MCP RAG — MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server that exposes the MCP RAG knowledge base to MCP-compatible clients (Claude Desktop, IDEs, etc.).

It authenticates to the Express backend with a per-project access token. Each user can hold at most one token per project, and the backend records every tool call in its audit log — so any action taken through this server is always traceable back to the user who generated the token.

Tools

Related MCP server: MCP RAG Server

Semantic search prerequisites

search_knowledge and add_knowledge use vector embeddings via OpenRouter, so before they work the acting user must:

1. Add their own OpenRouter API key in the web app (Profile → OpenRouter API key). Each user uses their own key; it is encrypted at rest and used only for that user's queries. (If an owner wants to sponsor cost, they hand out a limited OpenRouter key for members to paste as their personal key.)

2. Optionally have the project owner/admin pick the embedding model for the project (Members → Embedding model; default openai/text-embedding-3-small).

If the user has no key set, these tools return a clear error telling them to add one. whoami and get_project work without a key.

Setup

npm install

Generate a token from the web app's Access Tokens page, then run the server with it in the environment:

MCP_API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:4000/api \
MCP_API_TOKEN=mcp_xxxxxxxx \
npm start

The server speaks JSON-RPC over stdio.

Client configuration

Add it to your MCP client config, e.g. for Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-rag": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp/src/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_API_BASE_URL": "http://localhost:4000/api",
        "MCP_API_TOKEN": "mcp_xxxxxxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Packaging as a Claude Desktop extension (.mcpb)

Claude Desktop can install this server as a one-click MCP Bundle (.mcpb) instead of editing the JSON config by hand. A bundle is a zip of the server code, its node_modules, and a manifest.json.

1. Install the bundler CLI

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/mcpb
# or run it ad-hoc with: npx @anthropic-ai/mcpb <command>

2. Install production dependencies

The bundle must be self-contained, so node_modules has to be present when you pack (it is included in the .mcpb, even though git ignores it):

npm install --omit=dev

3. Create a manifest.json

Run the interactive generator and answer the prompts:

mcpb init

Then edit the generated file so the server entry point and user-supplied config (API URL + token) are wired up. A working manifest looks like this:

{
  "manifest_version": "0.2",
  "name": "mcp-rag",
  "display_name": "MCP RAG Knowledge Base",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Per-project, traceable access to the MCP RAG knowledge base.",
  "author": { "name": "LXVault" },
  "license": "MIT",
  "server": {
    "type": "node",
    "entry_point": "src/index.js",
    "mcp_config": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["${__dirname}/src/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_API_BASE_URL": "${user_config.api_base_url}",
        "MCP_API_TOKEN": "${user_config.api_token}"
      }
    }
  },
  "user_config": {
    "api_base_url": {
      "type": "string",
      "title": "API Base URL",
      "description": "Base URL of the Express backend, e.g. https://<host>-4000.app.github.dev/api",
      "default": "http://localhost:4000/api",
      "required": true
    },
    "api_token": {
      "type": "string",
      "title": "API Token",
      "description": "Per-project token from the web app's Access Tokens page.",
      "sensitive": true,
      "required": true
    }
  }
}

${__dirname} resolves to the bundle's install directory, and the ${user_config.*} values are prompted for in Claude Desktop at install time — so the token is entered in the UI rather than committed anywhere.

4. Pack the bundle

mcpb pack

This produces mcp-rag.mcpb in the repo root (git-ignored). Optionally validate the manifest first with mcpb validate manifest.json.

5. Install it in Claude Desktop

Settings → Extensions → Install Extension, then select the .mcpb file and fill in the API Base URL and API Token when prompted.

Environment

See .env.example.