mdbook-mcp-server

A generic MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for mdbook projects. This server allows Claude Code and other MCP clients to access and read mdbook documentation programmatically.

Features

• 📖 Read mdbook structure: Get the table of contents from SUMMARY.md and metadata from book.toml

• 📄 Read content: Access individual markdown files within the mdbook project

• 🔒 Secure: Path traversal protection ensures files can only be accessed within the mdbook root

• 🚀 Generic: Works with any mdbook project, not just specific ones

• ⚡ Simple: Minimal configuration required - just set an environment variable

• 📦 Easy to install: Available via npm, no complex setup needed

Installation

You can use npx to run the server without installing it globally:

npx mdbook-mcp-server

Usage

With Claude Code

Add the following configuration to your Claude Code config file (~/.config/claude/config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-mdbook": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mdbook-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "MDBOOK_ROOT_PATH": "/absolute/path/to/your/mdbook/project",
        "MDBOOK_SERVER_NAME": "my_mdbook"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables:

• MDBOOK_ROOT_PATH (required): Absolute path to your mdbook project root (where book.toml is located)

• MDBOOK_SERVER_NAME (optional): A friendly name for the server (defaults to "mdbook-mcp-server")

Multiple mdbook Projects

You can run multiple instances of the server for different mdbook projects:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mdbook-project-a": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mdbook-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "MDBOOK_ROOT_PATH": "/path/to/project-a",
        "MDBOOK_SERVER_NAME": "project_a"
      }
    },
    "mdbook-project-b": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mdbook-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "MDBOOK_ROOT_PATH": "/path/to/project-b",
        "MDBOOK_SERVER_NAME": "project_b"
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP Tools

This server provides three tools:

1. list_structure

Get the complete structure of the mdbook project, including metadata and table of contents.

Parameters: None

Returns:

{
  "title": "My Book",
  "authors": ["Author Name"],
  "language": "en",
  "src": "src",
  "chapters": [
    {
      "title": "Introduction",
      "path": "intro.md",
      "level": 0
    },
    {
      "title": "Chapter 1",
      "path": "chapter1.md",
      "level": 0,
      "children": [
        {
          "title": "Section 1.1",
          "path": "chapter1/section1.md",
          "level": 1
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

2. read_content

Read the content of a specific markdown file.

Parameters:

• path (string, required): Relative path to the markdown file from the src/ directory

Example:

{
  "path": "intro.md"
}

Returns:

{
  "path": "intro.md",
  "content": "# Introduction\n\nWelcome to...",
  "metadata": {
    "size": 1234,
    "lastModified": "2025-11-10T12:34:56.789Z"
  }
}

3. search_content

Search for content within the mdbook project using fuzzy search. Supports both English and Japanese keywords.

Parameters:

• query (string, required): Search query

• maxResults (number, optional): Maximum number of results to return (default: 10, max: 100)

Example:

{
  "query": "authentication",
  "maxResults": 5
}

Returns:

{
  "query": "authentication",
  "totalMatches": 3,
  "results": [
    {
      "path": "auth/intro.md",
      "title": "Authentication",
      "score": 0.001,
      "matchCount": 2,
      "matches": [
        {
          "snippet": "...user authentication is important...",
          "position": 123
        },
        {
          "snippet": "...authentication methods include...",
          "position": 456
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Features:

• Fuzzy search: Handles typos and spelling variations

• Japanese support: Works with hiragana, katakana, and kanji

• Smart scoring: Results are ranked by relevance (lower score = better match)

• Context snippets: Shows surrounding text for each match

Requirements

• Node.js >= 24.0.0

• A valid mdbook project with book.toml and src/SUMMARY.md

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

Links

• npm package

• mdbook Documentation

• Model Context Protocol