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MCP-Grep

A grep server implementation that exposes grep functionality through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Installation

pip install mcp-grep

Usage

MCP-Grep runs as a server that can be used by MCP-compatible clients:

# Start the MCP-Grep server mcp-grep-server # Or use the MCP Inspector for interactive debugging and testing mcp-grep-inspector

The server exposes the following MCP functionality:

  • Resource: grep://info - Returns information about the system grep binary

  • Tool: grep - Searches for patterns in files using the system grep binary

Features

  • Information about the system grep binary (path, version, supported features)

  • Search for patterns in files using regular expressions

  • Support for common grep options:

    • Case-insensitive matching

    • Context lines (before and after matches)

    • Maximum match count

    • Fixed string matching (non-regex)

    • Recursive directory searching

  • Natural language prompt understanding for easier use with LLMs

  • Interactive debugging and testing through MCP Inspector

Example API Usage

Using the MCP Python client:

from mcp.client import MCPClient # Connect to the MCP-Grep server client = MCPClient() # Get information about the grep binary grep_info = client.get_resource("grep://info") print(grep_info) # Search for a pattern in files result = client.use_tool("grep", { "pattern": "search_pattern", "paths": ["file.txt", "directory/"], "ignore_case": True, "recursive": True }) print(result)

Natural Language Prompts

MCP-Grep understands natural language prompts, making it easier to use with LLMs. Examples:

# Basic search Search for 'error' in log.txt # Case-insensitive search Find all instances of 'WARNING' regardless of case in system.log # With context lines Search for 'exception' in error.log and show 3 lines before and after each match # Recursive search Find all occurrences of 'deprecated' in the src directory and its subdirectories # Fixed string search (non-regex) Search for the exact string '.*' in config.js # Limited results Show me just the first 5 occurrences of 'TODO' in the project files # Multiple options Find 'password' case-insensitively in all .php files, show 2 lines of context, and limit to 10 results

MCP Inspector Integration

MCP-Grep includes an MCP Inspector integration for interactive debugging and testing:

# Start the MCP Inspector with MCP-Grep mcp-grep-inspector

This opens a web-based UI where you can:

  • Explore available resources and tools

  • Test grep operations with different parameters

  • View formatted results

  • Debug issues with your grep queries

Development

# Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/erniebrodeur/mcp-grep.git cd mcp-grep # Install in development mode pip install -e ".[dev]" # Run tests pytest

License

MIT

-
security - not tested
A
license - permissive license
-
quality - not tested

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