MCP-KD Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for managing OpenText Knowledge Discovery content engines.

This server exposes Content Engine administration tasks as MCP tools, allowing AI assistants to create databases, delete databases, list databases, delete documents, query engine status, and manage engine configuration — all through natural language.

Features

• Pure Python 3.10+ — no external MCP SDK required (JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdio)
• Multi-engine support with an active engine concept
• Hot-reload configuration at runtime
• HTTPS with custom CA bundle support
• Docker-ready (see Docker section below)

Available Tools

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10 or later
• httpx package (pip install httpx)
• Access to a running OpenText Knowledge Discovery content engine with HTTPS

1. Clone & Configure

git clone <repo-url>
cd mcp-kd

Copy the example config and edit it with your engine details:

cp config.json.example config.json

Edit config.json:

{
  "active": "content1",
  "engines": {
    "content1": {
      "host": "content-engine-host.example.com",
      "index_port": 9101,
      "aci_port": 9000,
      "ssl_cert": "/certs/bundle.crt",
      "verify_ssl": true
    }
  },
  "request_timeout": 30,
  "log_level": "INFO"
}

2. Install Dependencies

pip install httpx>=0.27.0

If using a virtual environment:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Prepare SSL Certificate

Place your content engine's CA certificate bundle at the path specified in config.json (ssl_cert):

mkdir -p certs
cp /path/to/your/bundle.crt certs/

4. Run the Server

python3 server.py

The server listens on stdin/stdout using the MCP JSON-RPC 2.0 protocol. It is designed to be launched by an MCP host (VS Code, Claude Desktop, etc.).

VS Code Integration

Add this to .vscode/mcp.json in your project:

{
  "servers": {
    "mcp-kd": {
      "command": "/usr/bin/python3",
      "args": ["/path/to/mcp-kd/server.py"],
      "env": { "PYTHONUNBUFFERED": "1" }
    }
  }
}

Reload the VS Code window (Developer: Reload Window) and mcp-kd will appear in the MCP Servers view.

Docker

Build

docker build -t mcp-kd:latest .

Run with Docker Compose

docker compose up -d

The docker-compose.yml mounts config.json and the certs/ directory as volumes so you can update them without rebuilding the image.

Run with Docker CLI

docker run -i \
  -v $(pwd)/config.json:/app/config.json:ro \
  -v $(pwd)/certs:/certs:ro \
  mcp-kd:latest

The -i flag (stdin open) is required — MCP communicates via stdio.

Architecture

┌──────────────┐     stdio/JSON-RPC      ┌──────────────┐     HTTPS/REST     ┌─────────────────┐
│  MCP Host    │ ◄──────────────────────► │  server.py   │ ◄────────────────► │  Content Engine │
│ (VS Code,    │                          │  (MCP-KD)    │                    │  (OpenText KD)  │
│  Claude, etc)│                          └──────┬───────┘                    └─────────────────┘
└──────────────┘                                 │
                                          ┌──────▼───────┐
                                          │ content_engine.py │
                                          │ (REST client)     │
                                          └──────────────────┘

• `server.py` — MCP protocol layer: parses JSON-RPC requests, routes to tool handlers, returns responses
• `content_engine.py` — REST API client: manages HTTPS connections, maps tool calls to Content Engine index/admin actions

Multi-Engine Support

Define multiple engines in config.json and switch between them at runtime by providing the engine_name parameter in tool calls:

{
  "active": "content1",
  "engines": {
    "content1": { "host": "engine1.example.com", "index_port": 9101, "aci_port": 9000 },
    "content2": { "host": "engine2.example.com", "index_port": 9101, "aci_port": 9000 }
  }
}

Pass "engine_name": "content2" to target a specific engine. Omit it to use the active engine.

Project Structure

mcp-kd/
├── server.py              # MCP server (JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdio)
├── content_engine.py      # Content Engine REST API client
├── config.json            # Engine configuration (git-ignored)
├── config.json.example    # Example config with placeholder values
├── requirements.txt       # Python dependencies
├── Dockerfile             # Docker image definition
├── docker-compose.yml     # Docker Compose configuration
├── .gitignore             # Git ignore rules
├── .dockerignore          # Docker build ignore rules
├── test_smoke.py          # Smoke test for the MCP server
├── instructions/          # Reference docs for Content Engine actions
│   ├── goal.md
│   ├── createDb.md
│   ├── deleteDb.md
│   ├── getstatus.md
│   └── general-instructions.md
└── certs/                 # SSL certificate bundles (git-ignored)
    └── bundle.crt

License

This project is provided as-is for managing OpenText Knowledge Discovery content engines.