Lichess MCP

Speak to Lichess in natural language to interact with the chess platform. Use it with Claude Desktop to play games, analyze positions, and manage your chess activities.

Built using the Model Context Protocol.

The server enables:

Managing your Lichess account
Playing chess games and challenges
Analyzing positions and games
Joining tournaments and teams
Interacting with other players

Configuration

The Lichess API token can be set in two ways:

Environment variables: Add it to your .env file in the project root or set it directly:

bash LICHESS_TOKEN=your-lichess-api-token

Using the set_token tool during runtime:

typescript set_token({ token: "your-lichess-api-token" });

The token can be generated at https://lichess.org/account/oauth/token

Available Tools

1. Account Management

```typescript // Set your Lichess API token set_token({ token: "your-lichess-api-token" });

// Get your Lichess profile get_my_profile();

// Get another user's profile get_user_profile({ username: "player_name", trophies: true // include trophies, optional }); ```

2. Game Play

```typescript // Create a challenge against another player create_challenge({ username: "opponent_username", timeControl: "10+0", // 10 minutes, no increment color: "random" // or "white", "black" });

// Make a move in a game make_move({ gameId: "abcd1234", move: "e2e4", offeringDraw: false });

// Get your ongoing games get_ongoing_games({ nb: 10 // number of games to fetch }); ```

3. Game Analysis

```typescript // Export a game in PGN format export_game({ gameId: "abcd1234", clocks: true, evals: true });

// Get cloud evaluation for a position get_cloud_eval({ fen: "rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3p4/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2" }); ```

4. Tournaments

```typescript // List current tournaments get_arena_tournaments();

// Join a tournament join_arena({ tournamentId: "abc123" });

// Create a new tournament create_arena({ name: "My Tournament", clockTime: 3, clockIncrement: 2, minutes: 45 }); ```

Chess Notation

Move Formats

The Lichess API accepts moves in these formats:

UCI: Universal Chess Interface format (e.g., e2e4, g8f6)
SAN: Standard Algebraic Notation (e.g., e4, Nf6) - only for some endpoints

FEN Format

The Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) is used to represent chess positions:

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

This represents: - Piece positions (from 8th rank to 1st rank) - Active color (w/b) - Castling availability (KQkq) - En passant target square - Halfmove clock - Fullmove number

Error Handling

The server provides detailed error messages for:

Invalid moves or positions
Authentication issues
Rate limits
Resource not found cases

Setup Instructions

Clone the repository:

bash git clone https://github.com/karayaman/lichess-mcp.git cd lichess-mcp

Install dependencies:

bash npm install

Configure environment variables: Create a .env file in the root directory:

bash LICHESS_TOKEN=your-lichess-api-token

Build the project:

bash npm run build

Install the package globally (recommended for Claude Desktop integration): bash npm install -g
Start the server (for standalone usage): bash npm start

Configuring Claude Desktop

To use this MCP server with Claude Desktop:

Locate your Claude Desktop configuration file:
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Add the Lichess MCP server to your configuration:

json { "mcpServers": { "lichess": { "command": "lichess-mcp", "env": { "LICHESS_TOKEN": "your-lichess-api-token", "DEBUG": "*" } } } }

Note: Replace your-lichess-api-token with your actual Lichess API token. The DEBUG environment variable is optional but helpful for troubleshooting.

(Optional) You can add other MCP servers as well:

json { "mcpServers": { "filesystem": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/username/Desktop", "/Users/username/Downloads" ] }, "lichess": { "command": "lichess-mcp", "env": { "LICHESS_TOKEN": "your-lichess-api-token" } } } }

Restart Claude Desktop to apply the changes.
Make sure to completely close Claude Desktop (including from the system tray/menu bar)
Launch Claude Desktop again
Look for a hammer icon in the interface, which indicates that MCP servers are connected
Test the integration by asking Claude about your Lichess account:
"Show me my Lichess profile"
"Start a new chess game with 10 minutes time control"

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues with the MCP server connection:

Ensure you've installed the package globally with npm install -g
Verify that the lichess-mcp command is available in your PATH (which lichess-mcp)
Check that your configuration file has the correct format (the newer mcpServers format instead of mcp_servers)
Restart Claude Desktop completely
Try enabling Developer Mode in Claude Desktop (if available) for additional logging
Verify your Lichess API token is valid

References

Categories

Current Category: chess

chess-uci-mcp

lichess-mcp