Local semantic search — embedding-powered grep for files, zero external services.
Local semantic search — embedding-powered grep for files, zero external services.
Search your codebase and documentation by meaning, not just keywords. embgrep indexes files into local embeddings and lets you run semantic queries — no API keys, no cloud services, no vector database servers.
.py, .js, .ts, .java, .go, .rs, .md, .txt, .yaml, .json, .toml, and morepip install embgrep # core (fastembed + numpy)
pip install embgrep[cli] # + click/rich CLI
pip install embgrep[mcp] # + FastMCP server
pip install embgrep[all] # everything
from embgrep import EmbGrep
eg = EmbGrep()
# Index a directory
eg.index("./my-project", patterns=["*.py", "*.md"])
# Semantic search
results = eg.search("database connection pooling", top_k=5)
for r in results:
print(f"{r.file_path}:{r.line_start}-{r.line_end} (score: {r.score:.4f})")
print(f" {r.chunk_text[:80]}...")
# Incremental update (only changed files)
eg.update()
# Index statistics
status = eg.status()
print(f"{status.total_files} files, {status.total_chunks} chunks, {status.index_size_mb} MB")
eg.close()
# Index a project
embgrep index ./my-project --patterns "*.py,*.md"
# Search
embgrep search "error handling patterns"
# Filter by file type
embgrep search "async database query" --path-filter "%.py"
# Check status
embgrep status
# Update changed files
embgrep update
import embgrep
embgrep.index("./src")
results = embgrep.search("authentication middleware")
status = embgrep.status()
embgrep.update()
Add to your Claude Desktop / MCP client configuration:
{
"mcpServers": {
"embgrep": {
"command": "embgrep-mcp"
}
}
}
Or with uvx:
{
"mcpServers": {
"embgrep": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["--from", "embgrep[mcp]", "embgrep-mcp"]
}
}
}
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
index_directory | Index files in a directory for semantic search |
semantic_search | Search indexed files using natural language |
index_status | Get current index statistics |
update_index | Incremental update — re-index changed files only |
flowchart TD
A["📁 Files"] --> B["Smart Chunking\ncode: function-level\ndocs: heading-level"]
B --> C["fastembed\nlocal embeddings"]
C --> D["SQLite\nvector index"]
D --> E["🔍 Query"]
E --> F["Cosine Similarity\nranked results"]
F --> G["✅ Matches\nwith context"]
Chunking — Files are split into semantically meaningful chunks:
.py, .js, .ts, etc.): split by function/class boundaries.md, .txt): split by headings or paragraph breaksEmbedding — Each chunk is converted to a 384-dimensional vector using BGE-small-en-v1.5 via ONNX Runtime (no PyTorch needed)
Storage — Embeddings are stored as BLOBs in a local SQLite database
Search — Query text is embedded and compared against all chunks using cosine similarity
| Parameter | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
db_path | ~/.local/share/embgrep/embgrep.db | SQLite database location |
model | BAAI/bge-small-en-v1.5 | fastembed model name |
max_chunk_size | 1000 chars | Maximum chunk size for fixed-size splitting |
top_k | 5 | Number of search results |
| Package | Description |
|---|---|
| markgrab | HTML/YouTube/PDF/DOCX to LLM-ready markdown |
| snapgrab | URL to screenshot + metadata |
| docpick | OCR + LLM document structure extraction |
| browsegrab | Local LLM browser agent |
| feedkit | RSS feed collection + MCP |
| embgrep | Local semantic search for files |
MIT
Part of the QuartzUnit ecosystem — composable Python libraries for data collection, extraction, search, and AI agent safety.
Source-derived launch command. Check the maintainer’s required arguments and credentials before running:
uvx embgrepMerge this template into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Keep existing servers. Add any arguments, credentials, and permissions required by the maintainer; this template has not been install-tested.
{
"mcpServers": {
"io-github-arknill-embgrep": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"embgrep"
]
}
}
}Restart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect. Confirm the server appears connected in the client’s tool list, then try a read-only example from its documentation.
Claude Desktop setup referenceembgreppypiEmbgrep works with any MCP-compatible client. Copy the config snippet from the Configuration section above and add it to the file shown for your client, then restart the application.
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonRestart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect.~/.cursor/mcp.jsonRestart Cursor for changes to take effect..vscode/mcp.jsonReload VS Code window for changes to take effect.~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonRestart Windsurf for changes to take effect..mcp.jsonSave at the project root, then start Claude Code in that project and review the MCP server approval prompt. Keep real credentials out of shared files.