Manticore Search

Manticore Search MCP Server

MCP server for Manticore Search — enables AI assistants to query and manage Manticore Search databases directly.

Quick Start

Installation

# Option 1: Install with uv (recommended, requires PyPI release)

uvx mcp-manticore

Option 2: Install with pip

pip install mcp-manticore

Option 3: Run from source (for local development)

uvx --from . mcp-manticore

Or: uv run mcp-manticore

Note:

- uvx runs the package directly without installation. First-time run may take a moment to download dependencies.

- The package must be published to PyPI for uvx mcp-manticore to work.

- For local development or testing unreleased versions, use uvx --from . mcp-manticore

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What It Does

Tools

Prompts

• manticore_initial_prompt — Built-in prompt teaching LLMs about Manticore Search features (full-text operators, KNN vector search, fuzzy search, etc.)

Health Check

HTTP endpoint at /health for monitoring connectivity.

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Configuration

Environment Variables

Safety

By default, all write operations are blocked. To enable:

# Enable writes (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE)

export MANTICORE_ALLOW_WRITE_ACCESS=true

Enable destructive operations (DROP, TRUNCATE)

export MANTICORE_ALLOW_DROP=true

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Connect to Your AI Assistant

Claude Code

Open terminal and run:

claude mcp add manticore -- uvx mcp-manticore

Or with environment variables:

claude mcp add manticore -- uvx mcp-manticore -- \

MANTICORE_HOST=localhost \ MANTICORE_PORT=9308

For full configuration, edit ~/.claude/mcp_settings.json:

{

"mcpServers": { "manticore": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-manticore"], "env": { "MANTICORE_HOST": "localhost", "MANTICORE_PORT": "9308" } } } }

Restart Claude Code or type /mcp restart to apply changes.

Cursor

Method 1: Via Settings UI

1. Open Cursor → Settings → Tools & MCP
2. Click "Add MCP Server"
3. Enter name: manticore
4. Command: uvx mcp-manticore

Method 2: Via Config File

Global config (~/.cursor/mcp.json):

{

"mcpServers": { "manticore": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-manticore"], "env": { "MANTICORE_HOST": "localhost", "MANTICORE_PORT": "9308" } } } }

Project config (.cursor/mcp.json in your project):

{

"mcpServers": { "manticore": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-manticore"] } } }

Windsurf

Method 1: Via Cascade UI

1. Open Windsurf → Cascade panel
2. Click the MCPs icon (🔨) in the top-right
3. Click "Add Server"
4. Enter: uvx mcp-manticore

Method 2: Via Config File

Edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{

"mcpServers": { "manticore": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-manticore"], "env": { "MANTICORE_HOST": "localhost", "MANTICORE_PORT": "9308" } } } }

Or open directly in Windsurf: Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P → "MCP Configuration Panel"

OpenAI Codex

Run in terminal:

codex mcp add manticore -- uvx mcp-manticore

With environment variables:

codex mcp add manticore \

--env MANTICORE_HOST=localhost \ --env MANTICORE_PORT=9308 \ -- uvx mcp-manticore

Or edit ~/.codex/config.toml directly:

[mcp_servers.manticore]

command = "uvx" args = ["mcp-manticore"] env = { MANTICORE_HOST = "localhost", MANTICORE_PORT = "9308" }

Gemini CLI

Edit ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{

"mcpServers": { "manticore": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-manticore"], "env": { "MANTICORE_HOST": "localhost", "MANTICORE_PORT": "9308" } } } }

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

Create .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{

"servers": { "manticore": { "type": "stdio", "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-manticore"], "env": { "MANTICORE_HOST": "localhost", "MANTICORE_PORT": "9308" } } } }

Cline

1. Open Cline panel in VS Code
2. Click the MCP Servers icon
3. Click "Configure" → "Add Server"
4. Select "Command (stdio)" and enter:

• Name: manticore
• Command: uvx mcp-manticore

Or edit the MCP settings file directly (accessible via the MCP Servers icon → "Edit Config"):

{

"mcpServers": { "manticore": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-manticore"], "env": { "MANTICORE_HOST": "localhost", "MANTICORE_PORT": "9308" } } } }

Roo Code

1. Open Roo Code panel in VS Code
2. Click the MCP Servers icon → "Edit MCP Settings"
3. Add the server configuration

Or create .roo/mcp.json in your project root:

{

"mcpServers": { "manticore": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-manticore"], "env": { "MANTICORE_HOST": "localhost", "MANTICORE_PORT": "9308" } } } }

Claude Desktop (Legacy)

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{

"mcpServers": { "manticore": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["mcp-manticore"], "env": { "MANTICORE_HOST": "localhost", "MANTICORE_PORT": "9308" } } } }

</details>

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HTTP Transport (Remote MCP)

By default, MCP uses stdio (local). For remote access:

export MANTICORE_MCP_SERVER_TRANSPORT=http

export MANTICORE_MCP_BIND_PORT=8000 export MANTICORE_MCP_AUTH_TOKEN="your-secure-token"

uvx mcp-manticore

Connect via URL:

{

"mcpServers": { "manticore": { "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer your-secure-token" } } } }

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Troubleshooting

Install uv (required)

macOS / Linux:

# Via installer script (recommended)

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Or via Homebrew

brew install uv

Windows:

# Via PowerShell

irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex

Or via winget

winget install astral-sh.uv

Verify installation:

uv --version

MCP server not connecting

1. Verify Manticore is running: curl http://localhost:9308/health
2. Check environment variables are set correctly
3. For Claude Code: restart with /mcp restart

Too many tools loaded

Some agents limit active MCP tools. Remove unused servers or use project-scoped configs.

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Development

# Clone and setup

git clone https://github.com/manticoresoftware/mcp-manticore.git cd mcp-manticore

Install dependencies

uv sync

Run locally

uv run mcp-manticore

Run with custom config

MANTICORE_HOST=remote-server MANTICORE_PORT=9308 uv run mcp-manticore

Run tests

uv run pytest

Build package

uv build

Publish to PyPI

uv publish

Architecture

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License

Apache-2.0