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guides/mcp-setup
Created: Jan 6, 2026
mcp claude-desktop setup configuration

MCP Server Setup

Memex provides a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for integration with Claude Desktop and other MCP-compatible tools.

Basic Configuration

Add to your Claude Code settings or MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "memex": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "memex"
    }
  }
}

Configuration Locations

Claude Desktop (macOS):

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Claude Desktop (Windows):

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Claude Code:

.claude/settings.local.json

Environment Variables

Configure the KB location via environment:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "memex": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "memex",
      "env": {
        "MEMEX_KB_ROOT": "/path/to/kb",
        "MEMEX_INDEX_ROOT": "/path/to/indices"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available MCP Tools

Tool Description
search Hybrid keyword + semantic search
get Retrieve entry with content and links
add Create new KB entry
update Modify existing entry
delete Remove an entry
list List entries by category/tag
whats_new Recently modified entries
tree Directory structure
tags List all tags
backlinks Find entries linking to a path
suggest_links Find semantically related entries
health KB audit
mkdir Create a directory
move Move/rename an entry
rmdir Remove empty directory
quality Detailed quality report

Preloading Embedding Model

For faster first search, preload the embedding model:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "memex": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "memex",
      "env": {
        "MEMEX_PRELOAD": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

CLI vs MCP

Aspect CLI (mx) MCP Server
Token cost ~0 (shell command) ~500+ (tool schema)
Setup Just install Configure mcpServers
Output Human-readable Structured JSON
Best for Most agents Claude Desktop app

Recommendation: Use CLI for AI agents unless you specifically need MCP's structured responses.

Troubleshooting

Server not starting

  1. Verify memex is installed: memex --version
  2. Check KB path exists: ls $MEMEX_KB_ROOT
  3. Test manually: echo '{}' | memex

Search not returning results

  1. Verify entries exist: mx list
  2. Rebuild indices: mx reindex
  3. Check search mode: semantic requires [semantic] extras

See Also