HackMD MCP Server Overview

The HackMD MCP server bridges the gap between large‑language models and the HackMD collaboration platform. By exposing a set of well‑defined tools over the Model Context Protocol, it lets AI assistants read, write, and manage notes directly inside a user’s HackMD workspace. This eliminates the need for developers to write custom API wrappers or handle authentication flows, enabling rapid prototyping of AI‑powered documentation workflows.

Why it matters. HackMD is a popular cloud‑based markdown editor used for team knowledge bases, meeting minutes, and project documentation. For developers building AI assistants that need to access or update this content—such as a virtual note‑taking assistant, an automated meeting recap bot, or a knowledge‑base updater—the HackMD MCP server provides a turnkey solution. It handles token management, rate limiting, and error handling behind the scenes, letting developers focus on higher‑level logic.

Key capabilities.

• User profile access: Retrieve information about the authenticated user, enabling personalized responses.
• Note CRUD operations: Create, read, update, and delete both personal and team notes with a single tool call.
• Team collaboration: List teams, list or modify team notes, and manage permissions—all within the same interface.
• Reading history: Fetch a user’s recent activity, useful for context‑aware assistants that suggest follow‑up actions.
• Dual transport: Operate over HTTP for cloud deployments or STDIO for local, desktop‑based workflows.
• Secure configuration: Environment variables and HTTP headers allow fine‑grained control over the API token and endpoint, ensuring that sensitive credentials are never exposed in client code.

Real‑world use cases.

• Automated meeting minutes: An assistant listens to a conference call, then creates a new HackMD note with the transcript and highlights key decisions.
• Dynamic documentation: A code‑review bot pulls relevant notes from a team workspace, updates them with new API references, and pushes the changes back to HackMD.
• Personal knowledge base: A user’s AI companion maintains a private collection of markdown notes, offering quick retrieval and editing through natural language queries.
• Team onboarding: An onboarding bot populates a new team’s HackMD space with starter templates, then tracks which documents have been read by each member.

Integration into AI workflows.
Because the server follows MCP conventions, any compliant client—Claude Desktop, Claude API, or custom LLM wrappers—can discover the available tools automatically. The client can ask the assistant to “create a new note titled Project Roadmap in the Product Team workspace,” and the MCP server translates that into a single API call to HackMD. The assistant can then use the note’s ID in subsequent steps, such as updating the content or sharing it with teammates. This tight coupling between intent and action reduces latency and improves reliability in conversational applications.

Unique advantages.
The HackMD MCP server is cloud‑deployment ready, with support for platforms like Smithery and any Node.js‑compatible hosting service. Its dual transport model allows developers to choose between a lightweight local experience and a scalable, multi‑user server. Additionally, the built‑in safeguards—such as allowing only whitelisted API URLs and respecting header‑supplied tokens—help prevent accidental credential leakage, a common pain point when integrating external services into AI assistants.