freesound

The Freesound MCP Server provides an interface to search Freesound.org for audio content, retrieve rich metadata, access preview URLs, and check licensing information to ensure proper attribution. Once the Docker container (or alternative installation) is running and configured with your Freesound API key, you can interact with the server through your MCP client (such as Claude Desktop). The available core tool is search_sounds, which accepts natural language query terms and returns a set of audio file results with details like duration, tags, license, and preview links. Use natural language prompts like “Find thunder sound effects for a storm scene” or “Search for ambient city sounds under 30 seconds” to obtain relevant results. The server also surfaces license and attribution data to help ensure compliant usage in your projects.

Prerequisites:\n- Freesound API key obtained from Freesound.org (needed for API access)\n- Docker installed on your machine (preferred) or an alternative local runtime as described in the repository\n- Optional: a Claude Desktop setup or other MCP clients for interaction with the server\n\nDocker installation (recommended)\n1) Ensure Docker is installed and running.\n2) Build the Freesound MCP Docker image if needed (the repository likely provides a Dockerfile):\nbash\ndocker build -t freesound-mcp .\n\n3) Run the container with your Freesound API key:\nbash\ndocker run -i --rm -e FREESOUND_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY freesound-mcp\n\n4) In Claude Desktop or your MCP client, configure the Freesound MCP server using the provided Docker-based setup (see below for example).\n\nLocal installation (alternative to Docker)\n1) Ensure Python 3.10+ and uv are installed.\n2) Clone the repository and install dependencies with uv.\n3) Set the FREESOUND_API_KEY environment variable in your shell or environment.\n4) Run the server locally (example provided by the project):\nbash\nuv run freesound-mcp\n\n5) Connect your MCP client to the local server endpoint as configured.

Notes and tips:\n- Remember to set your FREESOUND_API_KEY in the environment where the MCP server runs.\n- If you encounter API rate limiting, consider applying best practices from Freesound API usage guidelines and potentially batching requests where supported.\n- The Freesound MCP Server exposes search results with metadata including duration, format, license, tags, and preview URLs. Use this data to filter results for attribution requirements and licensing compatibility.\n- When using Claude Desktop configuration, ensure the Docker command in the config matches your environment and that the FREESOUND_API_KEY environment variable is provided in the config.\n- If you switch between Docker and local Python runtimes, ensure the same API key is available in the runtime environment.\n- The repository may include additional transports or experimental features; consult the README and repository issues for updates.\n- For debugging, you can test the MCP inspector tooling to verify transport and endpoints are functioning correctly.