AutoRAG Lite Setup

AutoRAG Lite setup

Use this skill only to bootstrap, register, or repair AutoRAG Lite MCP: initialize trusted config, connect the host, build indexes, and verify search. Normal Lite use is MCP tool calling, not a search skill or shell command. Use autorag-setup instead when the model-backed librarian must be configured.

Safety

• Inspect only non-secret config metadata: searchPaths, workspacePath, memoryPath, minSync, jikji, datasources.
• Never print, copy, migrate, compare, or persist credential values. Store only environment-variable names such as tokenEnv or apiKeyEnv.
• Never move, rename, edit, or delete source documents. Lite commands write indexes only under the configured workspace .autorag/ directory and Jikji's per-source .jikji/ caches.
• Do not index system trees, app bundles, caches, credential stores, node_modules, .git, dist, build, target, .cache, .autorag, or .jikji.

Install the package if needed

@autorag/librarian ships both autorag (bootstrap/maintenance) and autorag-mcp (stdio server). The executable requires Node.js >= 24 on PATH.

command -v autorag-mcp >/dev/null || bun install -g @autorag/librarian
command -v autorag
command -v autorag-mcp
autorag lite --help

If Bun is unavailable, npm install -g @autorag/librarian is acceptable. If only autorag exists, upgrade the package rather than substituting CLI retrieval for MCP. For a source checkout, run bun run build and register the absolute dist/mcp/index.js path instead of the installed executable.

Initialize a model-free config

autorag lite init \
  --search-paths "/path/to/documents,/path/to/notes" \
  --workspace "/path/to/workspace" \
  --memory-path "/path/to/memory.json"

lite init writes the configured model-free lifecycle config. Use --force only when intentionally replacing an existing config, and target it with an explicit path (--config or AUTORAG_CONFIG); --force refuses to replace the implicit ~/.autorag/config.json. Explicit user paths win; otherwise propose one to three document-dense roots and get approval before indexing. Supported parsed formats are md, markdown, txt, text, pdf, docx, pptx, xlsx, xls, hwp, hwpx, and eml. Legacy .doc is not a supported parsed format.

Config resolution follows the usual order: --config, AUTORAG_CONFIG, $AUTORAG_HOME/config.json, or ~/.autorag/config.json. Environment overrides include AUTORAG_HOME, AUTORAG_CONFIG, AUTORAG_SEARCH_PATHS, AUTORAG_WORKSPACE, and AUTORAG_MEMORY_PATH.

Register and verify the MCP connection

After config and datasource setup, register the server with the host. Use absolute config, search root, workspace, and executable paths: hosts may start the server from a different working directory or with a restricted PATH. Resolve command -v autorag-mcp and substitute its absolute path below. Inspect an existing autorag registration first; keep a working registration and update only an outdated command or config path.

# Claude Code: project-local registration
claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope local autorag \
  --env AUTORAG_CONFIG=/absolute/path/to/.autorag/config.json \
  -- /absolute/path/to/autorag-mcp

# Codex: user registration
codex mcp add autorag \
  --env AUTORAG_CONFIG=/absolute/path/to/.autorag/config.json \
  -- /absolute/path/to/autorag-mcp

For other hosts, use their stdio MCP configuration with the same command, empty arguments, and AUTORAG_CONFIG environment variable. The host starts the subprocess; do not run it as a background HTTP service. Pass any required credential environment-variable names through the host's secret mechanism; never put credential values in registration examples or logs.

Reload/reconnect the host, then use MCP tools/list to discover the actual tools and schemas. Verify autorag.status, autorag.refresh, autorag.search, autorag.search.files, and autorag.datasources.list are available. Configured integrated datasources add their own search tools; do not assume a fixed count. Run autorag.status and autorag.datasources.list through MCP, then refresh and search a known phrase from an approved document. Registration alone is not proof of a connected or searchable server. After config changes, restart the server so datasource tools are rebuilt.

AUTORAG_MCP_READ_ONLY=1 omits refresh; build indexes with the CLI before connecting that mode. AUTORAG_MCP_TOOLS is an optional comma-separated exact tool allowlist; omitted tools cannot be called. Use unrestricted tools for initial setup unless the user intentionally requests a restricted connection.

Probe and configure datasources (setup wizard)

A datasource setup UI is not shipped in this build — do not recommend it for datasource setup. Configure datasources directly in trusted config, wizard-style:

1. Probe every datasource for setup feasibility before asking the user anything: the backing CLI exists (lazykatok, discrawl, slacrawl, wacrawl, telecrawl, notcrawl, qmd, mailcrawl, rclone) and its local store or archive is present. CLI-backed datasources own their own archive, index, and authentication, so environment credentials (such as bot tokens) are never required or checked for them. Non-CLI connectors (such as github) require their credential environment variable (GITHUB_TOKEN).
2. Auto-configure every datasource that probes feasible — write its trusted datasources entries without asking. For example, when Slack (slacrawl) and Discord (discrawl) are installed with local stores present, set both up automatically. Discord uses discrawl's local desktop wiretap archive; no Discord bot token is configured or needed.
3. Skip every datasource that probes infeasible (for example Notion or Telegram when their CLIs are not installed) and always report the skipped list to the user, with what is missing for each.
4. Set up a skipped datasource only when the user explicitly asks for it: install or authenticate the backing CLI first, then configure it.
5. E-mail datasources (mail-export, mailcrawl) matter to most users — always probe them and report their status, even when they end up skipped.

Datasource skills belong in trusted config.

Config keys may be builtin template names (kakao, whatsapp, telegram, slack, discord, clawgallery, notion, github, cloud-drive, mail-export, mailcrawl, obsidian, rss, spotlight, lark) or connection aliases with "type": "<template>". Unknown names are skipped with an unknown-datasource-skill warning; they do not fail config resolution. scope narrows a query to a sub-path as ordinary filtering. Tags are descriptive metadata only, not search filters. Use MCP datasourceIds to select configured connections before retrieval; discover their IDs with autorag.datasources.list. Store only env-var names such as tokenEnv or apiKeyEnv, never credential values.