Needle MCP server

An MCP server to manage documents and perform semantic search through Claude chat using Needle.

Examples

How we use the commands in Claudie Desktop

You set up this collection in Needle via Claude

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0235e893-af96-4920-8364-1e86f73b3e6c

Quick Setup

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/needle-mcp.git

2. Install UV globally using Homebrew in Terminal:

brew install uv

3. Create claude_desktop_config.json:

   • For MacOS: Open directory ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ and create the file inside it
   • For Windows: Open directory %APPDATA%/Claude/ and create the file inside it

4. Add this configuration to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "needle_mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/needle-mcp",
        "run",
        "needle-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "NEEDLE_API_KEY": "your_needle_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

5. Get your Needle API key from needle.xyz

6. Update the config file:

   • Replace /path/to/needle-mcp with your actual repository path
   • Add your Needle API key

7. Quit Claude completely and reopen it

Usage Examples

• "Create a new collection called 'Technical Docs'"
• "Add this document to the collection, which is https://needle-ai.com"
• "Search the collection for information about AI"
• "List all my collections"

Troubleshooting

If not working:

• Make sure UV is installed globally (if not, uninstall with pip uninstall uv and reinstall with brew install uv)
• Or find UV path with which uv and replace "command": "uv" with the full path
• Verify your Needle API key is correct
• Check if the needle-mcp path in config matches your actual repository location

Reset Claude Desktop Configuration

If you're seeing old configurations or the integration isn't working:

1. Find all Claude Desktop config files:

find / -name "claude_desktop_config.json" 2>/dev/null

2. Remove all Claude Desktop data:

• On MacOS: rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/*
• On Windows: Delete contents of %APPDATA%/Claude/

3. Create a fresh config with only Needle:

mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude
cat > ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
<< 'EOL'
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "needle_mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/needle-mcp",
        "run",
        "needle-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "NEEDLE_API_KEY": "your_needle_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}
EOL

4. Completely quit Claude Desktop (Command+Q on Mac) and relaunch it

5. If you still see old configurations:

• Check for additional config files in other locations
• Try clearing browser cache if using web version
• Verify the config file is being read from the correct location