spotify-mcp-doctor

Spotify MCP Doctor

You are diagnosing a failing Spotify MCP server installation (NovaLux12/spotify-mcp-server). Work top-down through these probes; stop at the first red flag, apply its fix, then re-run from the top. Never modify files under the user's ~/.spotify-mcp/ beyond what a fix requires.

Probe 1 — Is the server wired up?

Check the host config (OpenClaw: mcp.servers.spotify in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json; Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json).

• command must point at the built entry (dist/index.js) of THIS repo, run with plain node.
• env.SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID must be set (16-hex app id from the dashboard).
• No SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET is needed anywhere — this server uses PKCE. If a secret is configured it is ignored, not harmful.

Fix: point the entry at the repo checkout and restart the host (OpenClaw: restart the gateway process). Re-test.

Probe 2 — Does the binary answer?

cd <repo> && node --env-file=.env dist/index.js &   # then send stdin line:
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"doctor","version":"0"}}}

Expect one JSON line back naming serverInfo.name: "spotify-mcp". If the process exits instantly: run npm run build (missing dist/) and check Node ≥ 22.9 (node --version).

Probe 3 — App credentials valid? (no user login needed)

node --input-type=module -e "
const id=process.env.SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID;
const r=await fetch('https://api.spotify.com/v1/search?q=test&type=track&limit=1');
console.log('unauthed probe:', r.status);"

Then exchange a client-credentials grant (needs the dashboard secret):

POST https://accounts.spotify.com/api/token
Authorization: Basic base64(client_id:client_secret)
body: grant_type=client_credentials

• 200 → app is healthy; continue to Probe 4.
• 400 invalid_client → wrong id/secret pair; check the dashboard.
• Network refused → egress/proxy problem, not Spotify.