Freesound

You can run a Freesound MCP Server that connects Freesound.org to your AI assistants, enabling natural language searches for audio content, metadata access, previews, and license information. This server helps you discover sound effects, ambient tones, and music loops for video editing and creative workflows while ensuring proper attribution and licensing alignment.

How to use

After you configure a client to connect to the Freesound MCP Server, you can ask your AI assistant to search for audio content using natural language queries. You can retrieve detailed metadata, preview audio, and verify licensing for compliant use. Common tasks include finding thunder sound effects, ambient city sounds under a duration, piano music loops with Creative Commons licenses, dog barking sounds, or ocean wave backgrounds.

How to install

Prerequisites: Obtain a Freesound API key by creating an account at Freesound.org and applying for access at https://freesound.org/api/apply/. You will use this key to configure the server.

Option A: Docker installation (recommended) - no local Python setup required.

# Clone the Freesound MCP Server repository
git clone https://github.com/johnkimdw/freesound-mcp-server.git
cd freesound-mcp-server

# Build the Docker image
docker build -t freesound-mcp .

Claude Desktop configuration (Docker-based) with Freesound API key. This runs the MCP server in a container and passes your API key as an environment variable.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "freesound": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "FREESOUND_API_KEY",
        "freesound-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "FREESOUND_API_KEY": "<YOUR_FREESOUND_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option B: Local installation using Python and uv (no Docker). This requires Python 3.10+ and the uv package manager.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/johnkimdw/freesound-mcp-server.git
cd freesound-mcp-server

# Install dependencies via uv (assuming uv is available on your system)
uv sync

# Set your Freesound API key in the environment
export FREESOUND_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

Claude Desktop configuration (uv-based) for local execution.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "freesound": {
      "command": "/path/to/uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/freesound-mcp-server",
        "run",
        "freesound-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "FREESOUND_API_KEY": "<YOUR_FREESOUND_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Additional notes

Environment variable you must set: FREESOUND_API_KEY with your Freesound.org API key. This key is required for both Docker and local installations.

You can run the server using the appropriate start command depending on your setup. If you are using Docker, the image is launched via the docker run command shown above. If you are running locally with uv, you start the MCP using the uv tool with the run subcommand for the Freesound MCP. Ensure the API key is available in your environment before starting.

Security and usage: Respect Freesound.org licensing terms for each file. Attribute content as required by Creative Commons or other licenses, and use previews and metadata responsibly within your application.

Available tools

search_sounds

Search Freesound.org for audio files using natural language queries and return metadata including name, duration, format, tags, licensing, previews, and uploader information.