Rakuten MCP Server

MCP server for Rakuten Web Service: 28 read-only tools across Ichiba, Books, Travel, Recipe, Kobo, and GORA. Bilingual EN/JA tool descriptions.

Local serverstdio

What is the Rakuten MCP MCP server?

Connect Rakuten MCP to Claude, Cursor or any other MCP client and it stops being a tab you switch to. MCP server for Rakuten Web Service: 28 read-only tools across Ichiba, Books, Travel, Recipe, Kobo, and GORA. Bilingual EN/JA tool descriptions. The rakuten mcp mcp server is what makes that connection.

Credentials and setup notes

Configuration is passed through the environment: RAKUTEN_APP_ID, RAKUTEN_ACCESS_KEY, RAKUTEN_AFFILIATE_ID. Treat anything key-shaped as a real credential — scope it to the minimum the server needs, and rotate it if it ever lands in a shared config.

Installation

The server ships on npm as rakuten-mcp, so your MCP client can launch it on demand — there is no separate build step. Add the server block to your client's configuration, restart it, and the tools register themselves.

Where it fits

Plenty of developer tooling servers cover similar ground. The differences that matter in practice are scope of access and how much setup stands between you and a working tool call. It is maintained by mrslbt; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

We check each listing at SyncDev against the project's documentation before it goes live — if something here drifts out of date, it is a bug worth reporting.

Worth knowing first

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

How to install the Rakuten MCP MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rakuten": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "rakuten-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "RAKUTEN_APP_ID": "your-value",
        "RAKUTEN_ACCESS_KEY": "your-value",
        "RAKUTEN_AFFILIATE_ID": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.

Configuration

VariableDescriptionRequired
RAKUTEN_APP_IDConfiguration value read at startup.Optional
RAKUTEN_ACCESS_KEYCredential the server authenticates with.Yes
RAKUTEN_AFFILIATE_IDConfiguration value read at startup.Optional

Frequently asked questions

It connects Rakuten MCP to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Rakuten MCP directly.