Install

This page adds Moontide to Claude, shows how to update it and how to remove it, and ends with your first music. The short version, for someone who already has Node 22 or later and Claude Code:

claude mcp add --scope user moontide -- npx -y moontide-mcp

Then start a new Claude session and ask for music. The sections below explain each part.

What you need

• Node 22 or later, with npm and npx (they come with Node).
• Claude Code or Claude Desktop. Moontide is an MCP server: Claude talks to it.
• Chrome, the browser Moontide was tried with. For MIDI (Web MIDI), use Chrome or Edge.
• Internet access: Strudel and its sounds load from the web.
• Speakers or headphones.

Check Node

In a terminal, run:

node --version

It must print v22 or higher. If Node is missing or older, install the LTS version from nodejs.org. On macOS with Homebrew, brew install node works too. Open a new terminal afterwards and check again.

Get Claude

Install Claude Code or Claude Desktop from claude.com and sign in once. Moontide works with either; Claude Code is the one tried most.

Add Moontide to Claude

Pick the one that matches how you use Claude.

Claude Code

Tested on macOS. Linux is untested.

In a terminal, run:

claude mcp add --scope user moontide -- npx -y moontide-mcp

With --scope user, Moontide is available in every folder. The default scope (local) works only in the folder where you ran the command, and the scope project shares it through a .mcp.json file.

Keep the name moontide. The page-request commands in this manual use it.

Check the install with:

claude mcp get moontide

The same line is meant for Linux. It is untested there.

Claude Desktop

Tested on macOS. Windows is untested. Claude Desktop has no Linux version.

Open Settings, then Developer, then Edit Config. The file is:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add Moontide to it:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "moontide": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "moontide-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

If the file already has an mcpServers block, add the moontide entry inside it. Quit Claude Desktop fully and start it again.

Windows with Claude Code

Untested.

From PowerShell or Command Prompt (not Git Bash), run:

claude mcp add --scope user moontide -- cmd /c npx -y moontide-mcp

Check it with claude mcp get moontide. The command must read cmd with /c npx -y moontide-mcp. If it shows C:/ instead of /c, edit the moontide entry in the .claude.json file of your user folder so it reads "command": "cmd", "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "moontide-mcp"].

This form comes from community reports. It has not been tried here.

Running from the source code

To run Moontide from a copy of its repository instead of npm:

git clone https://github.com/konni-arcadia/moontide.git
cd moontide
npm ci
npm run build

Then add it with the full path of dist/index.js, written here as <folder>:

claude mcp add --scope user moontide -- node <folder>/dist/index.js

npm test runs the test suite. The real-browser checks (npm run probe:page) need Chrome.

First music

1. Start a new Claude session. Nothing opens yet: Moontide waits until you want it.
2. Ask for music, for example "Play something calm to start the day" or "Give me a slow, warm groove". Or say "start Moontide". In Claude Code, /mcp__moontide__start does the same.
3. The page opens in a new tab at http://localhost:5757, or on another port when 5757 is busy. Claude's replies name the address.
4. Click once anywhere in the page. Browsers start sound only after a click.
5. Ask for changes: "darker", "add a bass", "slower".

Set MOONTIDE_NO_BROWSER=1 in the environment and starting Moontide opens no tab. Open the address from Claude's reply yourself.

Update

To see the version that runs, run npx -y moontide-mcp --version. Releases are listed in CHANGELOG.md. npx can keep using a copy it already downloaded; to move to the newest release, add Moontide again with @latest:

claude mcp remove moontide --scope user
claude mcp add --scope user moontide -- npx -y moontide-mcp@latest

Uninstall

claude mcp remove moontide --scope user

In Claude Desktop, remove the moontide entry from the config file and restart it. Moontide keeps its history and settings in your data folder; delete that folder if you want them gone too.