Open Notebook MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects AI assistants to your Open Notebook instance. Manage notebooks, sources, notes, search content, chat, and configure AI models — all through natural language. Writen in Go

Features

The server exposes 25 tools organized into the following categories:

📒 Notebooks

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | list_notebooks | List all notebooks with optional filtering by archived status and ordering | | get_notebook | Retrieve a specific notebook by ID | | create_notebook | Create a new notebook with name and description | | update_notebook | Update notebook name, description, or archived status | | delete_notebook | Delete a notebook |

📄 Sources

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | list_sources | List sources with optional filtering by notebook, pagination | | get_source | Retrieve a specific source by ID | | create_source | Create a new source (link, upload, or text) with optional embedding | | update_source | Update a source title or topics | | delete_source | Delete a source |

📝 Notes

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | list_notes | List notes with optional filtering by notebook, pagination | | get_note | Retrieve a specific note by ID | | create_note | Create a new note with title and content | | update_note | Update note title, content, or topics | | delete_note | Delete a note |

🔍 Search & Q&A

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | search | Search content using vector or text search, optionally scoped to a notebook | | ask_question | Ask a question with full control over strategy, answer, and synthesis models | | ask_simple | Simplified question interface with the same model options |

🤖 Models

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | list_models | List all configured AI models | | get_model | Retrieve a specific model configuration | | create_model | Create a new AI model configuration (provider, type) | | delete_model | Delete a model configuration | | get_default_models | Get default model configurations |

💬 Chat

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | list_chat_sessions | List chat sessions, optionally filtered by notebook | | create_chat_session | Create a new chat session within a notebook | | get_chat_session | Retrieve a specific chat session | | update_chat_session | Update a chat session title | | delete_chat_session | Delete a chat session | | execute_chat | Send a message in a chat session and get a response | | get_chat_context | Build context for a chat conversation |

⚙️ Settings

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | get_settings | Get application settings | | update_settings | Update application settings |

🔎 Meta

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | search_capabilities | Search available tools with progressive detail levels (name, summary, full) |

Installation

Prerequisites

Go 1.23 or later
A running Open Notebook instance

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/lib4u/open-notebook-mcp
cd open-notebook-mcp
go build -o open-notebook-mcp .

This produces a single binary open-notebook-mcp that you can place anywhere on your system.

Configuration

The server is configured via environment variables:

| Variable | Default | Description | |---|---|---| | OPEN_NOTEBOOK_URL | http://localhost:5055 | Base URL of your Open Notebook instance | | OPEN_NOTEBOOK_PASSWORD | (empty) | Authentication token (if your instance requires it) | | MCP_TRANSPORT | stdio | Transport mode: stdio or streamable-http | | HOST | 127.0.0.1 | Host to bind (streamable-http only) | | PORT | 8000 | Port to listen on (streamable-http only) | | MCP_PATH | /mcp | HTTP endpoint path (streamable-http only) |

Usage with AI Clients

Claude Desktop

Add the following to your Claude Desktop config file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "open-notebook": {
      "command": "/path-to-binary/open-notebook-mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "OPEN_NOTEBOOK_URL": "http://localhost:5055",
        "OPEN_NOTEBOOK_PASSWORD": "your_password_if_needed"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Open Settings → MCP and add a new server. In your .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "open-notebook": {
      "command": "/path-to-binary/open-notebook-mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "OPEN_NOTEBOOK_URL": "http://localhost:5055",
        "OPEN_NOTEBOOK_PASSWORD": "your_password_if_needed"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: Replace /path-to-binary/open-notebook-mcp with the actual path to your compiled binary.

Streamable HTTP Mode

For remote or shared deployments, you can run the server in HTTP mode:

MCP_TRANSPORT=streamable-http \
OPEN_NOTEBOOK_URL=http://localhost:5055 \
HOST=0.0.0.0 \
PORT=8000 \
./open-notebook-mcp

The MCP endpoint will be available at http://<host>:<port>/mcp.

License

MIT

MCP Servers