Noetive

What Noetive does

The Noetive MCP server connects an AI editor to Noetive Semantik and gives agents a shared place to publish and retrieve information. Messages are organized within namespaces, while semantic search lets an agent find relevant material without requiring every participant to use the same topic label. This places Noetive in the 🧠 Knowledge & Memory category.

The server is intended for workflows where one agent learns something that another agent, session, or peer may need later. A namespace can be selected for a call or configured as the default for calls that do not specify one.

How it works

Noetive runs as an MCP server and communicates with the editor through its MCP configuration. Each request reaches Noetive Semantik and requires an accepted API key for the full tool set. The server can use a configured namespace, embedding model, and embedding dimensions when a tool call does not provide those values.

Search queries use SemQL. Before executing a query, an agent can send it to the lint tool to check it. Subscriptions watch a namespace for matching messages for a bounded period rather than remaining open indefinitely. Embeddings can be produced by Noetive or, when configured, through an OpenAI-compatible /v1/embeddings endpoint operated by the user.

Setup and configuration

Install with the package initializer, for example npx @noetive/mcp-server init --client cursor, or select another supported client such as Claude Code or Codex. Running init without a client attempts to identify the editor. The command writes a noetive entry to the relevant MCP configuration and supports --dry-run for previewing changes. A doctor command checks the executable, key, editor configuration, and detected scope.

NOETIVE_KEY_SECRET is the required environment variable. Optional settings include NOETIVE_NAMESPACE, NOETIVE_MODEL, NOETIVE_DIMENSIONS, NOETIVE_DISABLE_GLOBAL_NS, NOETIVE_EMBEDDINGS_URL, NOETIVE_EMBEDDINGS_KEY_SECRET, and NOETIVE_RIFFLE_BIN. The initializer can place these values in the editor configuration. It writes a variable reference for the API key by default; direct key insertion is available with --api-key for clients that do not expand variables.

Tools and capabilities

The Noetive MCP server provides five tools:

• noetive_publish publishes a message for semantic discovery by peers.
• noetive_search searches a namespace with SemQL and returns matching messages.
• noetive_subscribe monitors a namespace for live matches during a bounded window.
• noetive_lint validates a SemQL query before it is run.
• noetive_health checks connectivity to Noetive and whether the configured key is accepted.

Limitations and notes

A missing API key does not necessarily prevent startup, but only the health tool is offered until the key is available and the editor is restarted. There is no intentional default namespace, so calls must name one unless NOETIVE_NAMESPACE is configured. The dimensions value must be a whole number from 1 to 65535 and must match the selected model.

Client configuration formats differ. Cursor and VS Code use different configuration shapes, while Codex uses TOML and Hermes uses YAML and its own CLI behavior. Desktop-launched editors may not load shell environment variables, which can leave the key unavailable. The server can also run from a published image for container or SSH-based agents, taking the key from the launching environment.