untappd-mcp-server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that exposes the Untappd API as tools for AI agents — 27 tools covering the full Untappd v4 read API, plus built-in interactive OAuth authentication. Search venues, breweries, and beers; check what's on tap via check-in feeds; explore user badges, friends, wish lists, and drinking history; and aggregate stats — all from any MCP-compatible client.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• Untappd API credentials (client_id and client_secret) from untappd.com/api
• Optional: an Untappd OAuth access token to unlock authenticated tools — obtainable in-chat via the authenticate_untappd tool or npx untappd-mcp-server auth (see Interactive Authentication)

Quick Start

Via npx (zero install)

UNTAPPD_CLIENT_ID=xxx UNTAPPD_CLIENT_SECRET=yyy npx untappd-mcp-server

PowerShell

$env:UNTAPPD_CLIENT_ID = "your_client_id"
$env:UNTAPPD_CLIENT_SECRET = "your_client_secret"
npx untappd-mcp-server

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "untappd": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["untappd-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "UNTAPPD_CLIENT_ID": "your_client_id",
        "UNTAPPD_CLIENT_SECRET": "your_client_secret",
        "UNTAPPD_ACCESS_TOKEN": "optional_oauth_token",
        "UNTAPPD_USERNAME": "optional_default_username"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools

Tools marked 🔑 token require an access token (UNTAPPD_ACCESS_TOKEN env var or interactive authentication).

Authentication Tools

authenticate_untappd

Interactively authenticate with Untappd via OAuth: opens your browser to Untappd's approve page, captures the redirect on a temporary localhost listener, and saves the access token — the 🔑 tools work immediately, no restart. Prerequisite: your Untappd app's Callback URL must be set to exactly http://localhost:8737/callback (or your UNTAPPD_REDIRECT_URL).

get_auth_status

Report authentication status: token presence, source (env var or token file), file path, and whether the 🔑 tools are unlocked. Free by default; validate: true verifies the token with one API call.

Search & Lookup

venue_search

Search for venues (breweries, bars, restaurants) by name with optional location awareness.

search_brewery

Search for breweries by name.

search_beer

Search for beers by name.

Venue

get_venue_info

Retrieve detailed information and recent check-ins for a venue.

get_venue_checkins

Retrieve the recent check-in feed for a venue. This is the primary tool for determining what's currently on tap — recent check-ins act as a live signal for available beers.

get_venue_foursquare_lookup

Resolve a Foursquare venue ID to its Untappd venue — the bridge between Foursquare/location data and Untappd venue tools.

Beer

get_beer_info

Retrieve detailed information for a specific beer.

get_beer_checkins

Retrieve the recent public check-in feed for a specific beer — what people are saying about it right now, and where they're drinking it.

get_trending_beers

Retrieve globally trending beers (macro and micro brew lists, by recent check-in velocity). No parameters.

Brewery

get_brewery_info

Retrieve detailed information, beer list, and recent check-ins for a brewery.

get_brewery_checkins

Retrieve the recent public check-in feed for a brewery — all its beers being checked in globally.

User

get_user_info

Retrieve profile and stats for an Untappd user.

get_user_activity

Retrieve the recent check-in activity feed for a user.

get_user_distinct_beers

Retrieve the unique beers a user has checked in, with flexible sort ordering. sort=checkin with limit=1 is the single-call pattern for "most-checked-in beer".

get_user_wishlist

Retrieve beers on a user's wish list.

get_user_badges

Retrieve a user's earned badges (pages of 50, most recent first).

get_user_friends

Retrieve a user's friend list (public accounts only).

Activity Feeds

get_global_feed

Retrieve the global public check-in feed (The Pub). High rate-limit cost for the data returned — prefer min_id polling to fetch only new check-ins. Note: standard API keys are typically not authorized for /thepub — Untappd returns "You are not authorized to call this method from this key" unless your key has elevated access (get_local_feed is not restricted).

get_local_feed

Retrieve the public check-in feed near a geographic point.

get_friend_feed 🔑 token

Retrieve the friend check-in feed for the authenticated user.

Checkin

get_checkin_info

Retrieve extended details for a specific check-in, including badges earned, toasts, and comments.

Composite / Aggregation

These tools make multiple API calls (1 per page scanned — 50 beers/badges, 25 check-ins). They pre-check the remaining rate limit before starting and stop early — setting truncated: true in the response — if the budget runs low.

get_user_stats_at_venue

Get a user's check-in stats at a specific venue — visit count, last visit, average rating, top beers — by scanning their recent check-in feed. Untappd's API has no venue-history endpoint, so the stats cover the scanned window (max_pages × 25 check-ins), not all time.

search_venue_then_get_user_stats

Search for a venue by name, then get the user's check-in stats at the top match.

get_user_beer_stats

Aggregate a user's distinct beer history into style, brewery, and rating breakdowns — top styles, top breweries, average personal vs global ratings, highest-rated, and most-checked-in.

get_user_badge_summary

Retrieve all badges for a user (paginating to completion) with a structured summary.

Rate Limiting

The Untappd API allows 100 calls per hour per API key (per access token when authenticated). Every tool response includes the current rate limit status:

{
  "rateLimit": {
    "limit": 100,
    "remaining": 97
  }
}

Composite tools call assertRateLimitSufficient before starting pagination and stop early with truncated: true rather than exhausting the budget. If the limit is exceeded, the Untappd API returns a 429 error which is surfaced as: Rate limit exceeded. Limit: 100, Remaining: 0. Resets hourly.

Authentication

When an access token is configured (env var or saved token file), the server prefers it for all calls — rate limits become user-scoped and /user endpoints return richer data. UNTAPPD_USERNAME provides a default username for authenticated user tools.

The server exits on startup if neither a client id/secret pair nor an access token is configured.

Interactive Authentication

You don't need to obtain an access token manually — the server can run Untappd's OAuth flow for you.

One-time prerequisite: in your Untappd app settings at untappd.com/api, set the Callback URL to exactly:

http://localhost:8737/callback

(or the value of UNTAPPD_REDIRECT_URL if you override it — it must be a localhost http URL, and the two must match exactly or Untappd rejects the flow).

In chat: ask your agent to run the authenticate_untappd tool. Your browser opens to Untappd's approve page; once you approve, the token is saved and the 🔑 tools work immediately — no restart needed.

In a terminal:

npx untappd-mcp-server auth            # run the interactive flow
npx untappd-mcp-server auth --status   # show current auth status
npx untappd-mcp-server auth --clear    # delete the saved token

(In the repo: npm run auth.)

Storage & precedence: the token is saved to ~/.untappd-mcp-server/token.json (override with UNTAPPD_TOKEN_PATH). If UNTAPPD_ACCESS_TOKEN is set it always wins over the file. Untappd tokens do not expire.

Security note: the token is stored in plaintext with 0600 permissions on macOS/Linux; on Windows protection relies on your user-profile ACLs. Delete it any time with auth --clear. Tool outputs only ever include a masked form of the token.

Development

npm install
npm run build
npm test          # unit tests (mocked API — no rate limit cost)
npm run smoke     # live smoke test against the real API (~25 calls, ~26 with a token)

The smoke test uses your UNTAPPD_* env vars, skips authenticated tools when no access token is set, and aborts if the remaining rate limit drops below 5. Filter to a single tool with npm run smoke -- --only=tool_name.

Testing with MCP Inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js

Known Limitations

• No tap list data — actual tap lists require an Untappd for Business subscription. Venue check-in feeds serve as a real-time proxy.
• No venue events — Untappd's public API has no events endpoint, and the Eventbrite search API that could have bridged the gap was discontinued; deferred to v3.
• No venue-history endpoint — the v4 API has no per-user venue history; get_user_stats_at_venue scans the recent check-in feed instead, so its stats cover a window (max_pages × 25 check-ins), not all time.
• Rate limit: 100/hour — minimise redundant calls; every response surfaces rateLimit.remaining.
• Feed limit caps — tools accept limit up to 50, but the API caps some feeds at 25 server-side.
• Global feed requires an elevated key — /thepub (get_global_feed) is not authorized for standard API keys; the local feed works with any key.
• Foursquare lookup requires v2 IDs — the MD5-hash format; Foursquare v3 numeric IDs will not work.
• Venue IDs required — use venue_search first to resolve a venue name to an ID.
• Public check-ins only — private user accounts are not visible.
• Read-only — write operations (check-in, toast, comment, wish-list management) are deferred to v3.
• MCP client timeouts — some MCP clients cap tool-call duration below the authenticate_untappd default of 180s; pass a smaller timeout_seconds if your client times out first, or use npx untappd-mcp-server auth in a terminal instead.

License

MIT