Knowledge Base MCP Server Setup

Connect Claude Code directly to the Knowledge Base MCP server to search and retrieve Knowledge Base Documents from your terminal.

Already connected to the Framework MCP server for planning work? You likely don’t need this — its knowledge_ask tool already proxies into the Knowledge Base for you. Connect directly to the Knowledge Base MCP server only if you want Knowledge Base search/retrieval from a session or client that isn’t otherwise talking to the Framework MCP server. See Knowledge Base MCP Server: Overview for the full comparison.

Step 1: Get your server URL

Unlike the Framework MCP server, there’s currently no organization settings page that generates a pre-filled connection command for the Knowledge Base MCP server — you’ll need the URL from your administrator or deployment:

Local development: http://localhost:8082 (the server’s default port).
Production: https://kbmcp.engineeringframework.dev — the hosted Knowledge Base MCP server. If your organization runs its own deployment, ask your administrator for that URL instead.

Step 2: Add MCP Server to Claude Code

Run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add knowledge-base --transport http <your-kb-mcp-server-url>/mcp

Or add this to your .claude/settings.json manually:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "knowledge-base": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "<your-kb-mcp-server-url>/mcp",
      "note": "Engineering Framework Knowledge Base"
    }
  }
}

There’s currently no automatic token exchange — you’ll need a valid bearer token supplied manually (e.g. by an administrator) before you can connect. There isn’t yet a self-serve way to obtain one.

Step 3: Add to your CLAUDE.md (optional)

If you want standing context so Claude reaches for the Knowledge Base without being asked, add a section like this to your repository’s CLAUDE.md:

## Knowledge Base

You have access to the Knowledge Base MCP server for searching prior
engineering decisions, guides, and process docs.

- Use `ask` to search when the user asks "have we done this before?",
  "is there prior art for X?", or before proposing a design/decision that
  might already be documented.
- Use `get_by_id` to retrieve a specific Document's full content once you
  have its `documentId` from an `ask` result.
- Results are already filtered to what you're authorized to see — an empty
  result set means no matching Documents exist (or none you can view), not a
  broken connection.

See Searching & Asking the Knowledge Base for the full parameter reference for ask and get_by_id.

Step 4: Verify your setup

In your terminal, navigate to your repository
Ensure .claude/settings.json has been updated with the MCP server config
Run claude to start a session
Try: “Search the Knowledge Base for anything about <a topic you know is documented>”

If the connection fails, confirm the URL includes the /mcp path and that your session has access to the same tenant the Knowledge Base MCP server is configured against — it’s the same login you use for the Engineering Framework dashboard.

Using a different AI coding tool instead of Claude Code? See Connecting Other AI Tools for OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, and Gemini CLI configuration.

Overview

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Framework MCP Server

Permissions & Roles

Documentation (in progress)

Knowledge Base