How do I use Semantic Search MCP Server?

1. Click on "Install Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@Semantic Search MCP Server find where we handle JWT token validation" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

Semantic Search MCP Server

Semantic code search for Claude Code — powered by hybrid BM25 + vector retrieval.

What It Does

An MCP server that gives Claude Code semantic search over your codebase. Unlike pure vector search, this uses hybrid retrieval (BM25 keyword matching + vector semantic search + Reciprocal Rank Fusion) for significantly better results.

Quick Start

# Install cd semantic_search_MCP pip install -e ".[dev]" # Test the server with MCP inspector npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector python -m semantic_search_mcp # Connect to Claude Code claude mcp add semantic-search -- python -m semantic_search_mcp

Tools

Tool	Description
`search(query, repo_path?, top_k?, file_glob?)`	Hybrid semantic + keyword search. Auto-indexes if needed.
`index(repo_path?, force_rebuild?)`	Build or rebuild the search index.
`status(repo_path?)`	Check if a repo is indexed and whether the index is stale.

Example Usage (inside Claude Code)

> Search for where JWT validation happens > Index this repository first, then find auth middleware > Search for error handling in src/api/**

Architecture

Chunking: Language-aware regex splitting (10 languages) with context headers
Embeddings: all-MiniLM-L6-v2 via sentence-transformers (local, no API key)
Vector store: LanceDB (serverless, file-based)
BM25: SQLite FTS5 sidecar
Retrieval: Hybrid BM25 + vector with RRF merge