Khan Academy MCP Server

Khan Academy MCP Server

An open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets AI assistants search, browse, and read Khan Academy's educational content. No API key required.

Quick Start

npx khanmcp

Or install globally:

npm install -g khanmcp
khanacademy-mcp

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add this to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "khanacademy": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "khanmcp"]
    }
  }
}

Tools

Tool Details

`search`

query: string    — Search query (e.g., "photosynthesis", "quadratic formula")
limit?: number   — Max results (1-30, default: 10)

`list_subjects`

No parameters. Returns all top-level subjects and popular courses.

`get_topic_tree`

slug: string     — Topic slug (e.g., "math", "science/biology")
depth?: number   — Levels to fetch (0-3, default: 1)

`get_content`

slug: string     — Content slug or full URL

`get_course`

slug: string     — Course slug or URL (e.g., "math/algebra")

`get_transcript`

slug: string     — Video slug, KA URL, YouTube URL, or YouTube ID
language?: string — Language code (default: "en")
format?: string  — "full", "timestamped", or "both" (default: "full")

`get_article`

slug: string     — Article slug or full URL (articles have "/a/" in the path)

`get_lesson`

slug: string     — Lesson slug or full URL

`embed_video`

slug: string              — Video slug, KA URL, YouTube URL, or YouTube ID
include_transcript?: bool — Include the full transcript (default: false)
language?: string         — Language code for transcript (default: "en")

`get_exercise`

slug: string     — Exercise slug or full URL (exercises have "/e/" in the path)

`get_quiz`

slug: string     — Course slug or URL (e.g., "math/algebra")
kind?: string    — "all", "quiz", "unit-test", or "course-challenge" (default: "all")

`study_guide`

topic: string    — Topic or concept to study (e.g., "quadratic equations")
depth?: string   — "quick", "standard", or "comprehensive" (default: "standard")

Workflows

Topic exploration: list_subjects → get_topic_tree → get_course → get_lesson → get_content / get_transcript

Quick lookup: search → get_content or get_article → get_transcript (if video)

Study session: search or get_topic_tree → study_guide for review, then get_article / get_transcript for deep dives

Course overview: get_course → pick a unit/lesson → get_lesson → get_content

Test prep: get_quiz → review covered lessons → get_exercise for practice → get_transcript / get_article to study weak areas

Development

git clone https://github.com/aicoder2009/khanacademyMCP.git
cd khanacademyMCP
npm install
npm run build

Test with:

echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}' | node dist/index.js

How It Works

Khan Academy deprecated their public API in 2020. This MCP server uses:

• Khan Academy's internal GraphQL API — safelisted queries for content metadata and search
• YouTube transcript API — fetches video captions/subtitles
• Page scraping — extracts structured data from Khan Academy web pages as a fallback
• Static catalog — hardcoded top-level subjects for reliable list_subjects

All access is read-only with rate limiting (500ms between requests) and in-memory caching to be respectful of Khan Academy's servers.

Limitations

• No authentication — cannot access user-specific data (progress, recommendations)
• Khan Academy's internal API may change without notice — static fallbacks ensure basic functionality
• Transcri