apache/solr-mcp

Search, index, and manage Apache Solr collections using natural language — no need to hand-craft Solr queries, build filter expressions, or memorize the admin API.
Instead of writing:
q=title:"star wars" AND genre_s:"sci-fi"&fq=year_i:[2000 TO ]&facet=true&facet.field=genre_s&sort=score desc&rows=10
Just ask your AI assistant:
> "Find sci-fi movies with 'star wars' in the title released after 2000, show me the genre breakdown, and sort by relevance."
This Spring AI Model Context Protocol (MCP) server exposes Solr operations as tools that any MCP-compatible AI client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex, ChatGPT, VS Code/Copilot, Cursor, JetBrains, Zed) can invoke.
## Quick start
Prerequisites: Java 25+, Docker and Docker Compose, Git.
Compatibility: works with Apache Solr 9.4–10 (the test suite runs against 9.9 by default — see Solr version compatibility).
#### 1. Start Solr with sample data
bash
git clone https://github.com/apache/solr-mcp.git
cd solr-mcp
docker compose up -d
This starts Solr in SolrCloud mode with two sample collections: films (1,100+ movies) and books (empty, ready for indexing). Wait ~30 seconds, then verify at .
#### 2. Build the server
bash
./gradlew build
This produces build/libs/solr-mcp-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar.
#### 3. Connect your AI client
Add the server to your MCP client. For Claude Desktop, edit
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows), then restart Claude:
json
"mcpServers": {
"solr-mcp": {
"command": "java",
"args": ["-jar", "/absolute/path/to/solr-mcp/build/libs/solr-mcp-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar"],
"env": { "SOLR_URL": "http://localhost:8983/solr/" }
Using a different client, or want STDIO/HTTP/Docker options? See the per-client guides:
Claude Desktop ·
Claude Code ·
Codex ·
ChatGPT (HTTP only) ·
VS Code / Copilot ·
Cursor ·
JetBrains ·
Zed ·
MCP Inspector.
#### 4. Try it out
"What collections are available in Solr?"
"Search the films collection for movies directed by Steven Spielberg"
"Show me the schema for the films collection"
"Index this JSON into the books collection: [{"id": "1", "title": "The Great Gatsby", "author": "F. Scott Fitzgerald"}]"
## Example prompts
Searching
"Find sci-fi movies released after 2000 and show the genre breakdown"
"Search films for movies with 'war' in the title, sorted by year"
"Show me the top 5 most recent films"
Indexing
"Index this JSON into the books collection: [{"id": "1", "title": "1984", "author": "George Orwell"}]"
"Create a new collection called products"
Managing
"Is the films collection healthy?"
"How many documents are in the films collection?"
"Show me the schema for the films collection"
## What you can do
### Tools
| Tool | Description |
| search | Full-text search with filtering, faceting, sorting, and pagination |
| index-json-documents | Index documents passed as a JSON array of objects into a collection |
| index-csv-documents | Index documents from a CSV string via Solr's CSV handler; repeat a column name for multi-valued fields |
| index-xml-documents | Index documents from Solr update XML ( ); only blocks are accepted |
| index-markdown-documents | Index markdown documents into a collection (one array element per document), extracting front matter, title, headings, and body text |