Setting Up LFM with Claude

Use LFM with Claude Code or Claude Desktop to ask natural language questions about your music!

What You'll Get

Once set up, you can ask Claude questions like:

"What were my top artists in 2024?"
"Show me my most-played albums from last month"
"Give me music recommendations based on my listening history"
"Check if I've listened to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon"
"Play Radiohead's OK Computer on Spotify"

Claude will use the LFM MCP server to answer using your actual Last.fm data.

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

✅ LFM CLI installed → Installation Guide ✅ LFM configured with API key and username → Quick Start ✅ Node.js 16 or later installed ✅ Claude Code or Claude Desktop installed

Check Node.js Installation

node --version

If you see a version number like v18.x.x or v20.x.x, you're good!

Don't have Node.js? Download from: https://nodejs.org (choose the "LTS" version)

Installation Methods

Choose one:

Option A: Automated Setup - Easiest (when available)
Option B: Manual Setup - Step-by-step guide

Option A: Automated Setup (Recommended)

Note: This feature will be available in the next LFM release (v1.6.0)

Once available, simply run:

lfm setup-mcp

The wizard will:

Check if Node.js is installed
Ask if you use Claude Code or Claude Desktop
Install the MCP server files
Configure Claude automatically
Test the connection

Until then, use Option B: Manual Setup below.

Option B: Manual Setup

Step 1: Download MCP Server

Go to the latest release: https://github.com/Steven-Marshall/lfm/releases/latest
Download lfm-mcp-server-v0.2.0.zip (or latest version)
Extract the zip file to a permanent location:
- Windows: C:\Users\YourName\lfm-mcp
- macOS/Linux: ~/lfm-mcp
Important: Don't put it in your Downloads folder - it needs to stay in this location!

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Open terminal in the extracted folder and run:

cd ~/lfm-mcp  # or your extraction location

npm install

This installs the required Node.js packages.

Step 3: Verify LFM is in PATH

The MCP server needs to be able to run the lfm command. Test this:

lfm --version

If this works, great! If not, see Troubleshooting: LFM not in PATH

Step 4: Configure Claude

The configuration steps differ depending on whether you use Claude Code or Claude Desktop.

For Claude Code Users

Find your Claude Code config file:

Windows:
```
%APPDATA%\claude-code\mcp.json
```
Full path: C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\claude-code\mcp.json

macOS/Linux:
```
~/.config/claude-code/mcp.json
```

Edit the config file (create it if it doesn't exist):

Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lfm": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:\\Users\\YourName\\lfm-mcp\\server.js"],
      "cwd": "C:\\Users\\YourName\\lfm-mcp"
    }
  }
}

macOS/Linux:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lfm": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/Users/YourName/lfm-mcp/server.js"],
      "cwd": "/Users/YourName/lfm-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Important: Replace YourName with your actual username!

Save the file
Restart Claude Code

For Claude Desktop Users

Find your Claude Desktop config file:

Windows:

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

macOS:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Linux:

~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Edit the config file:

Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lfm": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:\\Users\\YourName\\lfm-mcp\\server.js"],
      "cwd": "C:\\Users\\YourName\\lfm-mcp"
    }
  }
}

macOS/Linux:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lfm": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/Users/YourName/lfm-mcp/server.js"],
      "cwd": "/Users/YourName/lfm-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Important: Replace YourName with your actual username!

If you already have other MCP servers, add the lfm entry inside the existing mcpServers object:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "existing-server": {
      ...
    },
    "lfm": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/Users/YourName/lfm-mcp/server.js"],
      "cwd": "/Users/YourName/lfm-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Save the file
Restart Claude Desktop

Step 5: Test the Connection

Open Claude (Code or Desktop)
Start a new conversation
Type this message:
```
Initialize my Last.fm session
```

Claude should respond with something like:

✅ Last.fm MCP service initialized successfully!

I've loaded the guidelines and I'm ready to help you with:
- Music discovery
- Listening stats
- Playlist creation
...

Try asking a question:
```
What were my top 5 artists last month?
```
Claude should respond with your actual Last.fm data!

Troubleshooting

Config File Not Found

If the config file doesn't exist:

Create the directory structure:

# Windows (PowerShell)
mkdir -Force "$env:APPDATA\claude-code"
# or
mkdir -Force "$env:APPDATA\Claude"

# macOS/Linux
mkdir -p ~/.config/claude-code
# or
mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude

Create the file with your text editor

LFM Not in PATH

If the MCP server can't find lfm, you have two options:

Option 1: Use full path to lfm (easiest)

In your MCP config, add the full path to the lfm executable:

Windows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lfm": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:\\Users\\YourName\\lfm-mcp\\server.js"],
      "cwd": "C:\\Users\\YourName\\lfm-mcp",
      "env": {
        "PATH": "C:\\Users\\YourName\\lfm;${PATH}"
      }
    }
  }
}

macOS/Linux:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lfm": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/Users/YourName/lfm-mcp/server.js"],
      "cwd": "/Users/YourName/lfm-mcp",
      "env": {
        "PATH": "/Users/YourName/.local/bin:${PATH}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option 2: Add lfm to your system PATH See Installation Guide - Manual Install

"npm install" Errors

If npm install fails:

Make sure you're in the right directory:

cd ~/lfm-mcp
ls package.json  # Should show the file

Try deleting node_modules and package-lock.json, then retry:
```
rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install
```

Make sure Node.js is up to date:

node --version  # Should be v16 or later

Claude Doesn't Respond to Last.fm Queries

Check the MCP server is configured: Look for a section in your config file with "lfm": {...}
Check paths are correct:
- No typos in file paths
- Paths use forward slashes on macOS/Linux
- Paths use double backslashes on Windows (\\ not \)
- Your actual username (not YourName)
Restart Claude completely (quit and reopen)
Check MCP logs (if available):
- Claude Code: Look in the developer console
- Claude Desktop: Check for error messages
Test the server manually:
```
cd ~/lfm-mcp
node server.js
```
If this shows errors, fix those first

Still Having Issues?

See the Troubleshooting Guide for more help, or open an issue.

What's Included in the MCP Server

The MCP server package includes:

server.js - The MCP server itself
lfm-guidelines.md - Guidelines for Claude on how to use your music data
package.json - Node.js dependencies
README.md - MCP-specific documentation

Important: Don't delete any of these files! They're all needed for the server to work properly.

Using LFM with Claude

Best Practices

Start each session with initialization:
```
Initialize my Last.fm session
```
Be specific with time periods:
- ❌ "Show me my top artists"
- ✅ "Show me my top artists from 2024"

Ask natural questions:

"What were my most-played albums last month?"
"Give me recommendations based on my recent listening"
"Check if I've listened to any Pink Floyd albums"

Example Queries

Music stats:

"What are my top 10 artists of all time?"
"Show me my most-played tracks from last week"
"What albums did I listen to most in January 2024?"

Discovery:

"Find artists similar to Taylor Swift"
"Give me music recommendations I haven't heard"
"What Radiohead albums have I listened to?"

Playback (if Spotify configured):

"Play Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon"
"Queue some music similar to what I've been listening to"

Uninstalling

To remove the MCP integration:

Remove from Claude config:
- Delete the "lfm" entry from your mcp.json or claude_desktop_config.json

Delete the MCP server folder:

# Windows
Remove-Item -Recurse C:\Users\YourName\lfm-mcp

# macOS/Linux
rm -rf ~/lfm-mcp

Restart Claude

The LFM CLI tool will still be installed and usable from the command line.

Next Steps

Explore Commands: Quick Start Guide
Get Help: Troubleshooting Guide
Full Documentation: README.md

Happy music exploring! 🎵

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Setting Up LFM with Claude

What You'll Get

Prerequisites

Check Node.js Installation

Installation Methods

Option A: Automated Setup (Recommended)

Option B: Manual Setup

Step 1: Download MCP Server

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Step 3: Verify LFM is in PATH

Step 4: Configure Claude

For Claude Code Users

For Claude Desktop Users

Step 5: Test the Connection

Troubleshooting

Config File Not Found

LFM Not in PATH

"npm install" Errors

Claude Doesn't Respond to Last.fm Queries

Still Having Issues?

What's Included in the MCP Server

Using LFM with Claude

Best Practices

Example Queries

Uninstalling

Next Steps

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MCP_SETUP.md

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MCP_SETUP.md

File metadata and controls

Setting Up LFM with Claude

What You'll Get

Prerequisites

Check Node.js Installation

Installation Methods

Option A: Automated Setup (Recommended)

Option B: Manual Setup

Step 1: Download MCP Server

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Step 3: Verify LFM is in PATH

Step 4: Configure Claude

For Claude Code Users

For Claude Desktop Users

Step 5: Test the Connection

Troubleshooting

Config File Not Found

LFM Not in PATH

"npm install" Errors

Claude Doesn't Respond to Last.fm Queries

Still Having Issues?

What's Included in the MCP Server

Using LFM with Claude

Best Practices

Example Queries

Uninstalling

Next Steps