[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":423},["ShallowReactive",2],{"project-44514753":3},{"id":4,"name":5,"line":6,"line_source":7,"title":8,"url":9,"domain":10,"maker":11,"posted_at":12,"year":13,"points":14,"comments":15,"rank_in_year":16,"shown_in_year":17,"top":18,"tier":19,"category":20,"subcategory":21,"format":22,"keywords":23,"reception":27,"sentiment":28,"stance_mix":29,"scored_comments":34,"aspects":35,"strip":41,"post_text":43,"what":44,"said":89,"maker_in_thread":180,"shape":188,"grid":193,"attempts":384,"same_week":385,"maker_shows":38,"maker_hidden":415,"reader_version":416,"card":417},"44514753","annas-mcp","MCP server for searching and downloading documents from Anna's Archive","title","Show HN: MCP server for searching and downloading documents from Anna's Archive","https:\u002F\u002Fgithub.com\u002Fiosifache\u002Fannas-mcp","github.com","iosifache",1752095198,2025,256,79,229,3837,6,"legend","ai","mcp server","other",[21,24,25,26],"anna's archive","claude desktop","ebook download","mixed",-0.057,{"positive":30,"neutral":31,"mixed":32,"critical":33},5,10,0,7,22,{"idea":36,"execution":39,"pricing":40},{"positive":37,"critical":38},4,1,{"positive":32,"critical":38},{"positive":32,"critical":38},[32,42,32,32,42,32,32,30,32,32,30,32,32,32,32,32,42,42,42,42,38,38,42,30,32,38,32,38,42,32,38,32,42,32,30,32,32,32,32,42],3,"I was looking around for an MCP server that could connect Anna's Archive to Claude Desktop, as I wanted to be able to search and download books directly through the interface.\n\nI couldn't find any public implementations, so ended up building one myself.\n\nWhat it does?\n\n- It searches Anna's Archive by keywords. - It downloads books from search results. - It works directly in Claude Desktop through MCP.\n\nCheck out the repository's README for detailed installation and configuration instructions.\n\nThe code is fully open source and builds run on GitHub Actions for transparency.\n\nI figured I'd share",{"problem":45,"audience":51,"pricing":55,"motivation":61,"time_to_build":68,"stack":69,"openness":86,"stage":87,"team_size":88},{"value":46,"source":47,"evidence":48},"Searching and downloading books from Anna's Archive directly within Claude Desktop","maker",[49],{"id":50},"post",{"value":52,"source":47,"evidence":53},"Claude Desktop users who want to search and download books through the interface",[54],{"id":50},{"value":56,"source":47,"evidence":57},"Requires an active Anna's Archive donation for API access",[58],{"id":59,"by":11,"text":60},"44517542","The waiting part is nonexistent if you have an active donation (which is also required by this MCP server for API access). The fast downloads mean you request a book and start…",{"value":62,"source":47,"evidence":63},"Wanted to search and download books directly from Claude Desktop; no public implementation existed",[64,65],{"id":50},{"id":66,"by":11,"text":67},"44515432","Cheers, glad you like it! I justified the hours I invested by thinking I could search, download, and explore books directly from Claude Desktop. While the initial steps are…",null,[70,74,82],{"value":71,"source":47,"evidence":72},"MCP (Model Context Protocol)",[73],{"id":50},{"value":75,"source":76,"evidence":77},"Go","commenter",[78],{"id":79,"by":80,"text":81},"44515128","toomuchtodo","Edit: Would you accept a PR to override the search and download endpoint hostnames with env vars? For someone who has their own copy and ES index, it might be helpful to support…",{"value":83,"source":47,"evidence":84},"GitHub Actions",[85],{"id":50},"open_source","launched","solo",{"praise":90,"objections":102,"requests":133,"questions":145,"alternatives":161},[91],{"value":92,"source":76,"evidence":93},"Useful idea and nice project",[94,98],{"id":95,"by":96,"text":97},"44515329","irskep","What advantage do you get from this being an MCP server rather than simply a command line tool? Genuinely curious, as I'm trying to develop my mental model of when to use one or…",{"id":99,"by":100,"text":101},"44515059","puppycodes","love this. god bless anna's archive",[103,118,126],{"value":104,"source":76,"evidence":105},"Enables copyright infringement and piracy",[106,110,114],{"id":107,"by":108,"text":109},"44514992","neilv","> This software does not endorse unauthorized acquisition of copyrighted content and should be regarded solely as a utility. Users are urged to respect the intellectual property…",{"id":111,"by":112,"text":113},"44515001","thorum","Interesting project! I’m a little surprised that Claude is willing to call these functions. The demo screenshot is downloading a public domain work, I wonder if it would also…",{"id":115,"by":116,"text":117},"44521139","snickerdoodle12","Insane how HN cheers on piracy nowadays, all because it helps them train their LLMs",{"value":119,"source":76,"evidence":120},"MCP is an unnecessary protocol; a CLI would suffice",[121,122],{"id":95,"by":96,"text":97},{"id":123,"by":124,"text":125},"44519315","ospider","Why do people keep building servers for such a silly protocol?",{"value":127,"source":76,"evidence":128},"Anna's Archive paid donation is effectively a subscription",[129],{"id":130,"by":131,"text":132},"44517852","IshKebab","\"Donation\". Let's call it what it is - a subscription.",[134,141],{"value":135,"source":76,"evidence":136},"Add CLI support for search and download",[137,138],{"id":95,"by":96,"text":97},{"id":139,"by":11,"text":140},"44518393","UPDATE: Following a suggestion from @irskep, I've added CLI command support for the search and download features. This raised a valid concern - while we're focused on building…",{"value":142,"source":76,"evidence":143},"Allow overriding endpoint hostnames with env vars for local copies",[144],{"id":79,"by":80,"text":81},[146,150,157],{"value":147,"source":76,"evidence":148},"What advantage does MCP give over a command line tool",[149],{"id":95,"by":96,"text":97},{"value":151,"source":76,"evidence":152},"Can it download a single book without large archives",[153],{"id":154,"by":155,"text":156},"44516777","profsummergig","My understanding of Anna's Archive is that one has to download large zip files (>10 Gb) containing thousands of books even if one wants only a single book. Am I correct here?…",{"value":158,"source":76,"evidence":159},"Would it download copyrighted works like Harry Potter",[160],{"id":111,"by":112,"text":113},[162,173],{"value":163,"source":76,"evidence":164},"Anna's Archive website directly",[165,169],{"id":166,"by":167,"text":168},"44517057","LeratoAustini","I've downloaded single books several times recently (annas-archive.org in the browser): ``` - search for book - tap a result - see a list of links to download mirrors (under…",{"id":170,"by":171,"text":172},"44519513","stavros","You can just go on the website, search for the book you want, and download it. I'd think this is pretty obvious, as if you visit https:\u002F\u002Fannas-archive.org, there are multiple…",{"value":174,"source":76,"evidence":175},"IRC books on Reddit",[176],{"id":177,"by":178,"text":179},"44517305","navigate8310","You are incorrect in your assumption. Though I would also like you to search for \"IRC books reddit\". Unlike Anna's Archive, you get high quality books with fast download speeds.",{"comments":181,"answered":18,"key":182},13,[183,184,185],{"id":139,"text":140},{"id":66,"text":67},{"id":186,"text":187},"44517564","Agreed on all of this! I'm expecting MCP server creation to be natively supported by API libraries. The abstractions are very similar.",{"commenters":189,"max_depth":190,"maker_replies":181,"first_comment_mins":191,"lifespan_hours":192},50,8,34,113,[194,196,198,200,204,206,209,213,217,220,223,226,229,232,235,237,238,241,244,247,250,253,256,258,260,262,264,266,269,272,274,276,279,281,284,285,286,288,290,294,296,298,300,303,306,309,311,312,315,317,320,323,326,330,332,334,336,340,343,346,348,351,353,355,358,360,362,364,366,369,372,375,378,381],[139,32,32,195,11,38],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fexecution",[95,38,42,197,96,32],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[66,38,32,199,11,38],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[201,38,32,202,203,32],"44515755","other\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","btown",[186,38,32,205,11,38],"commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[207,38,32,202,208,32],"44521203","NitpickLawyer",[210,38,32,211,212,32],"44518308","other\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea","romanovcode",[214,38,32,215,216,32],"44519321","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea","latexr",[218,38,42,197,219,32],"44519582","jonasdoesthings",[221,38,32,205,222,32],"44521243","T0Bi",[224,38,32,205,225,32],"44520863","andrew_lettuce",[227,38,32,228,11,38],"44518429","maker\u002Fpositive\u002Fnone",[230,38,32,211,231,32],"44520766","aussieguy1234",[99,233,30,234,100,32],2,"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fidea",[236,233,32,205,11,38],"44515452",[115,42,32,202,116,32],[239,42,32,205,240,32],"44521333","artninja1988",[242,42,32,205,243,32],"44521560","hombre_fatal",[245,42,32,205,246,32],"44522679","GuinansEyebrows",[248,42,30,234,249,32],"44522693","MisterTea",[251,42,32,202,252,32],"44523367","CamperBob2",[254,42,32,205,255,32],"44523420","hollerith",[257,42,32,202,252,32],"44523537",[259,42,32,202,255,32],"44523855",[261,42,32,205,246,32],"44525763",[263,42,32,202,255,32],"44528722",[265,42,32,205,252,32],"44533992",[267,42,32,202,268,32],"44523817","slim",[270,42,32,205,271,32],"44529947","xboxnolifes",[79,37,42,273,80,32],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fexecution",[275,37,32,205,11,38],"44515172",[277,30,42,197,278,32],"44515242","xmonkee",[280,30,32,197,11,38],"44515311",[282,30,42,197,283,32],"44515367","conception",[154,18,42,273,155,32],[166,18,42,273,167,32],[59,18,32,287,11,38],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing",[130,18,38,289,131,32],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fpricing",[291,18,38,292,293,32],"44518781","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fexecution","0points",[177,18,38,295,178,32],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fnone",[170,18,42,297,171,32],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[123,33,32,299,124,32],"other\u002Fcritical\u002Fidea",[301,33,32,202,302,32],"44519725","zipping1549",[304,33,30,234,305,32],"44519767","chisleu",[307,33,32,202,308,32],"44519850","UncleEntity",[310,33,32,211,231,32],"44520824",[107,190,38,295,108,32],[313,190,32,205,314,32],"44515126","bigyabai",[316,190,32,199,11,38],"44515205",[318,190,38,295,319,32],"44517275","TylerE",[321,190,32,322,11,38],"44517524","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[324,190,30,234,325,32],"44517750","thedevilslawyer",[327,190,38,328,329,32],"44518248","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fidea","9dev",[331,190,32,205,325,32],"44519424",[333,190,32,205,329,32],"44521053",[335,190,32,205,325,32],"44522604",[337,190,38,338,339,32],"44521757","maker\u002Fcritical\u002Fnone","recitedropper",[341,190,32,205,342,32],"44515233","ASalazarMX",[344,190,32,202,345,32],"44515903","hereme888",[111,347,42,197,112,32],9,[349,347,32,205,350,32],"44515100","throwaway314155",[352,347,32,199,11,38],"44515253",[354,347,30,228,350,32],"44515683",[356,347,32,202,357,32],"44518217","kevindamm",[359,347,32,202,11,38],"44518673",[361,347,32,202,357,32],"44519884",[363,347,32,202,11,38],"44528716",[365,347,32,205,216,32],"44520062",[367,347,32,205,368,32],"44515135","hotstickyballs",[370,347,32,202,371,32],"44515191","jddj",[373,347,32,202,374,32],"44515883","totetsu",[376,347,32,202,377,32],"44519568","mhuffman",[379,347,32,202,380,32],"44560493","fao_",[382,347,42,297,383,32],"44518533","jacquesm",[],[386,391,396,401,405,410],{"id":387,"name":388,"points":389,"category":390},"44482965","LisaGUI",516,"languages",{"id":392,"name":393,"points":394,"category":395},"44498296","OffChess",369,"games",{"id":397,"name":398,"points":399,"category":400},"44512763","FlopperZiro",364,"hardware",{"id":402,"name":403,"points":404,"category":395},"44463967","Tower of Time",319,{"id":406,"name":407,"points":408,"category":409},"44467838","Piano Trainer",203,"learning_science",{"id":411,"name":412,"points":413,"category":414},"44515266","Petrichor",202,"creative",false,"v2",{"id":418,"name":5,"line":6,"ai":415,"cat":20,"year":13,"points":14,"comments":15,"rec":27,"s":419,"top":18,"kw":420,"maker":11,"domain":10,"tier":19,"attempts":32,"strip":421,"url":9,"mix":422,"praise":92,"objection":104,"sub":21},44514753,-0.06,[21,24,25,26],"0300300500500000333311350101301030500003",[30,31,32,33],1794036678212]