MCP Repo Search

MCP server that clones a Git repo into a temp directory so Cursor (or other MCP clients) can search and read files from another repo for context. The clone is removed automatically after 5 minutes of inactivity.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Git installed and on PATH
• MCP host (e.g. Cursor)

Install

Option A – From npm (recommended if you published the package):

# Global install (anyone can use it)
npm install -g mcp-repo-search

Option B – With npx (no install; runs from npm cache):

No install. Use npx mcp-repo-search in Cursor config below.

Option C – From source (clone this repo):

cd mcp-repo-search
npm install
npm run build

Cursor configuration

If you installed globally or use npx, add to your MCP config (e.g. .cursor/mcp.json or Cursor Settings → MCP):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "repo-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-repo-search"]
    }
  }
}

Or with global install:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "repo-search": {
      "command": "mcp-repo-search"
    }
  }
}

If you use a local clone, use the absolute path to the built entry point:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "repo-search": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-repo-search/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Example path on macOS/Linux: /Users/you/projects/multi-repo-mcp/mcp-repo-search/build/index.js

---

Tools

Tool	Description
ensure_repo	Clone a repo (or reuse existing clone). Call this first with repoUrl (and optional branch). Resets the idle timer.
get_repo_status	Whether a repo is cloned, its path, URL, and idle TTL. Does not clone.
read_file	Read a file from the clone (path relative to repo root). Max 512 KB. Resets timer.
list_directory	List files and dirs under a path (default "."). Resets timer.
search_repo	Text/regex search in the clone. Optional path and fileGlob (e.g. *.ts). Resets timer.

Typical flow: run ensure_repo with the repo URL, then use search_repo, read_file, or list_directory to pull context.

Environment (optional)

• MCP_REPO_SEARCH_TTL_SECONDS – Idle timeout in seconds before the clone is deleted (default: 300, i.e. 5 minutes).
• MCP_REPO_SEARCH_TEMP_DIR – Base directory for clones (default: os.tmpdir()/mcp-repo-search).

Private repos

Git auth is not handled by this server. For private repos, rely on system Git config (e.g. credential helper, SSH keys, or GIT_ASKPASS). Clone is done with a shallow --depth 1 and optional --branch.

Logging

The server logs to stderr only (stdout is used for MCP JSON-RPC). Check your MCP client’s server logs (e.g. Cursor’s MCP server log) for errors.