Criterion MCP Server

Criterion MCP server is a locally run integration for AI assistants that speak the Model Context Protocol. Semantic search across 6,236 Quran verses and 12,416 authentic Hadiths for Islamic guidance.

What you get

Setting it up

Setup follows the usual MCP pattern — install or clone the server, register it in your client's configuration file, restart the client.

What the assistant can call

Once Criterion is connected, these are the calls the assistant has available:

• Data — The Data tool exposed by this server
• Performance — The Performance tool exposed by this server
• Prerequisites — The Prerequisites tool exposed by this server
• Installation — The Installation tool exposed by this server
• Development — The Development tool exposed by this server
• Database — The Database tool exposed by this server

Configuration and credentials

You will need 4 environment variables: POSTGRES_URL, XAI_API_KEY, GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY, AUTH_SECRET. The server will not start without them, which is usually why the tools fail to appear on a first run. Keep credentials in your client's env block or a secrets manager rather than in a file you might commit.

• Node.js 18+ and pnpm - PostgreSQL database (recommend Neon) - API Keys: - XAI API Key (for Grok LLM) - Google AI Studio API Key (for embeddings)

Before you rely on it

• It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
• Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
• MCP clients confirm each tool call by default. Leave that on until you have watched what the criterion mcp server does with a few real requests.

Choosing this one

Plenty of database access servers cover similar ground. The differences that matter in practice are scope of access and how much setup stands between you and a working tool call. Criterion's toolset — Data, Performance, Prerequisites and 3 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by BalajSaleem; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

We check each listing at SyncDev against the project's documentation before it goes live — if something here drifts out of date, it is a bug worth reporting.