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