Grep
About
Exposes the system grep binary's functionality for searching files with regular expressions, supporting common options like case-insensitive matching, context lines, and recursive directory searching.
Details
- Author
- erniebrodeur
- Repository
- erniebrodeur/mcp-grep
- GitHub stars
- 1
- Downloads
- 2,710
- License
- GNU General Public License v3.0
- Categories
- Developer Tools, Design, File Management, AI, Search, Infrastructure, Knowledge Base, Other
Jump to
- Information about the system grep binary (path, version, supported features)
- Search for patterns in files using regular expressions
- Support for common grep options:
- Case-insensitive matching
- Context lines (before and after matches)
- Maximum match count
- Fixed string matching (non-regex)
- Recursive directory searching
- Natural language prompt understanding for easier use with LLMs
- Interactive debugging and testing through MCP Inspector
Setting up with Highlight
This MCP is not yet compatible with Highlight’s one-click setup. However, you can still use it with Highlight by following these steps:
- Download and install Highlight from highlightai.com/download
- Navigate to the plugins tab and select "Add Custom Plugin"
-
Configure the plugin with the settings below
Plugin Name
GrepCommand (node, npx, python, etc.)npxArguments-
Argument 1
-y -
Argument 2
@highlight/mcp-server
Please refer to the README for specific instructions on how to obtain API keys or other required environment variables.
-
Argument 1
- Enable "Start Automatically" if you want the plugin to start when Highlight launches
From the repository
MCP-Grep runs as a server that can be used by MCP-compatible clients:
To install Grep Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:
npx -y @smithery/cli install @erniebrodeur/mcp-grep --client claude
pip install mcp-grep
Using the MCP Python client:
from mcp.client import MCPClient
pip install -e ".[dev]"
grep
Searches for patterns in files using the system grep binary. Parameters: pattern (string), paths (array of strings), ignore_case (boolean, optional), recursive (boolean, optional)
Claude Desktop / Cursor
Paste into your MCP client config file to install this server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"grep": {
"env": {},
"args": [
"-y",
"@highlight/mcp-server"
],
"command": "npx"
}
}
}Linux
{
"env": [],
"args": [
"-y",
"@highlight/mcp-server"
],
"command": "npx"
}Macos
{
"env": [],
"args": [
"-y",
"@highlight/mcp-server"
],
"command": "npx"
}Windows
{
"env": [],
"args": [
"/c",
"npx",
"-y",
"@highlight/mcp-server"
],
"command": "cmd"
}MCP-Grep
A grep server implementation that exposes grep functionality through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
Installation
Installing via Smithery
To install Grep Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:
npx -y @smithery/cli install @erniebrodeur/mcp-grep --client claude
Manual Installation
pip install mcp-grep
Usage
MCP-Grep runs as a server that can be used by MCP-compatible clients:
```bash
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