Markdown Vault MCP

Generic markdown vault MCP with hybrid search

Documentation | Config wizard | PyPI | Docker

Features

• Hybrid search: SQLite FTS5 keyword search (BM25, porter stemming) and semantic search (FastEmbed, Ollama, OpenAI, or Voyage AI embeddings, plus any OpenAI-compatible endpoint via OPENAI_BASE_URL), fused with Reciprocal Rank Fusion; diversity-aware ranking returns sentence-scale snippets with full-section recovery via read(path, section=heading). See the Embeddings guide, including the recipe for OpenAI-compatible endpoints.
• Frontmatter-aware indexing: YAML frontmatter fields become filterable and searchable, with optional required-field enforcement and adaptive heading-level chunking for long documents.
• Write operations: the write tools (write, edit, append, delete, rename, move_folder, fetch, git_sync, the okf_* tools, create_upload_link) are registered by default and hidden when MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_READ_ONLY=true; writes update the index automatically, per-folder _conventions.md authoring rules are surfaced to LLM clients at write time, and attachments (PDFs, images, and other non-markdown files) are read/write too.
• Incremental reindexing: hash-based change detection with boot-time reconciliation; the vector index converges to the reconciled chunk set, and parse-pipeline upgrades rebuild the index once automatically.
• Git integration: optional auto-commit (one commit per write tool call) with deferred push, plus a pull loop or a GitHub or GitLab push webhook for external changes; history and diff tools read the log back. An overwriting write returns the revision holding the content it replaced, and read(path, revision=sha) reads a note back at that revision, so an overwrite is recoverable from the client that made it. When the clone stops reaching its remote, every write result carries a remote warning saying the content is committed locally only, and the log marks the transition rather than repeating each cycle. See the Git integration guide.
• OKF-aware: recognizes Open Knowledge Format bundles and annotates results with each note's type, lifecycle status, staleness, and trust tier, plus conformance audit and migration tooling. Static bearer writes use tool provenance; human review through a bearer credential requires confirmation with okf_verify in elicit mode. See the OKF guide.
• MCP surface: 34 LLM-visible tools, 9 resources, and 8 prompt templates, plus browser-based MCP Apps views and one-time transfer links. Full references: Tools, Resources, Prompts, MCP Apps, Transfer links, CLI.

Overwrite protection is enabled by default. Before replacing an existing file with write or fetch, read that destination and pass its etag as if_match. New files need no etag. Transfer upload links require a new destination because they have no if_match option. Set MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_WRITE_PROTECT_EXISTING=false to allow blind overwrites; see the transfer guide.

Python integrations use VaultSettings for configuration. See the Vault API for the migration from the removed 4.x constructor keywords and the configuration API for typed assembly. The Git API covers removal of the deprecated strategy claim keywords and the keyword-only LFS and repository options.

What you can do with it

With this server mounted in Claude, you can:

• Capture a URL as a note. "Fetch , summarize as a Resource note under 3-Resources/, and link any existing notes on the topic." Claude composes fetch + search + write.
• Research a topic into your vault. "Research product security regulations, compare them, and create a set of interlinked notes: one per regulation, plus a map-of-content." Claude composes web-search tools (client-side) + write with wikilinks. See the Research workflows guide for the full loop.
• Distill today's thinking. "Summarize today's conversations into Inbox notes." Claude.ai only; uses conversation_search + recent_chats + write. The para-capture-chats prompt is the one-click version.
• Find missing links. Fire the propose-links prompt from the + menu: it scans recently modified notes and proposes links between notes that aren't yet connected, writing them on confirmation.
• Split or merge captures. "Split this Inbox note into two." / "Merge this into <existing note> instead of duplicating." Claude composes read + write + delete.

The vault needs no external scheduler or separate capture app: it sits behind your conversations and absorbs their output.

Installation

From PyPI

pip install markdown-vault-mcp

If you add optional extras via the PROJECT-EXTRAS-START / PROJECT-EXTRAS-END sentinels in pyproject.toml, document them below:

pip install markdown-vault-mcp[mcp]             # FastMCP server
pip install markdown-vault-mcp[embeddings-api]  # Ollama/OpenAI embeddings via API
pip install markdown-vault-mcp[embeddings]      # FastEmbed local embeddings
pip install markdown-vault-mcp[file-watcher]    # watchdog-based external-change watcher
pip install markdown-vault-mcp[all]             # MCP + FastEmbed + API embeddings

For the Claude Code plugin channel (/plugin install markdown-vault-mcp@pvliesdonk) and all other install routes, see the Installation guide and the Claude Code plugin guide.

From source

git clone https://github.com/pvliesdonk/markdown-vault-mcp.git
cd markdown-vault-mcp
uv sync --all-extras --all-groups

Docker

docker pull ghcr.io/pvliesdonk/markdown-vault-mcp:latest

To run the newest merged code instead of the newest release, use the rolling edge tag. It is rebuilt on every merge to main and carries no version identity. See Image tags for the full tag list.

docker pull ghcr.io/pvliesdonk/markdown-vault-mcp:edge

A compose.yml ships at the repo root and runs as-is: copy .env.example to .env, then docker compose up -d. It publishes port 8000 on the host and assumes no reverse proxy; Docker Compose covers the configuration split, the domain sentinel blocks, and a Traefik overlay.

To attach a remote Python debugger (development only; the protocol is unauthenticated), see Remote debugging.

Linux packages (.deb / .rpm)

Download .deb or .rpm packages from the GitHub Releases page. Both install a hardened systemd unit; env configuration is sourced from /etc/markdown-vault-mcp/env (copy from the shipped /etc/markdown-vault-mcp/env.example).

Claude Desktop (.mcpb bundle)

Download the .mcpb bundle from the GitHub Releases page and double-click to install, or run:

mcpb install markdown-vault-mcp-<version>.mcpb

Claude Desktop prompts for required env vars via a GUI wizard, with no manual JSON editing needed.

For manual Claude Desktop configuration and setup options, see Claude Desktop deployment.

Release channels

Artifacts ship on three channels. Each row lists exactly what that channel publishes.

Channel	Version identity	Artifacts
edge (rolling)	None; the commit is the identity	Docker image :edge rebuilt on every merge to main; .mcpb bundle as the mcpb-bundle-edge workflow artifact; Claude Code plugin .zip as the plugin-zip-edge artifact; rolling unstable docs version. It leaves no git tag, GitHub release, or PyPI entry behind.
Pre-release	vX.Y.Z-rc.N, computed and reviewed in its release pull request	PyPI (as the pre-release X.Y.ZrcN); GitHub release with wheels, sdist, .deb/.rpm packages, .mcpb bundle, plugin .zip, and SBOM attached; Docker image under its immutable vX.Y.Z-rc.N tag plus the ordering-aware rolling rc tag. Skips the plugin marketplace, the MCP registry, and the docs deploy.
Stable	vX.Y.Z	Everything: PyPI, Docker (version tag plus ordering-aware latest / vX / vX.Y), .deb/.rpm, GitHub release assets (wheels, sdist, .mcpb bundle, plugin .zip, SBOM), plugin marketplace and MCP registry entries (when the release is the newest stable), versioned docs with an ordering-aware latest alias.

Pre-releases reach PyPI so that a candidate's .mcpb bundle installs: the bundle points at PyPI rather than carrying the code. Ordinary installers never see them, because a PEP 440 resolver skips pre-releases unless the requirement pins one or you pass --pre. Ask for a candidate by name with pip install markdown-vault-mcp==X.Y.ZrcN. PyPI spells it in the PEP 440 canonical form, while tags use SemVer. Rolling pointers are ordering-aware, so a patch release cut from an old release/X.Y branch never moves latest-style tags back to older content, and a candidate for an already-released version never moves rc. See Release process for the full model.

Quick start

markdown-vault-mcp serve                                # stdio transport
markdown-vault-mcp serve --transport http --port 8000   # streamable HTTP

For library usage (embedding the domain logic without the MCP transport), import from the markdown_vault_mcp package directly. See the project's domain modules under src/markdown_vault_mcp/ for entry points.

Server info

The server registers a built-in get_server_info tool (via fastmcp_pvl_core.register_server_info_tool) so operators can confirm the deployed version with a single MCP call. The default response carries server_name, server_version, and core_version. Servers that talk to a remote upstream wire upstream version reporting inside the DOMAIN-UPSTREAM-START / DOMAIN-UPSTREAM-END sentinel in src/markdown_vault_mcp/server.py; see tool-registration for the wiring pattern.

Health

The server serves /health (liveness, a static 200) and /health/ready (readiness, 503 when a backing store or a domain check fails) outside the MCP mount and outside auth, via fastmcp_pvl_core.register_health_routes. compose.yml probes the first. Domain readiness checks go in the health_checks dict in src/markdown_vault_mcp/server.py; see Docker deployment for the routes, the mount-path rule, and MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_HEALTH_DETAIL.

Configuration

The most common environment variables, shared across all fastmcp-pvl-core-based services:

Variable	Default	Description
MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_KV_STORE_URL	file:///data/state	Persistent-state backend URL shared by every pvl-core subsystem that needs state. memory:// is in-process and lost on restart; file:///path persists on one server; redis://, dynamodb:// and mongodb:// each need their matching extra. When unset, defaults to file:///data/state (the volume family Docker images mount), or to memory:// (with a warning) on a host where that directory is not usable.
FASTMCP_LOG_LEVEL	INFO	Log level for FastMCP internals and app loggers (DEBUG / INFO / WARNING / ERROR / CRITICAL). The -v CLI flag overrides to DEBUG.
FASTMCP_ENABLE_RICH_LOGGING	true	Rich color output for a terminal; false gives one plain or JSON line per record. Off in the container image and the systemd unit, since neither is a terminal and Rich wraps a structured record at its 80-column fallback.

This table and the one under Domain configuration are curated subsets. The complete generated reference, with every variable the server reads, is the configuration reference; .env.example lists the same surface in copy-paste form.

Authentication

Callers authenticate via a bearer token or OIDC (mutually exclusive). See the Authentication guide for setup, mapped multi-subject tokens, OIDC, and troubleshooting.

Post-scaffold checklist

After copier copy and gh repo create --push:

1. Fill in the DOMAIN blocks (every section marked with a DOMAIN sentinel comment) in this README and in AGENTS.md. The GENERATED-ENV-TABLE-* regions are not DOMAIN blocks; the config generator owns them and rewrites them on every run.
2. Configure GitHub secrets (see below).
3. Install dev + docs tooling: uv sync --all-extras --all-groups.
4. Install pre-commit hooks: uv run pre-commit install.
5. Run the gate locally: uv run pytest -x -q && uv run ruff check --fix . && uv run ruff format . && uv run mypy src/ tests/.
6. Push the first commit. CI should be green.

GitHub secrets

CI workflows reference two required repository secrets and one optional Claude token. Configure them via Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions or with gh secret set:

Secret	Used by	How to generate
RELEASE_TOKEN	release-prepare.yml, release.yml, copier-update.yml, renovate.yml, bootstrap.yml	Fine-grained PAT at https://github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens/new with contents: write, pull_requests: write, and administration: write (bootstrap applies the repository rulesets + auto-merge). Must belong to a repository admin: the shipped rulesets grant bypass to the admin role, and the release tag + GitHub release that knope creates after a release pull request merges rely on it (pull requests the token opens also need it so their CI runs). Scoped to this repo.
CODECOV_TOKEN	ci.yml	https://codecov.io: sign in with GitHub and add the repo. The upload token is on its settings page.
CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN	claude.yml	Optional. Run claude setup-token locally and configure this only for @claude or opted-in automatic review.

gh secret set RELEASE_TOKEN
gh secret set CODECOV_TOKEN
# Optional: enables @claude and opted-in automatic review.
gh secret set CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN

Dependency updates are handled by Renovate (renovate.yml), which reuses RELEASE_TOKEN. It maintains uv.lock and auto-merges patch/minor bumps once the CI Success check is green; bootstrap.yml enables auto-merge and applies the repository rulesets (.github/rulesets/) on first push. See Repository Protection for the per-branch posture and bypass model. GitHub Actions are updated in the copier template and arrive via copier update, not per-repo.

GITHUB_TOKEN is auto-provided; no action needed.

Local development

The PR gate (matches CI):

uv run pytest -x -q                                  # tests
uv run ruff check --fix . && uv run ruff format .    # lint + format
uv run mypy src/ tests/                              # type-check

Pre-commit runs a subset of the gate on each commit; see .pre-commit-config.yaml for details, or AGENTS.md for the full Hard PR Acceptance Gates.

Troubleshooting

Moving a scaffolded project

uv sync creates .venv/bin/* scripts with absolute shebangs pointing at the venv Python. If you move the repo after scaffolding (mv /old/path /new/path), uv run pytest fails with ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'fastmcp' because the stale shebang resolves to a different interpreter than the venv's site-packages.

Fix:

rm -rf .venv
uv sync --all-extras --all-groups

uv run python -m pytest also works as a one-shot workaround (bypasses the stale entry-script shim).

uv.lock refresh after copier update

When copier update introduces new dependencies (such as a new extra added to pyproject.toml.jinja), the CI install step runs uv sync --locked, which fails against a stale lockfile. Run uv lock locally and commit the refreshed uv.lock alongside accepting the copier-update PR.

CI installs with --locked (and the review workflow with --frozen) so no job ever rewrites uv.lock in its own workspace: a job that re-locks hides the drift it just repaired, and a dirty workspace breaks any later git checkout in the same job. Lockfile drift then shows up as a red install step with a clear message, not as a silent mutation.

Contributing

CONTRIBUTING.md holds the rules for issues and pull requests, and where a fix belongs: fastmcp-pvl-core for library code, the template for template-owned files, this repository for anything inside its DOMAIN-* / CONFIG-* / PROJECT-* blocks. AGENTS.md carries the conventions and gates; the skills under .agents/skills/ carry the task procedures, among them code-review (local self-review before a pull request), writing-release-notes (release notes), applying-template-updates (the weekly template update pull request) and authoring-issues-prs (filing). The release procedure is in docs/deployment/release-process.md; the template update procedure in docs/deployment/template-updates.md.

Links

• Documentation
• llms.txt
• FastMCP
• fastmcp-pvl-core

Domain configuration

The variables this project features as its entry points (domain variables use the MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_ prefix):

Variable	Default	Required	Description
MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_SOURCE_DIR	/data/vault	No	Path to the markdown vault directory. Required; the server refuses to start without it. Symbolic links inside the vault are followed on Python 3.13+.
MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_READ_ONLY	false	No	Set to true to hide the write tools (write, edit, append, delete, rename, move_folder, fetch, git_sync, the okf_* tools, create_upload_link) and serve a search-only vault. git_sync also needs managed git mode; create_upload_link needs an HTTP transport.
MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_WRITE_PROTECT_EXISTING	true	No	Refuse a write that would overwrite an existing file when no if_match etag is supplied. Deliberate replacement still works: read the file first, then pass if_match. Unaffected: edit, append, delete, rename. Set to false to allow blind overwrites.
MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_DEFAULT_SEARCH_MODE	auto	No	Mode used when a search call omits 'mode': auto, keyword, semantic, or hybrid. The default 'auto' picks hybrid when embeddings are configured and keyword when they are not. Pin 'keyword' to keep unqualified searches off the embedding provider (each hybrid or semantic search embeds the query, which costs an API call on a metered provider). A configured semantic/hybrid default also degrades to keyword without embeddings, so no setting can make a vault unsearchable; an explicit mode= argument is never downgraded.
MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_EMBEDDING_PROVIDER	(none)	No	Embedding provider: openai, voyage, ollama, or fastembed. Unset auto-detects from the environment (never voyage). Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint works with openai plus OPENAI_BASE_URL; see the embeddings guide.
MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_GIT_REPO_URL	(none)	No	HTTPS remote URL for managed git mode: the server clones into an empty SOURCE_DIR on startup (or validates an existing origin) and enables the pull loop, auto-commit, and deferred push.
MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_FILE_WATCHER	true	No	Watch the vault for external filesystem changes; auto-disabled when git pull is active or a webhook can deliver (HTTP/SSE transports only). Requires the file-watcher extra.
MARKDOWN_VAULT_MCP_SUMMARIZE_OPENAI_BASE_URL	(none)	No	OpenAI-compatible endpoint base URL for the summarize tool; setting it enables the tool even without an API key. The bare OPENAI_BASE_URL routes traffic only when a key already enables the feature.