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