Overview

MCP Everything Search is a powerful cross-platform file search tool that allows Claude to search your local files using native search utilities on each operating system:

• macOS: Uses mdfind (Spotlight search)
• Linux: Uses find and grep commands
• Windows: Uses Everything Search (requires separate installation)

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10 or higher
• Platform-specific requirements:
  • Windows: Install Everything Search and ensure it's running
  • macOS: No additional requirements (uses built-in Spotlight)
  • Linux: No additional requirements (uses standard find/grep utilities)

Installation Methods

Option 1: Install via PyPI

pip install mcp-server-everything-search

Option 2: Install via Smithery CLI

smithery install mcp-everything-search

Option 3: Install from GitHub

git clone https://github.com/mamertofabian/mcp-everything-search.git
cd mcp-everything-search
pip install -e .

Usage

Starting the Server

Start the MCP server with:

python -m mcp_server_everything_search.server

The server will run on port 8000 by default.

Search Capabilities

The search functionality varies by platform:

macOS Search (mdfind)

macOS search uses Spotlight's powerful metadata indexing system. You can search by:

• File content
• File names
• File metadata
• Date ranges
• File types

Example queries:

• "text in file" - Search for specific text
• kMDItemFSName="*.pdf" - Search for PDF files
• kMDItemContentCreationDate >= $time.today(-7) - Files created in the last week

Linux Search (find/grep)

Linux search combines find for file attributes and grep for content searching:

• Search by file name patterns
• Search by file content
• Filter by file types
• Limit search to specific directories

Example queries:

• Basic search: {"query": "search term", "path": "/home/user/documents"}
• Advanced search: {"name": "*.txt", "content": "search term", "path": "/home/user"}

Windows Search (Everything)

Windows search uses the Everything search engine for fast file indexing:

• Full content search
• Regex support
• File attribute filtering
• Advanced operators

Example queries:

• Basic search: document
• File type search: *.pdf
• Advanced search: content:important ext:docx modified:today

Available Tools

The MCP server provides the following tools for Claude:

1. search_files: Search for files on the local system

   • Parameters:
     • query: The search query string
     • path (optional): Limit search to a specific directory
     • max_results (optional): Limit the number of results returned
     • Platform-specific parameters can be passed as needed

2. get_search_syntax: Get information about the search syntax for the current platform

   • Returns detailed documentation about available search operators and syntax for the detected operating system

Troubleshooting

• Windows: Ensure Everything Search is installed and running
• macOS: If Spotlight is disabled or not indexing certain locations, search results may be limited
• Linux: Search performance depends on the size of the directory being searched

Security Considerations

• The server only provides search functionality and does not allow direct file access
• Consider the directories you're searching as results may contain sensitive information
• The server runs locally and is not exposed to the internet by default

Advanced Configuration

You can customize the server behavior by modifying environment variables:

• PORT: Change the server port (default: 8000)
• LOG_LEVEL: Set logging verbosity (default: WARNING)
• MAX_RESULTS: Set default maximum results limit

For more detailed information and examples, visit the GitHub repository.