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Kavi Research Assistant

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Enables AI to save, organize, search, and synthesize research materials using a local vector database with support for both OpenAI and Ollama backends.

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About

Enables AI to save, organize, search, and synthesize research materials using a local vector database with support for both OpenAI and Ollama backends.

README


🚀 Overview

Kavi Research Dashboard

KAVI RESEARCH is a premium Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed to transform your AI into a dedicated research assistant.

Stop losing track of important findings. KAVI RESEARCH enables your AI to save, organize, search, and synthesize high-volume research materials using a local vector database. Whether you are using OpenAI or local Ollama models, KAVI RESEARCH keeps your knowledge accessible, private, and secure.

Newly Added in v2.1: Large Document Support! KAVI RESEARCH now automatically chunks massive PDFs and files into manageable semantic segments to bypass LLM context limits.

✨ Features

  • 🧠 Dual Backend Support: seamless switching between OpenAI (Cloud) and Ollama (Local/Private).
  • 🗣️ RAG Capabilities: "Chat" with your research topics using advanced Retrieval-Augmented Generation.
  • 📚 Smart Storage: Automatic content deduplication and vector embedding using ChromaDB.
  • 🔍 Semantic Search: Find what you need using natural language, not just keywords.
  • 📂 Topic Organization: Keep different research streams (e.g., "AI Agents", "React Patterns") isolated and organized.
  • ⚡ Fast & Efficient: Built on fastmcp and langchain for high performance.

📦 Installation

Recommended: using uv (Fastest)

# Run the AI Agent (MCP Server)
uvx kavi-research-assistant-mcp

# Run the Web UI (Gradio)
uv run kavi-research-ui

Using pip

pip install kavi-research-assistant-mcp

🎨 Web Interface (UI)

We provide a beautiful, colorful web interface to manage your research.

uv run kavi-research-ui
  • 🎓 Ask Researcher: Chat with your research librarian.
  • 💾 Save Knowledge: Easily paste and save new notes.
  • 📊 Dashboard: View summaries and manage your topics.

⚙️ Configuration

You can configure the agent to use either OpenAI (default) or a local Ollama instance.

Option 1: OpenAI (Default)

Powerful, zero-setup (requires API Key).

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
export RESEARCH_DB_PATH=~/research_db
export LLM_PROVIDER=openai

Option 2: Ollama (Local & Private)

Run entirely on your machine. No API keys required.

  1. Pull Models:

    ollama pull llama3.2
    ollama pull nomic-embed-text
    
  2. Configure Environment:

    export RESEARCH_DB_PATH=~/research_db
    export LLM_PROVIDER=ollama
    # Optional overrides
    # export OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434
    

Claude Desktop Setup

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kavi-research": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["kavi-research-assistant-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "RESEARCH_DB_PATH": "/Users/username/research_db",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "sk-..." 
      }
    }
  }
}

🛠️ MCP Tool Reference

Model Context Protocol (MCP) allows Kavi to act as a bridge between your AI and a private knowledge base. Below are the tools provided:

1. 📥 Data Ingestion

  • save_research_data(content: List[str], topic: str): Saves raw text or snippets.
    • Usecase: Saving paper abstracts or news headlines.
  • save_research_files(file_paths: List[str], topic: str): Parses and vectorizes documents.
    • Supported Formats: .pdf, .txt, .docx.
    • Usecase: Ingesting a folder of research PDF papers.

2. 🔍 Knowledge Retrieval & RAG

  • ask_research_topic(query: str, topic: str): Answers questions using Retrieval Augmented Generation.
    • Usecase: "What does my research say about Agentic Workflows?"
  • summarize_topic(topic: str): Generates a high-level executive summary of an entire library.
    • Usecase: Periodic review of a project topic.

3. 📋 Management

  • list_research_topics(): Returns a list of all libraries and their document counts.
  • search_research_data(query: str, topic: str): Performs raw semantic similarity search for specific chunks.

🧪 Testing & Usage Steps

Step 1: Initialize the Environment

Ensure your preferred LLM backend is running. For Ollama:

ollama serve
ollama pull llama3.2
ollama pull nomic-embed-text

Step 2: Launch the Assistant

You can interact via the MCP Inspector (Command Line) or the Web UI.

To test via MCP Inspector:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv run kavi-research-assistant-mcp

Once the inspector opens in your browser, you can manually trigger tools like list_research_topics.

Step 3: Populate with Knowledge

Ask your AI (via Claude Desktop or the UI) to save information:

"Save the following text to my 'ai-market' topic: [Your Text Here]"

Step 4: Validate RAG (The "Proof of Work")

Ask a question that only your saved data could answer:

"Based on my 'ai-market' data, what was the projected growth for 2026?"

Step 5: Dashboard Review

Open the UI to see your topic cards visualized gracefully.

uv run kavi-research-ui

💡 Typical Usecase Scenarios

  1. Academic Research: Upload 50 PDF papers into a topic called thesis. Use ask_research_topic to find contradictions or common methodologies across all papers.
  2. Market Intelligence: Save daily news snippets about competitors into competitor-intel. Every Friday, run summarize_topic to get a weekly briefing.
  3. Code Library: Save documentation for obscure libraries into dev-docs. Use Kavi to answer "How do I implement X using Y?" without the LLM hallucinating.

👨‍💻 Author & Credits

Machha Kiran

Branding:

  • Copyright © 2025 kavi.ai. All rights reserved.
  • kavi.ai and the Kavi logo are trademarks of kavi.ai.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.


Built with ❤️ by the kavi.ai team

from github.com/machhakiran/kavi-research-assistant-mcp

Install Kavi Research Assistant in Claude Desktop, Claude Code & Cursor

Recommended · one command, every IDE
unyly install kavi-research-assistant-mcp

Installs into Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor & VS Code — handles npx, uvx and build-from-source repos for you.

First time? Get the CLI: curl -fsSL https://unyly.org/install | sh

Or configure manually

Run in your terminal:

claude mcp add kavi-research-assistant-mcp -- uvx kavi-research-assistant-mcp

FAQ

Is Kavi Research Assistant MCP free?

Yes, Kavi Research Assistant MCP is free — one-click install via Unyly at no cost.

Does Kavi Research Assistant need an API key?

No, Kavi Research Assistant runs without API keys or environment variables.

Is Kavi Research Assistant hosted or self-hosted?

Self-hosted: the server runs locally on your machine via the install command above.

How do I install Kavi Research Assistant in Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor?

Open Kavi Research Assistant on unyly.org, pick your client tab (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor) and press Install — the config is generated automatically, no JSON editing.

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