Lupa — local file search for your Mac

Name: Lupa — local file search for your Mac
Author: under71

by under71version 0.3.1i★ –iRuns on your computer

Registry nameio.github.under71/lupa-mcp

Install

Overview

Description from the maker (original English)

Search your Mac's files by name and by text inside documents. Local index, Korean-aware.

PopNx MCP’s three pillars

These three are never merged into one score: opinions, measurements and popularity are different things.

User voiceiNo reviews yetReviews open together with accounts in a later step
Our basic checksi1 of 1 passedChecked from public information; code not scanned yet
UsageiNot measured yet★ –

What you can do with it

We have not written a plain-language summary for this one yet. Below are the facts we read from the registry.

Connection: Runs on your computer
Transport: stdio
Category: Search & AI memory

Install

Pick the AI app you use, then copy the settings.

Before you install

Basic checks: 1 of 1 passed
Runs on your computer with your user’s permissions (files, network, apps).
The registry lists no key to fill in.

You need

npmNode.js installed (for the npx command)

Which app do you use?

ClaudeClaude CodeCursorVS CodeChatGPT

Pick your app above. We remember it, so next time the button says “Install in …”.

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config, and paste this into claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lupa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "lupa-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Run this in your terminal

claude mcp add lupa -- npx -y lupa-mcp

Open in Cursor

Or copy the settings yourself

Paste into .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lupa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "lupa-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Your browser asks to open the app, then the app shows the settings and asks you to confirm. Key values are left empty for you to fill in.

Open in VS Code

Or copy the settings yourself

Paste into .vscode/mcp.json in your project

{
  "servers": {
    "lupa": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "lupa-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Your browser asks to open the app, then the app shows the settings and asks you to confirm. Key values are left empty for you to fill in.

This one runs on your computer, and ChatGPT can only connect to servers on the internet. Pick another app.

Your choice stays on this device in a cookie; no account needed.

These settings are generated from the maker’s registry entry. If the README says otherwise, follow the README.

What it can do

Runs on your computer; the tool list appears in your AI app after you install it.

Basic checksi

We check information anyone can see; we have not read the code. Checks that do not apply are left out of the count. · Checked Nov 7, 2026

✓ Pass
Maker matches the repo
The registry name was verified with the GitHub account under71, which owns the repo
… Not checked yet
Still maintained
We have not read this repo from GitHub yet
… Not checked yet
Has a licence
We have not read this repo from GitHub yet
– Not applicable
Endpoint responds
This one runs on your computer; there is no internet endpoint
– Not applicable
Sign-in with OAuth
Runs on your computer and uses local settings instead
… Not checked yet
No hidden instructions in tool descriptions
Runs on your computer; we can only read tool lists from internet endpoints

Compared with others in Search & AI memoryi

More stars than 0% of the other 7275 servers in this category
Published to the registry more recently than 73% of the other 7275 servers in this category
Basic checks equal to or better than 100% of the other 7275 servers in this category

Compared with every active server in this category in the registry. Stars count only when the publisher owns the repo.

Common questions

Is Lupa — local file search for your Mac safe?

It passed 1 of 1 applicable basic checks. We have not read the code. Before adding a key or token, see what access the server asks for and use a key with only the permissions you need.

What keys or codes does it need?

The registry does not list a required key, though some servers ask you to sign in on first use.

Does it run on my computer or in the cloud?

It runs on your computer. Your AI app starts it when needed, and data does not pass through the maker’s servers (unless it calls an online service itself).

Is it still maintained?

The GitHub repo last changed –, and the latest version (0.3.1) reached the registry 14 days ago.

Which apps can use it?

Apps that support MCP, such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code. You also need Node.js on your computer.

What can I use instead?

In the same category: Context7, Codebase Memory, Exa

Alternatives

Servers in the same category from other makers, sorted by stars.

Reading a card:★ GitHub starsiThree pillars: reviews · checks · usageiUpdated = latest version published to the registryi

Context7

by upstash

Feeds AI the latest docs for libraries and frameworks before it answers, so code it writes does not use outdated, removed functions.

Computer or cloud★ 64,224MITUpdated yesterday

Install

Codebase Memory

by DeusData

Codebase knowledge graph for AI agents — 162 languages, sub-ms queries, 99% fewer tokens.

Runs on your computer★ 48,148MITUpdated 21 days ago

Install

Exa

by exa-labs

Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research.

Runs in the cloud★ 5,213MITUpdated last month

Install

README from the maker

Open the README

Copied from the maker’s repo as written. PopNx MCP has not reviewed or endorsed it. HTML, images and scripts are removed. Links lead off this site.

lupa-mcp

Let your AI agent search the documents on your Mac — by what's written inside them.

An MCP server for Lupa, a macOS file search app with its own index. Your agent asks Lupa; Lupa answers from a local index in ~30 ms. Nothing touches the network.

"find the contract that mentions the penalty clause"

↓ lupa_search → ranked paths + matching snippets lupa_read → the document's text, without opening the file

Searches file names and document contents: PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plain text, Hangul HWP/HWPX, and scanned PDFs read with OCR.

Why this instead of find/grep

	`find` / `grep` / `mdfind`	lupa-mcp
Searches inside PDF, DOCX, HWP	no	yes
Scanned documents (OCR)	no	yes
Korean partial words and particles	poorly	yes — `보호정책` finds `정보보호정책서.hwp`
Speed on a large disk	seconds	~30 ms (indexed)
Agent needs file system access	yes	no — Lupa reads the files, not your agent

That last row is the point. Your agent gets document contents without you granting it access to your disk.

Requirements

The Lupa app must be installed — this server reads the index that Lupa builds; it does not index anything itself.

Install Lupa (free) from the Mac App Store: https://lupa.kr
Open it, add the folders you want searchable, and let indexing finish.

macOS only.

Install

Claude Code

claude mcp add lupa -- npx -y lupa-mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor / any MCP client — add to the client's MCP config:

"mcpServers": { "lupa": { "command": "/bin/zsh", "args": ["-lc", "npx -y lupa-mcp"] } } }

That's it. No API key, no account, no configuration.

Why `/bin/zsh -lc`? GUI apps don't inherit your shell's PATH, so a bare

"command": "npx" fails to start with env: npx: No such file or directory

(measured on Claude Desktop and Aside). A login shell finds npx wherever it lives —

Homebrew, nvm, or a system install. In a terminal-based client (Claude Code, Codex)

plain npx -y lupa-mcp is fine.

Agents: don't run `lupa-search` through your shell. Sandboxed agent shells

(Aside, Codex) kill the App Store-signed CLI at launch — exit code 133 or 134.

Register this MCP server instead; it starts outside that sandbox.

Full guide: https://lupa.kr/agents.html

Tools

`lupa_search`

argument	default	meaning
`query`	—	see syntax below
`limit`	10	results to return (max 50)
`names_only`	false	file names only, ignore contents (faster)
`snippet_chars`	160	truncate each snippet (0 = none)

`lupa_read`

Returns the text Lupa already extracted from a file — cheaper than reading the original, and it works for formats your agent cannot parse. Requires Lupa 2.0 or later.

argument	default	meaning
`path`	—	absolute path, as returned by `lupa_search`
`max_chars`	8000	cap the returned text (0 = no limit)

Query syntax

word1 word2      files matching ALL words rank first

n:word file name only (name:, 이름:, 文件名:) c:word document content only (content:, 내용:, 内容:) f:word folder path contains (폴더:, 文件夹:) -word exclude "exact phrase" literal match .pdf *.mp3 report* extension / wildcard kind:document document · pdf · hwp · image · video · audio · code · archive · app size:>10mb size:<1mb date:today date:week · date:month · date:7d · date:2026-06

Korean and Chinese prefixes work too (종류: 크기: 날짜: / 种类: 大小: 日期:).

Korean is handled properly — partial words inside compounds and attached particles both match, which is what Spotlight gets wrong.

Audit log

Every tool call is recorded on your Mac so you can see what an agent searched for and which files it was shown:

~/Library/Logs/Lupa/mcp-audit.jsonl

Each line has the time, the calling client (e.g. Claude Code, Cursor), the tool, the query or path, the paths returned, and whether it succeeded. Snippets and document text are not logged. The file is readable only by you (0600) and never leaves the Mac.

Lines are hash-chained: each entry includes the hash of the previous one, so editing or removing a line is detected. This makes the log *tamper-evident*, not tamper-proof — deleting the whole file and starting over is still possible.

npx lupa-mcp audit            # last 20 calls

npx lupa-mcp audit -n 100 npx lupa-mcp audit --verify # exit 0 if the chain is intact, 1 if a line was changed or removed

Turn it off with LUPA_MCP_AUDIT=off, or move it with LUPA_MCP_AUDIT_PATH=/path/to/file.jsonl.

Privacy

Everything runs on your Mac. Lupa has no network code at all, and this server only launches Lupa's bundled command-line tool and passes the results to your agent. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no telemetry.

Notes

Lupa's free index covers up to 50,000 files. This server inherits whatever the app indexed — there is no separate limit or paywall here.
Only the beginning of each document is indexed, so lupa_read truncates long files.
If Lupa is installed somewhere unusual, set LUPA_SEARCH_PATH to the lupa-search binary inside the app bundle.

Troubleshooting

message	fix
"Lupa를 찾을 수 없습니다" / not found	Install Lupa from the Mac App Store
"검색 인덱스가 없습니다"	Open Lupa, add folders, wait for indexing
"본문 읽기를 지원하지 않습니다"	Update Lupa to 2.0 or later
No results for a file you know exists	Its folder may not be registered in Lupa

License

MIT

Lupa — local file search for your Mac

Overview

PopNx MCP’s three pillars

What you can do with it

Install

Before you install

What it can do

Basic checksi

Maker matches the repo

Still maintained

Has a licence

Endpoint responds

Sign-in with OAuth

No hidden instructions in tool descriptions

Compared with others in Search & AI memoryi

Common questions

Alternatives

Context7

Codebase Memory

Exa

README from the maker

lupa-mcp

Why this instead of find/grep

Requirements

Install

Tools

lupa_search

lupa_read

Query syntax

Audit log

Privacy

Notes

Troubleshooting

License

`lupa_search`

`lupa_read`