Skip to content

Open-source MCP knowledge infrastructure

Build knowledge
your tools can
actually use.

Turn repositories, papers, documentation, and notebooks into a searchable knowledge base for agents, applications, and research teams.

Nancy Brain, a bright brain wearing sunglasses
Repositories Code, docs, READMEs, and notebooks
Research papers PDF extraction with external OCR support
Semantic retrieval Search and retrieve precise source passages
MCP + HTTP Serve agents, editors, and applications

Quick start

# Install
pip install nancy-brain

# Initialize a project
nancy-brain init my-knowledge-base
cd my-knowledge-base

# Edit config/repositories.yml to add your repos
nancy-brain build

# Search your knowledge base
nancy-brain search "machine learning algorithms"

Choose your route

01 / BUILD

Create an index

Install the package, configure source repositories, and build a local knowledge base.

Follow the quick start →
02 / CONNECT

Give agents access

Connect VS Code, Claude Desktop, Gemini, or another MCP-capable client.

Browse integrations →
03 / OPERATE

Run it persistently

Deploy the MCP and HTTP service with authentication, monitoring, and an admin UI.

Read the deployment guide →

Four ways in

Interface Best for
MCP Remote and local agent clients using Streamable HTTP or stdio
HTTP API Search, retrieve, tree, weighting, status, and custom applications
CLI Building, inspecting, testing, and querying indexes
Admin UI Operational inspection and controlled rebuilds

Start with the installation guide for prerequisites, use the research workflow for an end-to-end example, or go directly to the CLI reference.

Nancy Brain is named for Nancy Grace Roman, the astronomer who helped turn ambitious space observatories into working scientific infrastructure.