Jane - Knowledge Management for AI Teams

Jane is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that transforms your team's documentation into an AI-accessible knowledge base. Built with TypeScript and the official MCP SDK, Jane allows Claude and other MCP-compatible clients to search, access, and manage your standard library documentation and project specifications with SQLite-powered performance.

Perfect for development teams who want to:

• 📚 Make their documentation instantly searchable by AI assistants
• 🔍 Quickly find APIs, coding standards, and architectural decisions
• 📝 Keep project specifications and requirements accessible
• 🚀 Onboard new team members faster with searchable knowledge

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ and npm 8+
• MCP-compatible client: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or custom MCP client
• 5 minutes for setup and first successful query

Quick Start

Get Jane running with your first successful query in 3 steps:

1. Install and Build

git clone <repository-url>
cd jane-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

2. Test the Server

npm start

✅ You should see: "Jane MCP server is running and ready for connections"
Press Ctrl+C to stop when you see this message.

3. Connect to Claude Desktop

Add Jane to your Claude Desktop configuration:

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jane": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/jane-mcp-server/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Important: Replace /absolute/path/to/jane-mcp-server/dist/index.js with your actual absolute path.

Restart Claude Desktop and look for the 📎 (attachment) icon in the input field to access Jane's tools.

Key Features

• 🔍 Smart Document Search: SQLite-powered full-text search with intelligent indexing that only processes new/modified documents
• 🤖 AI-Native Integration: Seamlessly works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and custom MCP clients
• 📊 Performance Optimized: Context window preservation through efficient SQLite database storage
• 📁 Flexible Organization: Supports both standard library docs and project specifications
• ⚡ Zero Configuration: Works out of the box with sensible defaults and automatic setup

Usage Examples

For Development Teams

API Documentation Management:

"Search for authentication endpoints in our API docs"
→ Jane finds and returns relevant REST API specifications

Team Knowledge Sharing:

"Show me our coding standards for TypeScript"
→ Jane retrieves team-specific development guidelines

Technical Specifications:

"Find the database schema requirements for the user service"
→ Jane searches project specs and returns architecture details

Document Types Jane Manages

• Standard Library Docs (stdlib): Language-specific documentation (JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, etc.)
• Project Specifications (specs): Requirements, architecture docs, API specs, team guidelines

MCP Tools

Jane provides 7 MCP tools for comprehensive document management:

Discovery Tools

• list_stdlibs - Browse available programming languages and their documentation
• list_specs - Explore your project specifications and technical docs
• search - Full-text search across all documents with filtering options

Document Access

• get_stdlib - Retrieve specific standard library documentation
• get_spec - Access project specifications and technical documents

Content Management

• create_document - Add new documentation with structured metadata
• update_document - Modify existing documents and their metadata

Integration Guides

Claude Desktop Setup

1. Build Jane (if not done already):

   npm run build
   

2. Find your absolute path:

   pwd
   # Copy the output, you'll need: /that/path/dist/index.js
   

3. Update Claude Desktop config with the JSON above

4. Restart Claude Desktop completely (quit and reopen)

5. Test the integration:

   • Look for the 📎 icon in the input area
   • Select "jane" from the MCP servers dropdown
   • Try: "List available standard libraries"

Claude Code Integration

Add Jane as an MCP server to Claude Code:

# Add Jane MCP server to Claude Code
claude mcp add jane node /absolute/path/to/jane-mcp-server/dist/index.js

# Start Claude Code interactive session
claude

Verify the connection:

# List configured MCP servers
claude mcp list

# Test Jane integration
> /mcp
# Select "jane" from the interactive menu to verify connection

Configuration

Document Structure

Jane organizes documents in a clear hierarchy:

Jane/
├── stdlib/              # Standard library documentation
│   ├── javascript/      # Language-specific folders
│   ├── typescript/
│   └── python/
└── specs/               # Project specifications
    ├── project1/        # Project-specific folders
    └── project2/

SQLite Database

• Location: ./document-index.db (automatically created)
• Technology: SQLite FTS5 for full-text search
• Smart Indexing: Only processes new/modified documents on startup
• Performance: Maintains document metadata and content for fast queries

Document Format

All documents use Markdown with YAML frontmatter:

---
title: "Document Title"
description: "Brief description"
author: "Author Name"
tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
---

# Document Content

Your markdown content here...

Document Management with Symlinks

For teams who want to keep their documentation private and separate from the MCP server repository:

Setup Private Document Storage

# Create your private Jane documents directory
mkdir -p ~/Documents/Jane/{stdlib,specs}

# Remove default Jane directory (if it exists)
rm -rf ~/dev/jane-mcp-server/Jane

# Create symlink from MCP server to your private docs
ln -s ~/Documents/Jane ~/dev/jane-mcp-server/Jane

Benefits

• Privacy: Keep your docs separate from the open-source MCP server
• Backup: Back up docs independently from the server code
• Team Sharing: Share docs privately while using the same server setup
• Git Cleanliness: Avoid committing sensitive documentation to the MCP server repo

Usage

After setting up the symlink, Jane will automatically use your private documents from ~/Documents/Jane while the server accesses them through the symlink. You can add .gitignore entry for Jane/ to prevent accidentally committing your private docs.

Development

# Development mode with hot reload
npm run dev

# Run tests
npm test

# Lint code
npm run lint

# Check SQLite database
sqlite3 document-index.db "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM documents;"

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

🚫 "Jane server not appearing in MCP list"

• Verify the absolute path in your Claude Desktop config
• Ensure Node.js is accessible: node --version
• Restart Claude Desktop completely
• Check server builds successfully: npm run build

🚫 "No documents found"

• Verify Jane directory exists: ls -la Jane/
• Check file permissions are readable
• Run diagnostics: npx tsx tests/jane-diagnostics.ts

🚫 "SQLite database errors"

• Check database permissions in project directory
• Reset database: rm document-index.db && npm start
• Verify disk space availability

🚫 "Document appears in search but not retrievable"

• Document exists in SQLite index but not on filesystem
• Run: npm start to resync database with filesystem
• Check for file permission issues

Diagnostic Commands

# Test server startup
timeout 10s npm start
echo $? # Should be 124 (timeout) for successful startup

# Run comprehensive diagnostics
npx tsx tests/jane-diagnostics.ts

# Inspect SQLite database
sqlite3 document-index.db ".tables"
sqlite3 document-index.db "SELECT type, path, title FROM documents LIMIT 10;"

# Check document structure
find Jane/ -name "*.md" | head -5

Getting Help

• Integration Issues: Check the integration guide for your specific MCP client
• Performance Problems: Review the SQLite configuration and document indexing
• Document Management: See the MCP tools reference and usage examples

License

MIT