mcp-semantic-search 0.1.2
MCP server for semantic code search
License: MIT
Requires Python: >=3.12
Keywords: code-search, embeddings, mcp, qdrant, semantic-search

# MCP Semantic Search

> A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that indexes codebases using semantic embeddings for natural language search.

[![Python Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/python-3.12+-blue.svg)](https://www.python.org/downloads/)
[![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-green.svg)](LICENSE)

## Features

- **🔍 Semantic Code Search** – Find code using natural language queries instead of exact text matching
- **⚡ Fast Indexing** – Efficient chunking and batch embedding with background processing
- **🧠 Smart Chunking** – Language-aware code splitting:
  - Python: Function/class boundary detection
  - Others: Line-based with configurable overlap
- **🌐 Multi-language Support** – Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, TSX, Markdown, YAML, JSON, HTML, CSS, Bash, SQL, and more
- **👀 Live Watch** – Automatically re-index on file changes with debouncing
- **🔄 Incremental Updates** – Reindex only changed files without full rebuild
- **🗑️ Deletion Handling** – Automatically removes chunks for deleted files
- **📊 Status Tracking** – Real-time indexing progress and queue monitoring

## Quick Start

### Prerequisites

- Python 3.12 or higher
- [Qdrant](https://qdrant.tech/) vector database (running locally or remotely)
- Google Gemini API key

### Installation

```bash
# Using uvx (recommended - no installation needed)
uvx mcp-semantic-search

# Or install with pip
pip install mcp-semantic-search
```

### Configuration

Set environment variables:

```bash
export GEMINI_API_KEY="your_gemini_api_key"
export QDRANT_URL="http://localhost:6333"
```

Optional environment variables:

```bash
# Embedding model (default: text-embedding-004)
export GEMINI_EMBEDDING_MODEL="text-embedding-004"

# Chunk configuration (defaults: 50/10/5)
export CHUNK_MAX_LINES=50        # Max lines per chunk
export CHUNK_OVERLAP_LINES=10    # Overlap between chunks
export CHUNK_MIN_LINES=5         # Min lines for valid chunk
```

Or create a `.env` file:

```bash
GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key
QDRANT_URL=http://localhost:6333
```

### Running Qdrant

```bash
# Using Docker
docker run -p 6333:6333 qdrant/qdrant

# Or using docker-compose
echo '
services:
  qdrant:
    image: qdrant/qdrant
    ports:
      - "6333:6333"
' | docker-compose -f - up
```

## Usage with Claude Code

### Method 1: Using MCP Config JSON (Recommended)

Edit your Claude Code MCP configuration file (`~/.claude.json` or `~/.config/claude/config.json`):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-search": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-semantic-search"],
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your_gemini_api_key_here",
        "QDRANT_URL": "http://localhost:6333"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

For a **local installation** (after `pip install mcp-semantic-search`):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-search": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "mcp-semantic-search",
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your_gemini_api_key_here",
        "QDRANT_URL": "http://localhost:6333"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

With optional chunk configuration:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-search": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-semantic-search"],
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your_gemini_api_key_here",
        "QDRANT_URL": "http://localhost:6333",
        "CHUNK_MAX_LINES": "50",
        "CHUNK_OVERLAP_LINES": "10",
        "CHUNK_MIN_LINES": "5"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

### Method 2: Using CLI

```bash
claude mcp add semantic-search \
  -e GEMINI_API_KEY="$GEMINI_API_KEY" \
  -e QDRANT_URL="$QDRANT_URL" \
  -- uvx mcp-semantic-search
```

### Available Tools

| Tool | Description | Returns |
|------|-------------|---------|
| `index_codebase(root_dir, force_reindex, max_files)` | Index the codebase | `{"status": "success", "files_queued": N}` |
| `search_code(query, limit, score_threshold)` | Semantic search across all files | `{"query": "...", "count": N, "results": [...]}` |
| `search_file(query, file_path, limit)` | Search within a specific file | `{"query": "...", "file": "...", "results": [...]}` |
| `get_status()` | Check indexing status | `{"collection": {...}, "queue": {...}}` |
| `start_live_watch(root_dir, debounce_seconds)` | Start file watching | `{"status": "success", "running": true}` |
| `stop_live_watch()` | Stop file watching | `{"status": "stopped", "running": false}` |
| `clear_index()` | Reset the entire index | `{"status": "success", "message": "..."}` |

### Example Workflow

```python
# Index your codebase (auto-starts on first use)
index_codebase(root_dir="/path/to/project")
# Returns: {"status": "success", "files_queued": 1234}

# Search for code using natural language
search_code("how does authentication work")
# Returns:
# {
#   "query": "...",
#   "count": 5,
#   "results": [
#     {
#       "file": "src/auth/middleware.py",
#       "lines": "10-25",
#       "score": 0.876,
#       "content": "..."
#     },
#     ...
#   ]
# }

# Check indexing status
get_status()
# Returns:
# {
#   "collection": {"total_chunks": 12345, "files_indexed": 1234},
#   "queue": {"running": true, "queued": 0, "pending": 0}
# }

# Enable live watching (auto-index on file changes)
start_live_watch(root_dir="/path/to/project")
```

## Configuration

### Chunking Configuration

Control how code is split into searchable chunks:

```bash
# Smaller chunks = more precise results, more storage
export CHUNK_MAX_LINES=30

# Larger chunks = more context per result
export CHUNK_MAX_LINES=100

# Adjust overlap for context continuity
export CHUNK_OVERLAP_LINES=15
```

| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `CHUNK_MAX_LINES` | 50 | Maximum lines per chunk |
| `CHUNK_OVERLAP_LINES` | 10 | Overlap between chunks |
| `CHUNK_MIN_LINES` | 5 | Minimum lines for valid chunk |

### Search Configuration

```python
# Adjust search parameters
search_code(
    query="your query",
    limit=20,                 # More results (default: 10)
    score_threshold=0.3       # Lower threshold = more results (default: 0.5)
)
```

## Development

### Setup

```bash
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/mcp-semantic-search.git
cd mcp-semantic-search

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .
```

### Testing

```bash
# Test with a small subset
python -c "
from mcp_semantic_search import GeminiEmbedder, QdrantCodeStore, index_repository

embedder = GeminiEmbedder()
store = QdrantCodeStore()

# Test with just 5 files
stats = index_repository(
    root_dir='.',
    embedder=embedder,
    store=store,
    max_files=5
)
print(stats)
"

# Test semantic search
python -c "
from mcp_semantic_search import GeminiEmbedder, QdrantCodeStore

embedder = GeminiEmbedder()
store = QdrantCodeStore()

query_embedding = embedder.embed_query('authentication')
results = store.search(query_embedding, limit=5)

for r in results:
    print(f'{r[\"file_path\"]}:{r[\"start_line\"]} ({r[\"score\"]:.2f})')
    print(r['content'][:200])
    print('---')
"
```

## Technical Details

- **Embedding Model**: Google `text-embedding-004` (768 dimensions)
- **Vector Database**: Qdrant with cosine similarity
- **Chunking Strategy**:
  - Python: AST-based function/class boundary detection
  - Others: Line-based with configurable chunk size and overlap
- **File Watching**: Watchdog with 3-second debouncing
- **Deduplication**: SHA256 hash-based, unchanged files are skipped
- **Background Processing**: FIFO queue for incremental reindexing

## Supported Languages

| Extension | Language |
|-----------|----------|
| `.py` | Python |
| `.js` | JavaScript |
| `.ts` | TypeScript |
| `.jsx` | JSX |
| `.tsx` | TSX |
| `.md` | Markdown |
| `.yaml`, `.yml` | YAML |
| `.json` | JSON |
| `.html` | HTML |
| `.css` | CSS |
| `.sh` | Bash |
| `.sql` | SQL |
| `.txt` | Text |

## License

MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.

## Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

## Acknowledgments

- [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) by Anthropic
- [Qdrant](https://qdrant.tech/) - Vector Database
- [Google Gemini](https://ai.google.dev/) - Embedding API
- [fastmcp](https://github.com/jlowin/fastmcp) - MCP framework