⏱️ speedrun-mcp

A Model Context Protocol server for speedrun.com — let an AI assistant query games, categories, leaderboards, world records, players and their personal bests, and (with an API key) submit and moderate runs.

"What's the current Super Mario 64 16-star world record, and who holds it?"

Built on speedrun.com's official REST API. The read tools need no account or API key — add a key (see Authenticated features) to unlock identity reads and, optionally, run submission and moderation. Results come back as compact, model-friendly JSON (player ids resolved to names, durations formatted, subcategory variables labeled).

Example

Ask "the SM64 16-star world record?" and the model calls get_world_record, which returns compact, resolved JSON:

{
  "game_name": "Super Mario 64",
  "category_name": "16 Star",
  "world_record": {
    "players": ["Suigi"],
    "time": "14m 35.5s",
    "date": "2023-03-22",
    "video": "https://youtu.be/1_vkwkniHuI"
  }
}

Tools

A typical flow: search_games → list_categories (and list_variables for subcategories) → get_leaderboard / get_world_record. Use list_platforms / list_regions when you need an id for the platform / region filters.

With write tools enabled (see below), submit_run, verify_run, reject_run, set_run_players and delete_run are also available.

Install & run

Requires Python 3.10+.

# from PyPI
pipx install speedrun-mcp        # or: uv tool install speedrun-mcp

# from source
git clone https://github.com/williamcodes/speedrun-mcp
cd speedrun-mcp
pip install -e .

The server speaks MCP over stdio:

speedrun-mcp          # console script
python -m speedrun_mcp # equivalent

Use with Claude Desktop / Claude Code

Add to your MCP client config (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "speedrun": {
      "command": "speedrun-mcp"
    }
  }
}

If you installed from source into a virtualenv, point command at that interpreter, e.g. "command": "/path/to/.venv/bin/speedrun-mcp".

For Claude Code:

claude mcp add speedrun -- speedrun-mcp

# with authenticated features (optional):
claude mcp add speedrun \
  -e SPEEDRUN_API_KEY=your-key-here \
  -e SPEEDRUN_ENABLE_WRITES=1 \
  -- speedrun-mcp

Authenticated features

An API key is entirely optional. With no key, the server exposes only the public read tools (leaderboards, games, players, the moderation queue) and works exactly as described above — no account required. Adding your key unlocks more:

Read-only is the default. Just adding a key never changes anything on speedrun.com — you get identity reads, and everything keeps working perfectly. If a write tool is invoked while writes are off, it doesn't silently fail; it returns:

This server is in read-only mode, so this write action is disabled. To allow run submission and moderation, set the environment variable SPEEDRUN_ENABLE_WRITES=1 (alongside SPEEDRUN_API_KEY) and restart the server.

So the way to switch to read-write mode is always discoverable from the error itself.

Getting your API key

1. Log in to speedrun.com.
2. Go to your account settings.
3. In the left-hand nav, find the Developers section and click API Key.
4. Copy the key shown there.

Treat the key like a password — anyone who has it can act as you on speedrun.com. If it ever leaks, regenerate it from that same page.

Using your key

Add the key to your MCP client config under env. It is read only from the environment — never passed as a tool argument — so it can't leak into the model's context or transcripts. Add SPEEDRUN_ENABLE_WRITES=1 only when you want writes to actually run; with the key alone you stay safely read-only.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "speedrun": {
      "command": "speedrun-mcp",
      "env": {
        "SPEEDRUN_API_KEY": "your-key-here",
        "SPEEDRUN_ENABLE_WRITES": "1"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with Claude Code:

claude mcp add speedrun -e SPEEDRUN_API_KEY=your-key-here -- speedrun-mcp
# add -e SPEEDRUN_ENABLE_WRITES=1 as well if you want the write tools

Keep the key out of version control — put it in your client config or a local, git-ignored .env, never in a committed file. All tools carry MCP read-only / destructive hints so clients can flag the write and moderation actions.

Notes & limits

• Reads need no key; writes are opt-in. Leaderboards, games, players and the moderation queue are open reads. Run submission and moderation need SPEEDRUN_API_KEY and SPEEDRUN_ENABLE_WRITES (see above).
• Rate limit: speedrun.com allows 100 requests/minute per IP and responds with HTTP 420 when exceeded; the client surfaces a clear error if you hit it.
• Game and category arguments accept either an id (o1y9wo6q) or an abbreviation (sm64). For precise subcategory leaderboards (e.g. 16 Star), discover the variable/value ids with list_variables and pass variables={variable_id: value_id}.
• Errors are explanatory. Invalid ids/filters raise an error that includes speedrun.com's own message — e.g. passing a level to a full-game category returns "The selected category is for full-game runs, but a level was selected."

Output shape

• Times reflect the leaderboard's sort timing. When you pass timing (realtime / realtime_noloads / ingame), the reported time / time_seconds match that ranking, not the game's default timing.
• get_leaderboard returns returned_runs (the number of runs returned, bounded by top and ties — not the full board size) and a runs list with resolved player names, formatted times, and labeled subcategories.
• get_world_record returns world_record (the place-1 run, or null if the board is empty) plus tied (a list of any other runs sharing first place).
• get_user_personal_bests returns returned (how many came back, capped by limit) and total_available (the player's true PB count), plus the personal_bests list with game/category names and resolved players.

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest -m "not network"   # unit tests (offline)
pytest                    # include live-API tests
ruff check .

License

MIT