MCP Integration

Connect AI assistants to Sercha using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This allows AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot to search your indexed documents directly.

Accurate as of April 2026

Prerequisites - Before you start, make sure you have:

• A running Sercha instance with indexed content
• For remote clients (Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Copilot): HTTPS and a public URL
• For Claude Desktop: Node.js installed (for npx)

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Available Tools

Sercha exposes three MCP tools that AI assistants can use:

Tool	Description	Scope
search	Search across all indexed documents using hybrid (BM25 + semantic) search	mcp:search
get_document	Retrieve the full content and metadata of a document by ID	mcp:documents:read
list_sources	List all available document sources	mcp:sources:list

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Your MCP Server URL

For local development:

http://localhost:8080/mcp

For production (required for Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Copilot):

https://your-sercha-domain.com/mcp

warning

Claude.ai, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot connect from their cloud infrastructure. Your Sercha instance must be publicly accessible over HTTPS for these clients to work.

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Client Setup

Claude.ai

Connect Sercha to Claude.ai to search your documents from the web interface.

For Pro and Max Plans

1. Open Connectors settings

Click your profile icon, then go to Customize → Connectors.

2. Add a custom connector

Click the + button, then select Add custom connector.

3. Enter your Sercha MCP URL

https://your-sercha-domain.com/mcp

4. Configure OAuth (optional)

Expand Advanced settings to enter OAuth credentials if you want automatic authentication:

Field	Value
OAuth Client ID	(leave blank for dynamic registration)
OAuth Client Secret	(leave blank for dynamic registration)

tip

You can leave OAuth fields blank. Sercha supports Dynamic Client Registration, so Claude.ai will automatically register as a client.

5. Click Add

The connector is now configured.

6. Enable in conversations

In any conversation, click + → Connectors and toggle Sercha on.

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For Team and Enterprise Plans

Admin setup (Owners only):

1. Go to Organization settings → Connectors
2. Click Add
3. Select Custom → Web
4. Enter your Sercha MCP URL
5. Configure OAuth in Advanced settings (optional)
6. Click Add

Member access:

1. Go to Customize → Connectors
2. Find the Sercha connector (labeled "Custom")
3. Click Connect to authenticate

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Limitations

Plan	Custom Connector Limit
Free	1 connector
Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise	Multiple connectors

Claude Desktop

Connect Sercha to Claude Desktop using a local configuration file.

1. Locate your config file

OS	Path
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows	%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Create the file if it doesn't exist.

2. Add the Sercha MCP server

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sercha": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "http://localhost:8080/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace http://localhost:8080 with your Sercha server URL if different.

tip

For remote servers, use HTTPS:

"args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://your-sercha-domain.com/mcp"]

3. Restart Claude Desktop

Quit Claude Desktop completely and reopen it.

4. Authenticate

On first use, mcp-remote opens your browser for OAuth:

1. Browser opens to Sercha login
2. Log in and approve MCP permissions
3. Return to Claude Desktop

The token is cached in ~/.mcp-auth/ — you won't need to re-authenticate unless it expires or is revoked.

5. Verify connection

Ask Claude:

"What MCP tools do you have access to?"

You should see search, get_document, and list_sources from Sercha.

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Troubleshooting

"client not found" error

This happens when OAuth credentials are cached but the client no longer exists in Sercha (e.g., after a database reset).

Fix: Delete the cached credentials and restart Claude Desktop:

macOS/Linux

rm -rf ~/.mcp-auth/

Windows

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\.mcp-auth"

Tools not appearing

1. Verify Claude Desktop was fully restarted
2. Check claude_desktop_config.json is valid JSON
3. Ensure Node.js is installed: node --version

ChatGPT

Connect Sercha to ChatGPT using OpenAI's MCP support.

info

ChatGPT connects to MCP servers from OpenAI's cloud infrastructure. Your Sercha instance must be publicly accessible over HTTPS.

1. Open ChatGPT settings

Click your profile icon → Settings → Connected apps (or similar, depending on UI version).

2. Add a new MCP server

Look for an option to add a custom app or MCP server.

3. Enter your Sercha MCP URL

https://your-sercha-domain.com/mcp

4. Authenticate

ChatGPT will redirect you to Sercha for OAuth authorization:

1. Log in to Sercha
2. Approve the requested permissions
3. You're redirected back to ChatGPT

5. Use in conversations

Once connected, ChatGPT can call Sercha tools when relevant to your prompts.

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Requirements

• HTTPS required — ChatGPT only connects to secure endpoints
• Public URL — Must be reachable from OpenAI's infrastructure
• OAuth 2.0 — Sercha handles this via Dynamic Client Registration

Microsoft Copilot

Connect Sercha to Microsoft Copilot Studio as an MCP server action.

1. Open your agent in Copilot Studio

Navigate to the agent you want to add Sercha to.

2. Add a new MCP tool

Go to Tools → Add a tool → New tool → Model Context Protocol.

3. Configure the server

Field	Value
Server name	Sercha
Server description	Search indexed documents
Server URL	https://your-sercha-domain.com/mcp

4. Configure authentication

Select OAuth 2.0 as the authentication type.

For the simplest setup, choose OAuth 2.0 dynamic client registration with discovery if available — Sercha supports this automatically.

For manual configuration:

Field	Value
Authorization URL	https://your-sercha-domain.com/oauth/authorize
Token URL	https://your-sercha-domain.com/oauth/token
Scopes	mcp:search mcp:documents:read mcp:sources:list

5. Complete setup

1. Click Create
2. Select Create a new connection (or use existing)
3. Click Add to agent

6. Test the connection

In the agent test panel, try a prompt that would trigger a search.

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Requirements

• HTTPS required — Copilot only connects to secure endpoints
• Public URL — Must be reachable from Microsoft's infrastructure
• Redirect URI — Sercha automatically accepts the Teams OAuth redirect

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Example Prompts

Once connected, try these prompts with any AI assistant:

"Search my documents for authentication implementation"

"Find all documents related to the onboarding process"

"What sources do I have indexed?"

"Get the full content of document doc_abc123"

The AI will automatically call the appropriate Sercha tool and incorporate the results into its response.

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Security

• OAuth 2.0 with PKCE — All authentication uses secure OAuth flows
• Scoped access — Tools only access what the scopes allow
• No write operations — MCP tools are read-only (search, retrieve, list)
• Dynamic Client Registration — Clients register automatically via RFC 7591

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Deployment Checklist

For Claude.ai, ChatGPT, and Copilot (remote clients):

Requirement	How to Set
HTTPS	Deploy behind a reverse proxy with SSL (nginx, Cloudflare, etc.)
Public URL	Ensure Sercha is accessible from the internet
BASE_URL	Set env var: BASE_URL=https://your-sercha-domain.com
UI_BASE_URL	Set env var: UI_BASE_URL=https://your-app-domain.com

For Claude Desktop (local):

Requirement	How to Set
Node.js	Install from nodejs.org
Config file	Create/edit claude_desktop_config.json