flag and using the client tooling (or Claude) to issue commands such as search, lookup, ranks, top charts, and analysis. The tools support configurable storefronts (storefronts like US, JP, GB) and verbosity levels to control detail and token usage.

Key capabilities include:

• search_apps: query the App Store with filters like genre, attribute, and storefront.
• search_ranked: fetch results ordered by actual App Store rankings via MZStore.
• lookup_app: look up apps by ID, bundle ID, or App Store URL.
• top_charts: retrieve current top charts (free, paid, grossing).
• find_app_rank, check_app_rankings: analyze where an app ranks for keywords.
• analyze_keyword, app_competitors, compare_keywords: competitive analysis with trends and comparisons.
• discover_trending: surface trending categories from new chart entries.
• version: return the server version.

To use the MCP server, run it with the appropriate launcher (uvx or other supported methods) and connect via an MCP client. For example, with uvx you would start the server using uvx appstore-mcp-server and then connect via an MCP client configured to communicate over stdio.

Prerequisites

• macOS 26+ with Apple Silicon
• Python 3.x (for pip installation path) or uvx tooling for binary installation
• Internet access to download binaries or Python packages

Option A: Install via uvx (recommended)

1. Install uvx if you don’t have it installed. Follow the uvx installation instructions from the project or package manager you use.

2. Run the MCP server:

   uvx appstore-mcp-server

Notes:

• This downloads the native binary on first run and starts the MCP server. No persistent installation is required.
• The server will expose the MCP interface over stdio for clients to connect.

Option B: Install via pip

1. Install the Python package which provides the appstore-mcp-server binary:

   pip install appstore-mcp-server

2. Run the server directly (the binary is installed to your PATH):

   appstore-mcp-server

Option C: Download binary directly

1. Download the latest release from the GitHub Releases page for the appstore-mcp-server.

2. Extract the archive and run the binary with the MCP flag:

   tar xzf appstore-*-macos-arm64.tar.gz ./appstore --mcp

Prerequisites recap

• Ensure you’re running on macOS 26+ with Apple Silicon for native binary compatibility.
• Have either uvx or Python/pip available, or be prepared to download the prebuilt binary.
• Ensure the environment has network access for initial download and dependency resolution if using pip.

Tips and common issues:

• Storefronts: Use two-letter codes like US, JP, GB to target App Store regions. Default storefront is US.
• Verbosity options control output detail: compact, summary (default), full, or complete for maximum fields.
• If you encounter permission errors on macOS, ensure the binary has executable permissions (chmod +x) and that your shell can execute it.
• When using Claude or other MCP clients, configure the server as an MCP endpoint listening on stdio as described in the MCP client docs. Use the provided commands to connect and issue requests.
• If you plan long-running queries, consider using the non-compact verbosity to avoid excessive token usage while debugging.
• For troubleshooting, run the server with the --mcp flag and test basic commands like version to verify connectivity.