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"
      }
    }
  }
}

---

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"
      }
    }
  }
}

---

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