What is Mcp Memex

mcp-memex is a tool designed for the Model Context Protocol (MCP) that enables users to analyze web content and integrate it into their knowledge base, inspired by Vannevar Bush’s original Memex concept.

Use cases

Use cases for mcp-memex include academic research, content summarization, and knowledge management, allowing users to ask questions and retrieve information efficiently from their curated knowledge base.

How to use

To use mcp-memex, install it via pip, configure your API keys in the ‘claude_desktop_config.json’ file, and start by asking Claude a question with a list of URLs for reference. The results will be stored in your Obsidian vault.

Key features

Key features of mcp-memex include the ability to analyze web content, store knowledge as Markdown files, and interact with various APIs such as Claude, FireCrawl, and Voyage for enhanced data retrieval.

Where to use

mcp-memex can be used in various fields including research, education, and content creation, where there is a need to gather and organize information from the web.

Memex for Model Context Protocol

Memex is a tool for Model Context Protocol (MCP) that allows you to analyze web content and add it to your knowledge base.

The tool was inspired by the Memex project by Vannevar Bush.

Requirements

You will need API keys for the following services:

• Claude API
• FireCrawl API
• Voyage API

The knowledge base produced by this tool is stored as Markdown files so they can be viewed with any Markdown viewer but Obsidian is recommended.

Installation

pip install mcp-memex

Add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json and replace the placeholders with the actual paths and API keys:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "memex": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "PATH_TO_LOCAL_MEMEX_REPO",
        "run",
        "mcp-memex",
        "--index",
        "PATH_TO_MEMEX_INDEX",
        "--workspace",
        "PATH_TO_OBSIDIAN_VAULT"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "YOUR-API-KEY",
        "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY": "YOUR-API-KEY",
        "VOYAGE_API_KEY": "YOUR-API-KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Usage

Start by asking Claude a question with a list of URLs to reference.

What is the capital of France? "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France"

Once Claude has finished analyzing the content, you will see the results in your Obsidian vault. You can then ask questions about the content and Memex will use the knowledge base to answer your questions.

What is the capital of France?

Development

To run the tool locally, you can use the following command:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector \
  uv \
  --directory PATH_TO_LOCAL_MEMEX_REPO \
  run \
  mcp-memex \
  --index PATH_TO_MEMEX_INDEX \
  --workspace PATH_TO_OBSIDIAN_VAULT

Then open the inspector and connect to the server.

http://localhost:5173?timeout=30000