Search, navigate, and extract content from local markdown files.
mcp-server-markdown
Search, navigate, and extract content from local markdown files. Full-text search, section extraction, heading navigation, code block discovery, and frontmatter parsing.
npx mcp-server-markdown
Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, and any MCP client. Reads local
.mdfiles, no auth needed.
Demo built with remotion-readme-kit
Why
Tools like Context7 are great for looking up library docs from npm, but they don't help with your own documentation. Project wikis, internal knowledge bases, architecture decision records, onboarding guides: they all live as markdown files in your repo or on disk. The filesystem MCP server can read those files, but it treats them as raw text. It doesn't understand headings, sections, or code blocks. This server does. Point it at a directory and your assistant can search across all your docs, pull out a specific section by heading, list the table of contents, or find every TypeScript code example in your knowledge base.
Tools
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
list_files |
List all .md files in a directory recursively (sorted alphabetically) |
search_docs |
Full-text search across all .md files (case-insensitive, up to 50 results) |
get_section |
Extract a section by heading until the next heading of same/higher level |
list_headings |
List all headings as a table of contents |
find_code_blocks |
Find fenced code blocks, optionally filter by language (e.g. typescript) |
get_frontmatter |
Parse YAML frontmatter metadata at the start of a file |
Quick Start
Cursor
Add to .cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"markdown": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mcp-server-markdown"]
}
}
}
Claude Desktop
Add to claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"markdown": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mcp-server-markdown"]
}
}
}
VS Code
Add to user settings or .vscode/mcp.json:
{
"mcp": {
"servers": {
"markdown": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mcp-server-markdown"]
}
}
}
}
Examples
- "Search all docs in ./docs for mentions of 'authentication'"
- "Show me the 'API Reference' section from README.md"
- "List all headings in CONTRIBUTING.md"
- "Find all TypeScript code blocks in the docs"
- "What's the frontmatter metadata in this file?"
- "Give me the table of contents for our architecture docs"
Development
git clone https://github.com/ofershap/mcp-server-markdown.git
cd mcp-server-markdown
npm install
npm test
npm run build
See also
More MCP servers and developer tools on my portfolio.
Author
README built with README Builder
License
MIT © 2026 Ofer Shapira
Tools (6)
list_filesList all .md files in a directory recursively (sorted alphabetically)search_docsFull-text search across all .md files (case-insensitive, up to 50 results)get_sectionExtract a section by heading until the next heading of same/higher levellist_headingsList all headings as a table of contentsfind_code_blocksFind fenced code blocks, optionally filter by languageget_frontmatterParse YAML frontmatter metadata at the start of a fileConfiguration
{"mcpServers": {"markdown": {"command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-server-markdown"]}}}