Open Notebook MCP Server

A lightweight MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for Open Notebook — access research notebooks, sources, notes, and semantic search from any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, VS Code, Cline, etc.).

Architecture

This server runs in HTTP proxy mode: it proxies every request through Open Notebook's existing REST API. That means:

• Zero database dependencies — no SurrealDB connection needed
• Minimal install — only depends on mcp and httpx
• Side-by-side with the web UI — just point it at the API

Installation

uv tool install open-notebook-mcp

Or run without installing:

uvx open-notebook-mcp

After installation, the open-notebook-mcp command is available globally.

Configuration

The server needs to know where your Open Notebook API is running:

Usage

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "open-notebook": {
      "command": "open-notebook-mcp",
      "env": {
        "OPEN_NOTEBOOK_URL": "http://localhost:5055",
        "OPEN_NOTEBOOK_PASSWORD": "your-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Add to your .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "open-notebook": {
      "command": "open-notebook-mcp",
      "env": {
        "OPEN_NOTEBOOK_URL": "http://localhost:5055",
        "OPEN_NOTEBOOK_PASSWORD": "your-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Development

cd mcp-server
uv run open-notebook-mcp

Publishing

cd mcp-server
uv build
uv publish

License

MIT