namecheap-mcp

A Model Context Protocol server that wraps the Namecheap API, giving AI assistants the ability to manage domains, DNS records, SSL certificates, and account information directly from your conversations.

Features

• Domains — check availability, register, list, renew, reactivate, manage contacts and privacy
• DNS — read and write host records (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS), safe single-record updates, set custom or default nameservers
• Email Forwarding — get and set per-domain forwarding rules
• SSL — list, purchase, activate, reissue certificates; full DCV support (email, HTTP, CNAME)
• Transfers — initiate inbound transfers, track status, list all transfers
• Account — check balances, query pricing
• TLD Browser — search available TLDs with filtering by name or registerability
• Interactive Setup — configure credentials via an in-editor form or a standalone CLI tool

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• A Namecheap account with API access enabled
• Your public IP whitelisted in the Namecheap dashboard

Installation

See INSTALL.md for full setup instructions.

Quick start (npx — no install needed)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "namecheap": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "namecheap-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Global install

npm install -g namecheap-mcp

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

Setup

Credentials are stored globally at ~/.config/namecheap-mcp/.env and are picked up automatically by any project using this server — you only need to configure once per machine.

Option 1: In-editor form (Claude Code ≥ 2.1.76)

Call the setup tool from within Claude Code. A form will appear prompting for your credentials. Your public IP is auto-detected as a default.

Tip: Submit the form promptly — the request will time out if left idle. If it times out, just call setup again.

Option 2: Interactive CLI

namecheap-mcp-setup

Option 3: Environment variables

| Variable | Description | |---|---| | NAMECHEAP_API_USER | Your Namecheap username | | NAMECHEAP_API_KEY | API key (Account → Profile → Tools → API Access) | | NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP | Whitelisted public IP address | | NAMECHEAP_USERNAME | Account username if different from API user (optional) | | NAMECHEAP_SANDBOX | true to use the sandbox API (optional) |

Why isn't there an "Authenticate" button in /mcp?

Claude Code's native Authenticate button in the /mcp dialog is part of the MCP 2025-06-18 HTTP+OAuth handshake, which only applies to HTTP-transport servers. namecheap-mcp uses stdio transport, so the button never appears for it. The supported auth flows are the setup elicitation tool (Option 1 above), the namecheap-mcp-setup CLI (Option 2), or the /namecheap-mcp:setup slash command.

To help you tell at a glance whether the server is actually authenticated, namecheap-mcp hides its full tool suite until credentials validate. If you see only setup and auth_status in /mcp, the server is not yet authenticated — run setup. Call auth_status anytime to see a full diagnostic (error code, whitelisted IP, config file path, and a recommended next action).

Tools

Domains

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | setup | Configure credentials interactively | | check_domains | Check availability of one or more domains | | register_domain | Purchase a new domain | | list_domains | List all domains in your account (paginated, filterable) | | get_domain_info | Full details for a single domain | | get_domain_contacts | Read WHOIS contact info (registrant, tech, admin, billing) | | set_domain_contacts | Update WHOIS contact info | | renew_domain | Renew a domain for 1–10 years | | reactivate_domain | Reactivate a recently expired domain | | get_tld_list | Browse supported TLDs; filter by name or registerability | | set_domain_autorenew | Enable or disable auto-renewal | | set_registrar_lock | Lock or unlock domain transfer | | set_whoisguard | Enable or disable WHOIS privacy | | renew_whoisguard | Renew WHOIS privacy protection |

DNS

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | get_dns_hosts | Read all DNS records for a domain (also writes a local backup snapshot) | | update_dns_record | Safely add, update, or remove a single DNS record (recommended) | | set_dns_hosts | Replace all DNS records — gated behind confirmReplaceAll + expectedDeletions | | set_dns_default | Revert to Namecheap's default nameservers | | set_dns_custom | Delegate DNS to external nameservers (e.g. Cloudflare) | | get_email_forwarding | Read email forwarding rules | | set_email_forwarding | Replace email forwarding rules — gated behind confirmReplaceAll | | list_dns_snapshots | List local DNS zone backups for a domain | | restore_dns_snapshot | Restore a zone from a local backup snapshot |

⚠️ DNS zone safety. The underlying Namecheap setHosts API is a full-replacement operation — any record not in the call is deleted. Use update_dns_record for single-record adds/updates/deletes. Never hand-call set_dns_hosts to add a record. Every read and every write produces a local snapshot at ~/.config/namecheap-mcp/snapshots/<domain>__<timestamp>-<rand>.json (up to 50 per domain), so list_dns_snapshots + restore_dns_snapshot can recover from any accidental damage.

SSL

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | list_ssl_certs | List SSL certificates in your account | | create_ssl_cert | Purchase a new SSL certificate | | get_ssl_info | Get details for a specific certificate | | activate_ssl | Activate a purchased certificate with a CSR | | reissue_ssl | Reissue a certificate with a new CSR |

Transfers

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | transfer_domain | Initiate an inbound domain transfer (requires EPP code) | | get_transfer_status | Check the status of a pending transfer | | list_transfers | List all transfers, filterable by status |

Account

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | get_balances | Account balance and withdrawable amount | | get_pricing | Pricing for domains, SSL, or Whois Guard | | auth_status | Diagnose authentication: whether credentials loaded, whether the API accepted them, and the last error with an actionable hint |

API Notes

• DNS tools accept a full domain name like example.com — SLD/TLD splitting is handled internally
• Error 1011102 means your NAMECHEAP_CLIENT_IP is not whitelisted in the Namecheap dashboard
• Set NAMECHEAP_SANDBOX=true to use api.sandbox.namecheap.com for testing

Development

git clone https://github.com/ringo380/namecheap-mcp
cd namecheap-mcp
npm install
npm run dev        # tsx watch — no build needed
npm run build      # compile TypeScript
npm run type-check # type-check without emitting

After making changes: npm run build && npm install -g . to update the global install.

License

MIT