Alexandria MCP Server

Semantic search over **4.6 million text chunks** from 20,000+ classical philosophy and humanities works. Built for AI agents using

Remote serverstreamable-httpPython

What is the Alexandria MCP MCP server?

Semantic search over 4.6 million text chunks from 20,000+ classical philosophy and humanities works. Built for AI agents using FastMCP over HTTP. The alexandria mcp mcp server wraps that behind the Model Context Protocol, so an assistant can use it through 3 defined tools rather than through you.

Adding it to your client

Being a remote server, there is no local install. You register the endpoint with your client, authorise it once, and the tools appear.

Its toolset

Everything the assistant can do here goes through one of these:

  • search_texts — Search the collection using natural language. Uses hybrid dense+sparse retrieval with cross-encoder reranking
  • get_book_list — List books in the collection filtered by author, subject or language
  • ping — The ping tool exposed by this server

Configuration

You will need one environment variable: QDRANT_HOST. Keep credentials in your client's env block or a secrets manager rather than in a file you might commit.

Caveats

  • Your data travels to the provider's service, so the usual questions apply about what you send and what they retain.
  • MCP clients confirm each tool call by default. Leave that on until you have watched what the alexandria mcp mcp server does with a few real requests.

When to reach for it

Among the developer tooling options, the useful question is rarely "what can it do" but "what does it cost you to run" — permissions, credentials, and how much of your context its toolset consumes. Alexandria MCP's toolset — search_texts, get_book_list, ping — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by aidatanordic; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

This entry was verified against Alexandria MCP's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
search_textsSearch the collection using natural language. Uses hybrid dense+sparse retrieval with cross-encoder reranking.
get_book_listList books in the collection filtered by author, subject or language.
pingThe ping tool exposed by this server.

How to install the Alexandria MCP MCP server

**Via MCP config:**
```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alexandria": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://alexandria.aidatanorge.no/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.

Configuration

VariableDescriptionRequired
QDRANT_HOSTEndpoint or connection string the server talks to.Optional

Example prompts to try

  • Use Alexandria MCP to search texts.
  • Use Alexandria MCP to get book list.
  • Use Alexandria MCP to ping.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Alexandria MCP to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 3 tools (search_texts, get_book_list, ping) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Alexandria MCP directly.