Recoll Mcp Server

Recoll MCP Server

Natural language interface to your Recoll-indexed filesystem through Claude Desktop.

Overview

This MCP (Model Context Protocol) server gives Claude AI access to your Recoll search index, enabling natural language queries of your entire indexed filesystem.

Features

• Natural Language Search: Ask Claude to find files using plain English
• Advanced Filtering: Search by date range, file type, and more
• Content Access: Retrieve full document contents
• Recent Files: List recently modified files
• Fast: Direct access to Xapian index via Recoll Python API

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• Recoll (with Python bindings)
• Claude Desktop
• MCP Python SDK

Installation

1. Install dependencies:

pip install mcp
# Recoll Python bindings are usually included with recoll package

1. Configure Claude Desktop:

Edit ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "recoll-search": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": [
        "/home/sam/src/recoll-mcp-server/recoll_mcp_server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "RECOLL_CONFDIR": "/home/sam/.config/recoll"
      }
    }
  }
}

1. Restart Claude Desktop

Usage Examples

Once configured, you can ask Claude:

• "Find my notes about YubiKey from December"
• "Search for PDFs containing 'machine learning'"
• "Show me files I modified this week"
• "Find markdown files about Nextcloud"

Available Tools

search_filesystem

Search using keywords or phrases with Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT).

searchbydate

Filter results by modification date range.

searchbyfiletype

Filter by file type/mimetype (pdf, markdown, text, etc.).

getdocumentcontent

Retrieve full content of a specific document.

listrecentfiles

List recently modified files in the index.

Development

Test the Recoll API directly:

python test_recoll_api.py

Architecture

User (natural language)
    ↓
Claude Desktop (with MCP)
    ↓
Recoll MCP Server (Python)
    ↓
Recoll Python API
    ↓
Xapian Index (your filesystem)

License

Apache 2.0

Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: Overdr0ne
• Source: Overdr0ne/recoll-mcp-server
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.