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Add the Zep Graphiti MCP server to Claude Code

Config last verified Nov 10, 2026

The exact config to run Zep Graphiti in Claude Code — paste it in, restart, and the tools load.

Prerequisites

  • Claude Code installed.
  • OPENAI_API_KEY — OpenAI key for entity extraction and the default embedder. Other providers use ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, GOOGLE_API_KEY, GROQ_API_KEY, AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY, or VOYAGE_API_KEY.

Setup

1. Open ~/.claude.json

2. Add this configuration

Add to ~/.claude.json

~/.claude.json
json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zep": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY",
        "-e",
        "NEO4J_URI",
        "-e",
        "NEO4J_USER",
        "-e",
        "NEO4J_PASSWORD",
        "zepai/knowledge-graph-mcp:standalone",
        "uv",
        "run",
        "--no-sync",
        "main.py",
        "--transport",
        "stdio",
        "--database-provider",
        "neo4j"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "<OPENAI_API_KEY>",
        "NEO4J_URI": "<NEO4J_URI>",
        "NEO4J_USER": "<NEO4J_USER>",
        "NEO4J_PASSWORD": "<NEO4J_PASSWORD>"
      }
    }
  }
}
Or via CLI
bash
claude mcp add zep -- docker run -i --rm -e OPENAI_API_KEY -e NEO4J_URI -e NEO4J_USER -e NEO4J_PASSWORD zepai/knowledge-graph-mcp:standalone uv run --no-sync main.py --transport stdio --database-provider neo4j

3. Restart Claude Code and confirm the Zep Graphiti tools load.

Gotchas

Claude Code stores MCP servers under an "mcpServers" object in ~/.claude.json. It also reads a project-scoped .mcp.json and supports adding servers from the command line with "claude mcp add". Each entry must declare either a "type" or a "command"; Claude Code refuses an entry that has neither. Remote servers connect natively over Streamable HTTP with OAuth.

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