Chris CoutinhoandClaude Opus 4.7
37db82613d
The vector index has always been strictly per-user: every Qdrant payload
carries a `user_id` and the search filter is `user_id == querying_user`.
A file Alice indexed cannot be discovered by Bob even if she has shared
it with him — Bob would have to re-index it under his own user_id to
make it searchable, which means duplicate index entries for every share
recipient.
Switch to ownership-with-ACL-expansion:
- New `nextcloud_mcp_server.search.access_filter` module:
- `list_accessible_owners(sharing_client, user_id)` calls the OCS
Sharing API (`shared_with_me=true`) and returns
`{user_id} ∪ {uid_owner of each share}`. Fails open to `[user_id]`
so a misbehaving Sharing API doesn't black-hole search.
- `build_ownership_filter(user_id, accessible_owners)` returns a
Qdrant `Filter` whose `should` branch matches either the new
`owner_id IN accessible_owners` field or the legacy `user_id` field.
The legacy branch keeps points indexed before this change reachable
without a migration backfill.
- Indexer payload (`vector/processor.py`) now writes `owner_id` alongside
`user_id`. `DocumentTask` gains an optional `owner_id` field; today the
scanner always runs as the owner so the processor falls back to
`user_id`, but the field is plumbed so a future shared-with-me crawler
can set the true owner without reshaping the payload contract.
- `SemanticSearchAlgorithm.search` and `BM25HybridSearchAlgorithm.search`
accept `accessible_owners` via kwargs and use the new ownership filter.
Default behaviour with no kwarg is unchanged (self-only).
- Both user-facing callers — the MCP tool path (`server/semantic.py`) and
the visualization Starlette route (`auth/viz_routes.py`) — compute
`accessible_owners` from the authenticated Nextcloud client before
invoking the search algorithm. Eviction, scanner deletion, placeholder,
and chunk-context paths intentionally keep the legacy `user_id`
semantics (those are "operations on a specific user's records", not
cross-user reads).
- 10 new unit tests in `tests/unit/search/test_access_filter.py` cover
self-only default, owner expansion, dedup, fallback fields, OCS
failure, and the legacy `should`-branch shape.
Pairs with cbcoutinho/astrolabe#89 — together they let an Astrolabe user
find content owners have shared with them without going through any
re-authorization flow or re-indexing.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Nextcloud MCP Server
A production-ready MCP server that connects AI assistants to your Nextcloud instance.
Enable Large Language Models like Claude, GPT, and Gemini to interact with your Nextcloud data through a secure API. Create notes, manage calendars, organize contacts, work with files, and more - all through natural language conversations.
This is a dedicated standalone MCP server designed for external MCP clients like Claude Code and IDEs. It runs independently of Nextcloud (Docker, VM, Kubernetes, or local) and provides deep CRUD operations across Nextcloud apps.
Note
Looking for AI features inside Nextcloud? Nextcloud also provides Context Agent, which powers the Assistant app and runs as an ExApp inside Nextcloud. See docs/comparison-context-agent.md for a detailed comparison of use cases.
Tip
Don't want to self-host? Astrolabe Cloud is a managed hosting service for this MCP server, aimed at users and teams who want advanced features like background sync and semantic search without operating the infrastructure themselves. The service is currently under development — sign up on the landing page to join the early-adopter list.
Quick Start
Run the server locally with uvx (no installation required):
NEXTCLOUD_HOST=https://your.nextcloud.instance.com \
NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME=your_username \
NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD=your_app_password \
uvx nextcloud-mcp-server run --transport stdio
Or add it directly to your MCP client configuration (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or .claude/settings.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"nextcloud": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["nextcloud-mcp-server", "run", "--transport", "stdio"],
"env": {
"NEXTCLOUD_HOST": "https://your.nextcloud.instance.com",
"NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME": "your_username",
"NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD": "your_app_password"
}
}
}
}
Tip
Generate an app password in Nextcloud under Settings > Security > Devices & sessions instead of using your login password.
Docker
For full features including semantic search, run with Docker:
docker run -p 127.0.0.1:8000:8000 --rm \
-e NEXTCLOUD_HOST=https://your.nextcloud.instance.com \
-e NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME=your_username \
-e NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD=your_app_password \
ghcr.io/cbcoutinho/nextcloud-mcp-server:latest
Then connect your MCP client (Claude Desktop, IDEs, mcp dev, etc.) to http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp.
For Kubernetes, see cbcoutinho/helm-charts. For other deployment options and Compose profiles, see docs/installation.md.
Key Features
- 110+ MCP Tools - Comprehensive API coverage across 10 Nextcloud apps
- MCP Resources - Structured data URIs for browsing Nextcloud data
- Semantic Search (Experimental) - Optional vector-powered search for Notes, Files, News items, and Deck cards (requires Qdrant + Ollama)
- Document Processing - OCR and text extraction from PDFs, DOCX, images with progress notifications
- Flexible Deployment - Docker, Kubernetes (Helm chart), VM, or local installation
- Production-Ready Auth - Basic Auth with app passwords; multi-user via Login Flow v2 — MCP clients authenticate via OAuth, the server handles Nextcloud app passwords transparently
- Tag-Based File Exclusion - Hide sensitive files/folders from MCP file tools by tagging them with a configured Nextcloud system tag (
EXCLUDED_TAGS). See docs/configuration.md - Multiple Transports - streamable-http (default) and stdio
Supported Apps
| App | Tools | Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Notes | 7 | Full CRUD, keyword search, semantic search |
| Calendar | 20+ | Events, todos (tasks), recurring events, attendees, availability |
| Contacts | 8 | Full CardDAV support, address books |
| Files (WebDAV) | 12 | Filesystem access, OCR/document processing |
| Deck | 15 | Boards, stacks, cards, labels, assignments |
| Cookbook | 13 | Recipe management, URL import (schema.org) |
| Tables | 5 | Row operations on Nextcloud Tables |
| Sharing | 10+ | Create and manage shares |
| News | 8 | Feeds, folders, items, feed health monitoring |
| Collectives | 16 | Full CRUD on collectives, pages, and tags |
| Talk (spreed) | 6 | List conversations, read/post messages, mark as read, list participants |
| Semantic Search | 2+ | Vector search for Notes, Files, News items, and Deck cards (experimental, opt-in, requires infrastructure) |
Want to see another Nextcloud app supported? Open an issue or contribute a pull request!
Authentication
The MCP server authenticates to Nextcloud using app-specific passwords (Basic Auth). Three deployment modes are supported:
| Mode | Best for |
|---|---|
| Single-User (BasicAuth) | Personal use, development, single-user deployments |
| Multi-User (BasicAuth pass-through) | Multi-user setups where clients send credentials via Authorization header |
| Multi-User (Login Flow v2) | Multi-user / hosted deployments — clients authenticate to the MCP server via OAuth, and the server obtains a per-user app password from Nextcloud and uses it transparently |
OAuth-direct-to-Nextcloud is no longer supported (it required upstream patches to user_oidc that were never merged). Login Flow v2 replaces it for multi-user deployments and works with stock Nextcloud.
See docs/authentication.md for setup instructions.
Semantic Search
An experimental RAG pipeline that lets MCP clients find Nextcloud content by meaning rather than keywords — a query for "car" also surfaces notes about "vehicle" or "transportation". Disabled by default (ENABLE_SEMANTIC_SEARCH=false); requires a vector database and embedding service. See docs/semantic-search-architecture.md and docs/configuration.md.
Tip
Don't want to run Qdrant and an embedding service? Astrolabe Cloud (under development) provides semantic search and background sync as a managed service.
Documentation
- Installation — Docker, Compose profiles, local, VM
- Configuration — Environment variables, document processing, semantic search setup
- Authentication — Basic Auth, Login Flow v2
- Running the Server — Start, manage, troubleshoot
- App Documentation — Per-app guides (Notes, Calendar, Contacts, WebDAV, Deck, Cookbook, Tables)
- Semantic Search Architecture + Vector Sync UI
- Login Flow v2 — recommended multi-user setup (architecture, env vars, scope reference, troubleshooting)
- Troubleshooting · Comparison with Context Agent
Contributing
Contributions are welcome!
- Report bugs or request features: GitHub Issues
- Submit improvements: Pull Requests
- Development guidelines: CLAUDE.md
Security
Found a security issue? Do not open a public GitHub issue. Use GitHub's private vulnerability reporting, or email security@astrolabecloud.com if you can't use GitHub. See SECURITY.md for details.
License
This project is licensed under the AGPL-3.0 License. See LICENSE for details.