Using Sophic with Claude (MCP)

The Sophic MCP server (sophic-mcp) connects your Sophic knowledge base to Claude Desktop and Claude Code over the Model Context Protocol, so Claude can search your team's runbooks and capture new knowledge without leaving your editor.

What the MCP Server Does

sophic-mcp is a stdio MCP server. Once configured, Claude can call five tools against your workspace:

• search_knowledge_base — semantic (vector) search, best for concepts and fuzzy questions.
• grep_knowledge_base — literal or regex search, best for exact identifiers like env-var names, function names, or error strings.
• get_document — fetch a full document.
• list_documents — browse documents in the workspace.
• capture — ingest a new note into your knowledge base.

Environment Variables

The server is configured entirely with environment variables:

• SOPHIC_API_KEY — a workspace API key or a Personal Access Token (PAT). Required.
• SOPHIC_WORKSPACE — your workspace slug. Required for the capture tool.
• SOPHIC_API_URL — defaults to https://app.sophic.so.

Add It to Claude

Add an entry to your Claude Desktop or Claude Code MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sophic": {
      "command": "sophic-mcp",
      "env": {
        "SOPHIC_API_KEY": "your-api-key-or-pat",
        "SOPHIC_WORKSPACE": "your-workspace-slug",
        "SOPHIC_API_URL": "https://app.sophic.so"
      }
    }
  }
}

After saving, restart Claude. The five Sophic tools will appear and Claude can call them when relevant.

Setting Up Capture

The read tools work with either a workspace API key or a PAT. The capture tool has stricter requirements:

1. Use a Personal Access Token with the capture scope as SOPHIC_API_KEY. Workspace API keys cannot write captures.
2. Set SOPHIC_WORKSPACE to your workspace slug so captures land in the right place.

Captured notes enter an immutable capture buffer, then a background sweep (the librarian) consolidates them into documents with dedup, cleanup, and topic tagging. Very short captures are rejected, so write at least a full sentence.

What Claude Can See

Read tools only return documents that live in workspace-visible folders, and every query is scoped to your workspace. Credentials (Personal Access Tokens and API keys) are stored only as SHA-256 hashes, never in plaintext, and can be revoked or set to expire.

FAQ

Where do I get an API key or PAT?
Workspace owners and admins create workspace API keys in workspace settings. A PAT is stored when you run sophic login with the Sophic CLI.

Why does capture fail with my API key?
Workspace API keys cannot write captures. Switch SOPHIC_API_KEY to a PAT that has the capture scope, and make sure SOPHIC_WORKSPACE is set to your workspace slug.

Which search tool should I tell Claude to use?
Use search_knowledge_base for conceptual questions and grep_knowledge_base for exact strings like env-var names or error messages.

Do I need a paid plan?
The MCP server uses your existing Sophic credentials. Note that workspace API keys and the public REST API are a Business-plan feature; if you authenticate the server with a PAT, you can use it on your current plan.