Everything Search

Everything Search MCP Server

What is Everything Search MCP Server?

Everything Search MCP Server is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that enables fast file searching capabilities across different operating systems: Windows, macOS, and Linux. It integrates with native system tools for efficient searching: Everything SDK on Windows, mdfind command on macOS, and locate/plocate commands on Linux.

How to use Everything Search MCP Server?

To use the server, you can install it via Smithery, uv (recommended), or pip. After installation, you need to configure it, especially for Windows where the EVERYTHING_SDK_PATH environment variable needs to be set. For Claude Desktop integration, specific claude_desktop_config.json configurations are provided for each operating system and installation method. The primary tool provided is search, which allows users to query for files and folders with various parameters like query, max_results, match_path, match_case, match_whole_word, match_regex, and sort_by.

Key Features of Everything Search MCP Server

• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Fast Search: Leverages native system search tools for optimized performance.
• Flexible Search Parameters: Offers a wide range of parameters for precise search queries, including sorting options and result limits.
• Detailed Search Results: Provides file/folder path, size in bytes, and last modified date in the search response.
• Integration with Claude Desktop: Seamlessly integrates with Claude Desktop for enhanced functionality.

Use Cases of Everything Search MCP Server

• Developers: Quickly locate source code files, libraries, or project assets across different development environments.
• System Administrators: Efficiently find log files, configuration files, or system utilities on various servers.
• General Users: Rapidly search for documents, media files, or any other files on their local machines.
• Automation: Integrate file search capabilities into scripts or automated workflows.

FAQ about Everything Search MCP Server

Q: What are the prerequisites for using Everything Search MCP Server? A: For Windows, you need to install Everything search utility and its SDK. For Linux, you need to install and initialize locate or plocate. macOS requires no additional setup.

Q: How do I install Everything Search MCP Server? A: You can install it via Smithery, uv (recommended), or pip.

Q: How do I configure Everything Search MCP Server on Windows? A: You need to set the EVERYTHING_SDK_PATH environment variable to the path of the Everything SDK DLL.

Q: Can I debug the server? A: Yes, you can use the MCP inspector to debug the server, and instructions are provided for viewing server logs on Linux/macOS and Windows.

Q: Is this project affiliated with voidtools? A: No, this project is an independent project that utilizes the publicly available Everything SDK and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by voidtools.

Everything Search MCP Server

An MCP server that provides fast file searching capabilities across Windows, macOS, and Linux. On Windows, it uses the Everything SDK. On macOS, it uses the built-in mdfind command. On Linux, it uses the locate/plocate command.

Tools

search

Search for files and folders across your system. The search capabilities and syntax support vary by platform:

• Windows: Full Everything SDK features (see syntax guide below)
• macOS: Basic filename and content search using Spotlight database
• Linux: Basic filename search using locate database

Parameters:

• query (required): Search query string. See platform-specific notes below.
• max_results (optional): Maximum number of results to return (default: 100, max: 1000)
• match_path (optional): Match against full path instead of filename only (default: false)
• match_case (optional): Enable case-sensitive search (default: false)
• match_whole_word (optional): Match whole words only (default: false)
• match_regex (optional): Enable regex search (default: false)
• sort_by (optional): Sort order for results (default: 1). Available options:

  - 1: Sort by filename (A to Z)
  - 2: Sort by filename (Z to A)
  - 3: Sort by path (A to Z)
  - 4: Sort by path (Z to A)
  - 5: Sort by size (smallest first)
  - 6: Sort by size (largest first)
  - 7: Sort by extension (A to Z)
  - 8: Sort by extension (Z to A)
  - 11: Sort by creation date (oldest first)
  - 12: Sort by creation date (newest first)
  - 13: Sort by modification date (oldest first)
  - 14: Sort by modification date (newest first)

Examples:

{
  "query": "*.py",
  "max_results": 50,
  "sort_by": 6
}

{
  "query": "ext:py datemodified:today",
  "max_results": 10
}

Response includes:

• File/folder path
• File size in bytes
• Last modified date

Search Syntax Guide

For detailed information about the search syntax supported on each platform (Windows, macOS, and Linux), please see SEARCH_SYNTAX.md.

Prerequisites

Windows

1. Everything search utility:
   • Download and install from https://www.voidtools.com/
   • Make sure the Everything service is running
2. Everything SDK:
   • Download from https://www.voidtools.com/support/everything/sdk/
   • Extract the SDK files to a location on your system

Linux

1. Install and initialize the locate or plocate command:
   • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install plocate or sudo apt-get install mlocate
   • Fedora: sudo dnf install mlocate
2. After installation, update the database:
   • For plocate: sudo updatedb
   • For mlocate: sudo /etc/cron.daily/mlocate

macOS

No additional setup required. The server uses the built-in mdfind command.

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install Everything Search for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install mcp-server-everything-search --client claude

Using uv (recommended)

When using uv no specific installation is needed. We will use uvx to directly run mcp-server-everything-search.

Using PIP

Alternatively you can install mcp-server-everything-search via pip:

pip install mcp-server-everything-search

After installation, you can run it as a script using:

python -m mcp_server_everything_search

Configuration

Windows

The server requires the Everything SDK DLL to be available:

Environment variable:

EVERYTHING_SDK_PATH=path\to\Everything-SDK\dll\Everything64.dll

Linux and macOS

No additional configuration required.

Usage with Claude Desktop

Add one of these configurations to your claude_desktop_config.json based on your platform:

"mcpServers": {
  "everything-search": {
    "command": "uvx",
    "args": ["mcp-server-everything-search"],
    "env": {
      "EVERYTHING_SDK_PATH": "path/to/Everything-SDK/dll/Everything64.dll"
    }
  }
}

"mcpServers": {
  "everything-search": {
    "command": "python",
    "args": ["-m", "mcp_server_everything_search"],
    "env": {
      "EVERYTHING_SDK_PATH": "path/to/Everything-SDK/dll/Everything64.dll"
    }
  }
}

"mcpServers": {
  "everything-search": {
    "command": "uvx",
    "args": ["mcp-server-everything-search"]
  }
}

Or if using pip installation:

"mcpServers": {
  "everything-search": {
    "command": "python",
    "args": ["-m", "mcp_server_everything_search"]
  }
}

Debugging

You can use the MCP inspector to debug the server. For uvx installations:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uvx mcp-server-everything-search

Or if you've installed the package in a specific directory or are developing on it:

git clone https://github.com/mamertofabian/mcp-everything-search.git
cd mcp-everything-search/src/mcp_server_everything_search
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv run mcp-server-everything-search

To view server logs:

Linux/macOS:

tail -f ~/.config/Claude/logs/mcp*.log

Windows (PowerShell):

Get-Content -Path "$env:APPDATA\Claude\logs\mcp*.log" -Tail 20 -Wait

Development

If you are doing local development, there are two ways to test your changes:

1. Run the MCP inspector to test your changes. See Debugging for run instructions.

2. Test using the Claude desktop app. Add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json:

"everything-search": {
  "command": "uv",
  "args": [
    "--directory",
    "/path/to/mcp-everything-search/src/mcp_server_everything_search",
    "run",
    "mcp-server-everything-search"
  ],
  "env": {
    "EVERYTHING_SDK_PATH": "path/to/Everything-SDK/dll/Everything64.dll"
  }
}

License

This MCP server is licensed under the MIT License. This means you are free to use, modify, and distribute the software, subject to the terms and conditions of the MIT License. For more details, please see the LICENSE file in the project repository.

Disclaimer

This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by voidtools (the creators of Everything search utility). This is an independent project that utilizes the publicly available Everything SDK.