Almanac MCP Server

Almanac

A lightning-fast data access platform for AI Agents that leverages graph-enhanced retrieval (LightRAG) to make any data source instantly accessible.

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🚀 Quick Start

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/tryprotege/almanac.git
cd almanac
pnpm install

# Start everything (one command)
pnpm start

Open http://localhost:5173 to access the UI.

First-time setup:

1. You'll see a setup wizard if configuration is missing
2. Enter your LLM API key and settings via the UI
3. Click "Save Configuration" and restart

📚 Documentation

Comprehensive guides and tutorials are available in the docs directory:

Getting Started

• Installation Guide - Local development and Docker setup
• Quick Start - Your first query in 5 minutes
• Configuration - LLM models, API keys, and settings
• AI Clients - Connect Claude Desktop, Cline, ChatGPT

Core Concepts

• LightRAG Algorithm - Understanding the 5 query modes
• System Architecture - How Almanac works under the hood

Data Sources

• Custom MCP Servers - Build your own integrations
• Data Syncing - How data flows through Almanac

Query & Search

• API Reference - REST API endpoints and parameters
• Best Practices - Optimize your queries
• Query Examples - See all query modes in action

🎯 What Makes Almanac Different

• 🚀 10x Faster - Entity-based retrieval reduces tokens while improving accuracy
• 🔌 Zero Config - Automatically generates indexing for any MCP server
• 🧠 Smart Retrieval - 5 query modes (naive, local, global, hybrid, mix) adapt to your needs
• 📊 Graph-Enhanced - Understands relationships between entities, not just keywords
• ⚡ Production Ready - Parallel processing, multi-database architecture, built to scale

📦 Architecture

External APIs → MCP Servers → Almanac
                                ↓
                    [Syncing & Indexing]
                                ↓
                    ┌─────────────────────┐
                    │     Databases       │
                    │  - MongoDB (docs)   │
                    │  - Qdrant (vectors) │
                    │  - Memgraph (graph) │
                    │  - Redis (cache)    │
                    └─────────────────────┘
                                ↓
                    [LightRAG Query Engine]
                                ↓
                            Results

Monorepo Structure

almanac/
├── packages/
│   ├── client/          # React + Vite frontend
│   ├── server/          # Express.js backend
│   ├── shared-util/     # Shared utilities
│   ├── indexing-engine/ # LightRAG implementation
│   └── benchmark/       # Performance testing
├── docs/                # Full documentation
└── docker-compose.yml   # Infrastructure services

🗄️ Infrastructure Services

Service	Port	Purpose
Frontend	5173	Web UI
Backend	3000	REST API
MongoDB	27017	Document database
Qdrant	6333, 6334	Vector database
Memgraph	7687, 7444	Graph database
Redis	6379	Cache

🔧 Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 24.0.0
• pnpm >= 8.0.0
• Docker Desktop (or Docker Engine + Docker Compose v2.0+)
• 8GB RAM recommended (2GB minimum)

📚 Available Scripts

Quick Commands

# Start all services
pnpm start                  # Infrastructure + apps locally

# Development
pnpm dev                    # Run client + server in dev mode
pnpm build                  # Build all packages
pnpm test                   # Run all tests
pnpm type-check             # Type check all packages

# Docker options
pnpm run docker:infra       # Start databases only
pnpm run docker:dev         # Full Docker development mode
pnpm run docker:prod        # Full Docker production mode
pnpm run docker:down        # Stop all services

📚 View Full Docker Guide →

Sync and Benchmark Script

The scripts/syncAndBenchmark.sh script automates the complete workflow of wiping data, starting services, registering MCP servers, syncing records, indexing data, and running benchmarks.

Basic Usage:

./scripts/syncAndBenchmark.sh

Options:

• --mcp-servers=<server1,server2> - Specify which MCP servers to enable (comma-separated). Available servers: notion, github, fathom, slack. If not specified, all servers are enabled.
• --skip-benchmark - Skip running benchmark tests
• --skip-index-vector - Skip vector indexing
• --skip-index-graph - Skip graph indexing

Examples:

# Enable only GitHub and Notion servers
./scripts/syncAndBenchmark.sh --mcp-servers=github,notion

# Skip benchmark tests but run full indexing
./scripts/syncAndBenchmark.sh --skip-benchmark

# Enable only Slack, skip vector indexing
./scripts/syncAndBenchmark.sh --mcp-servers=slack --skip-index-vector

# Enable all servers, skip both indexing steps
./scripts/syncAndBenchmark.sh --skip-index-vector --skip-index-graph

# Full workflow with only GitHub and Fathom
./scripts/syncAndBenchmark.sh --mcp-servers=github,fathom

What the script does:

1. Wipes existing data from all databases
2. Starts the development server
3. Registers specified MCP servers (GitHub, Notion, Fathom, Slack)
4. Syncs records from registered MCP servers
5. Indexes vectors for semantic search (unless skipped)
6. Indexes graph relationships (unless skipped)
7. Runs benchmark tests (unless skipped)
8. Cleans up running processes

Package-Specific Scripts

Client Package:

cd packages/client
pnpm dev      # Start Vite dev server
pnpm build    # Build for production
pnpm preview  # Preview production build

Server Package:

cd packages/server
pnpm dev           # Start server with hot reload
pnpm build         # Build TypeScript
pnpm start         # Start production server
pnpm test          # Run tests

� Database Tools

Memgraph

• Download Memgraph Lab for visual graph database management
• Connect using Bolt protocol: bolt://localhost:7687

Qdrant

• Built-in web dashboard: http://localhost:6333/dashboard

MongoDB

• MongoDB Compass - official GUI client
• Connect: mongodb://admin:admin123@localhost:27017

📝 Environment Configuration

UI-Based Configuration (Recommended)

The easiest way to configure Almanac is through the web interface:

1. Start the application with pnpm start
2. Open http://localhost:5173
3. If configuration is missing, you'll see a setup wizard
4. Navigate to Settings → Environment to configure:
   • LLM Provider & API Key
   • Model selections (chat, embedding, indexing)
   • Optional: Reranker settings
   • Performance tuning (concurrency settings)
5. Click "Save Configuration" and restart the server

Manual Configuration

Alternatively, you can manually edit the .env file:

cp packages/server/.env.example packages/server/.env
# Edit packages/server/.env with your settings

Required Settings:

• LLM_API_KEY - Your LLM provider API key

Optional Settings:

• RERANKER_ENABLED - Enable reranking for better search results
• ENCRYPTION_KEY - Auto-generated if not provided
• Performance tuning (concurrency, batch sizes)

See packages/server/.env.example for all available options.

🤖 Connect AI Clients

Almanac exposes an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that allows AI clients to directly access your indexed data:

• Claude Desktop - Connect via MCP configuration
• Cline (VS Code) - Integrate with your development workflow
• ChatGPT - Use Developer Mode (requires public server)

View AI Client Setup Guide →

Once connected, your AI assistant can search across all your data sources using natural language queries.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the terms specified in the LICENSE file.

🔗 Links

• Documentation: docs.tryprotege.com
• GitHub: github.com/tryprotege/almanac
• LightRAG Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2410.05779

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