ygfest/stack-over-mcp

Stack Over MCP

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides LLMs with tools to search Stack Overflow for programming solutions, helping ground responses in real-world code examples and reduce hallucinations.

Features

• Smart Search: Search Stack Overflow questions with customizable filters
• Detailed Question Analysis: Get complete question details with all answers
• Tag-Based Discovery: Find popular solutions by programming language/framework
• Real-time Results: Direct access to Stack Overflow's API
• Rich Metadata: Scores, view counts, acceptance status, and more

Installation

1. Clone and setup the project:

   cd stack-over-mcp
   python -m venv venv
   # On Windows:
   venv\Scripts\activate
   # On macOS/Linux:
   source venv/bin/activate
   

2. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

Usage

Running the MCP Server

python main.py

The server will start and provide three main tools:

1. search_stackoverflow

Search Stack Overflow questions with flexible filtering:

# Basic search
search_stackoverflow("python list comprehension")

# Advanced search with filters
search_stackoverflow(
    query="react hooks error",
    limit=5,
    sort="votes",
    tags=["javascript", "react"],
    accepted_only=True
)

Parameters:

• query: Search terms
• limit: Max results (1-100, default: 10)
• sort: "relevance", "activity", "votes", or "creation"
• tags: Filter by programming tags
• accepted_only: Only questions with accepted answers

2. get_question_details

Get complete information about a specific question:

# Get question with all answers
get_question_details(question_id=12345678)

# Get just question metadata
get_question_details(question_id=12345678, include_answers=False)

3. search_by_tags

Find popular questions by technology tags:

# Find top Python questions
search_by_tags(tags=["python"], sort="votes", min_score=10)

# Find recent React + TypeScript questions
search_by_tags(
    tags=["javascript", "react", "typescript"],
    sort="activity",
    limit=5
)

Integration with MCP Clients

This server is designed to work with MCP-compatible clients like Claude Desktop. Add it to your MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stack-over-mcp": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["path/to/stack-over-mcp/main.py"]
    }
  }
}

Use Cases

• Debugging: Find solutions to specific error messages
• Learning: Discover best practices and common patterns
• Code Review: Validate approaches against community solutions
• Architecture: Find proven solutions for complex problems
• API Usage: Get real examples of library/framework usage

API Rate Limits

The Stack Overflow API has rate limits:

• Unauthenticated: 300 requests per day per IP
• Authenticated: 10,000 requests per day (requires API key)

For production use, consider implementing API key authentication in stack_api.py.

Project Structure

stack-over-mcp/
├── main.py          # FastMCP server with tool definitions
├── stack_api.py     # Stack Overflow API client
├── requirements.txt # Python dependencies
└── README.md        # This file

Contributing

Feel free to enhance the server with additional features:

• API key authentication for higher rate limits
• Caching for frequently requested questions
• Advanced filtering options
• Support for other Stack Exchange sites

License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.