Algolia MCP
About
MCP is an experimental Model Context Protocol server that enables AI assistants to interact with Algolia APIs for search, indexing, analytics, and administration tasks. It is built for developers and AI enthusiasts who want to control Algolia directly from tools like Claude…
Details
- Author
- algolia
- GitHub stars
- 28
- Downloads
- 248
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- Enables natural‑language interaction with Algolia APIs via MCP.
- Supports both stdio and SSE transport protocols.
- Includes tools for search, indexing, analytics, A/B testing, and recommendations.
- Allows selective tool activation through the MCP_ENABLED_TOOLS environment variable.
- Works with Claude Desktop, Ollama, and any MCP‑compatible client.
Setting up with Highlight
This MCP is not yet compatible with Highlight’s one-click setup. However, you can still use it with Highlight by following these steps:
- Download and install Highlight from highlightai.com/download
- Navigate to the plugins tab and select "Add Custom Plugin"
-
Configure the plugin with the settings below
Plugin Name
Algolia MCPCommand (node, npx, python, etc.)Please refer to the README for specific instructions on how to obtain API keys or other required environment variables.
- Enable "Start Automatically" if you want the plugin to start when Highlight launches
From the repository
Clone the repository, build the Go binary, then configure it as an MCP server in Claude Desktop by adding the binary path and Algolia credentials to the mcpServers JSON settings. Optionally set MCP_ENABLED_TOOLS to restrict which tools are available, or switch to SSE transport via MCP_SERVER_TYPE. You can also run MCP with the MCP Inspector for debugging or with Ollama using the mcphost CLI.
Claude Desktop / Cursor
Paste into your MCP client config file to install this server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"algolia mcp": {
"mcp-algolia": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"@modelcontextprotocol/inspector",
"./mcp"
]
}
}
}
}McpServers
{
"mcp-algolia": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"@modelcontextprotocol/inspector",
"./mcp"
]
}
}Setup the prototype Algolia MCP server
Requirements:
Go (https://go.dev/doc/install)
Clone the repo and build the server
Clone the repo, amd build the mcp server:
$ git clone git@github.com:algolia/mcp.git
$ cd mcp/cmd/mcp
$ go build
$ pwd
/path/to/the/repo/cmd/mcp
__NOTE:__ When adding this command to your configuration, you must specify the binary along with the path (/path/to/the/repo/cmd/mcp/mcp)
Update the settings to point to the new server
In Claude desktop edit the settings as per https://modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/user#2-add-the-filesystem-mcp-server and this time add the server definition for algolia (using the server path that you found earlier).
{
"mcpServers": {
"algolia": {
"command": "/path/to/the/repo/cmd/mcp/mcp",
"env": {
"ALGOLIA_APP_ID": "<APP_ID>",
"ALGOLIA_INDEX_NAME": "<INDEX_NAME>",
"ALGOLIA_API_KEY": "<API_KEY>",
"ALGOLIA_WRITE_API_KEY": "<ADMIN_API_KEY>", / if you want to allow write operations, use your ADMIN key here /
"MCP_ENABLED_TOOLS": "", / optional: specify which tools to enable (e.g., "search,collections") /
"MCP_SERVER_TYPE": "stdio", / optional: server type, either "stdio" (default) or "sse". If not set, defaults to "stdio" /
"MCP_SSE_PORT": "8080" / optional: port for SSE server, default is 8080 (only used when MCP_SERVER_TYPE is "sse") */
}
}
}
}
By default, all available tools are enabled when MCP_ENABLED_TOOLS is empty or not set. If you want to enable only specific tools, you can set this variable to a comma-separated list of tool names. Available tools are: abtesting, analytics, collections, monitoring, querysuggestions, recommend, search, search_read, search_write, usage.
- search: Enables all search operations (both read and write)
- search_read: Enables only read operations (list indices, get settings, run queries, get objects)
- search_write: Enables only write operations (clear, copy, delete, move, set settings, delete objects, insert objects)
Restart Claude desktop, and you should see a new "algolia" tool is available.
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