# isaac-levine/forage [Health: Active]

**Category:** 🔗 Aggregators  
**Repository:** https://github.com/isaac-levine/forage  
**GitHub Stars:** 16  
**Views:** 3  
**Installs:** 0  
**Upvotes:** 0  
**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/isaac-levine-forage

## Description
Self-improving tool discovery for AI agents. Searches registries, installs MCP servers as subprocesses, and persists tool knowledge across sessions — no restarts needed.

## Tools
Capabilities this server exposes over MCP:

- **forage_search** — Search for MCP servers and tools across registries (Official MCP Registry, Smithery, npm). Describe what capability you need and get ranked results.
- **forage_evaluate** — Get detailed information about a specific package — version, downloads, README summary, install command. Use this before installing to verify quality.
- **forage_install** — Install an MCP server and start it as a proxied subprocess. The server's tools become available immediately via Forage — no restart needed. IMPORTANT: Set confirm=true to proceed with installation (user will be prompted to approve the tool call).
- **forage_learn** — Write usage instructions for an installed tool to agent rule files (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, .cursor/rules/). This persists knowledge across sessions so the agent remembers how to use the tool next time.
- **forage_status** — List all tools that Forage has installed and is currently proxying. Shows which servers are running, what tools they provide, and their install status.
- **forage_uninstall** — Remove a previously installed tool. Stops the server, removes from manifest, and cleans up agent rules. Set confirm=true to proceed.

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Install path detected from listing signals. Uses `npx` (confidence: high):

```json
"mcpServers": {
  "forage": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y","forage-mcp"]
  }
}
```

## Documentation

## What isaac-levine/forage MCP server does

isaac-levine/forage MCP server acts as a discovery and proxy layer for MCP tools. Instead of manually configuring every MCP server before an agent session, an agent can search available servers, inspect a package, request an installation, and then call the installed server's tools through Forage.

Searches cover the Official MCP Registry, Smithery, and npm. The evaluation operation provides package details such as its version, download information, README summary, and installation command. This gives an agent a step between discovery and installation for checking a candidate package.

Forage also records information about installed tools. Its learning operation writes usage instructions to supported agent rule files, including `CLAUDE.md`, `AGENTS.md`, and `.cursor/rules/`, so later sessions can reuse that guidance.

## How it works

After an MCP server is installed, Forage starts it as a child process and connects to it over the MCP stdio transport. It discovers the child server's tools, registers them with namespaced names in the Forage server, and forwards future tool calls to the child process.

Forage sends a `tools/list_changed` notification after a successful installation. Clients can therefore see newly available tools during the current session rather than waiting for a restart. Installed servers are represented in a local manifest, and Forage attempts to start them again when it launches.

State is stored under `~/.forage/`. The manifest contains installed tools, commands, arguments, and auto-start settings. An installation log records install and uninstall activity, while registry search results may be cached.

## Setup and configuration

The npm package is `forage-mcp`. For Claude Code, the documented setup command is:

```bash
claude mcp add forage -- npx -y forage-mcp
```

For Cursor, the README documents:

```bash
npx forage-mcp init --client cursor
```

Forage is intended to run locally and does not use a remote backend. Registry searches make read-only GET requests to public APIs. Environment variables needed by an installed child server are supplied during installation and are not persisted by Forage.

## Tools and capabilities

The MCP interface provides these operations:

- `forage_search` searches the supported registries for MCP servers and tools based on a capability description and returns ranked results.
- `forage_evaluate` retrieves package information before installation, including version, downloads, README content summary, and an install command.
- `forage_install` installs and starts an MCP server as a proxied subprocess. The call must include `confirm: true`, which prompts the user to approve the installation.
- `forage_learn` writes instructions for using an installed tool to supported agent rule files.
- `forage_status` lists installed and currently proxied tools, their servers, and installation state.
- `forage_uninstall` stops and removes an installed tool, updates the manifest, and cleans up related agent rules. It also requires `confirm: true`.

## Limitations and notes

isaac-levine/forage MCP server currently installs npm-based MCP servers through `npx -y`; support for pip, Cargo, and Homebrew packages is listed as future work. It cannot install a tool without explicit approval through the confirmation parameter. The project does not store child-server secrets, so those servers must receive their required environment variables at installation time.

The server depends on the target MCP package being available through the supported installation flow. Forage provides discovery and proxying, but the capabilities, configuration requirements, and behavior of each installed server remain specific to that server.

_Full upstream README: https://allmcps.com/mcp/isaac-levine-forage/readme_