Hugging Face Hub Semantic Search MCP Server

⚠️ Note: This is an unofficial MCP server inspired by Hugging Face’s official MCP server. It may be deprecated at any time if official functionality supersedes it. For the official server, see hf.co/mcp.

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides semantic search capabilities for Hugging Face models and datasets. This server enables Claude and other MCP-compatible clients to search, discover, and explore the Hugging Face ecosystem using natural language queries.

Features

• Semantic Search: AI-powered similarity search (not just keyword matching)
• Dataset Search: Find datasets based on natural language descriptions
• Model Search: Find models with optional parameter count filtering
• Similarity Search: Find similar models/datasets to a given one
• Trending Content: Get currently trending models and datasets
• Detailed Metadata: Access comprehensive technical information via HuggingFace API
• Model/Dataset Cards: Download README cards for detailed information

Tools Available

Dataset Tools

• search_datasets: Search datasets using natural language queries
• find_similar_datasets: Find datasets similar to a specified one
• get_trending_datasets: Get currently trending datasets
• get_dataset_info: Get detailed metadata for a specific dataset
• download_dataset_card: Download README card for a dataset

Model Tools

• search_models: Search models using natural language queries with parameter filtering
• find_similar_models: Find models similar to a specified one
• get_trending_models: Get currently trending models with parameter filtering
• get_model_info: Get detailed metadata for a specific model
• get_model_safetensors_metadata: Get model architecture details and parameter count from safetensors
• download_model_card: Download README card for a model

Installation

Prerequisites

• UV - Fast Python package installer
• Claude Desktop or another MCP-compatible client

Quick Start

No installation needed! UV will automatically fetch and run the server.

Configuration

Claude Desktop Setup

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "huggingface-hub-search": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "git+https://github.com/davanstrien/hub-semantic-search-mcp.git"
      ],
      "env": {
        "HF_SEARCH_API_URL": "https://davanstrien-huggingface-datasets-search-v2.hf.space"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternative: Local Development Setup

If you want to contribute or modify the code:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/davanstrien/hub-semantic-search-mcp.git
cd hub-semantic-search-mcp

# Install dependencies with UV
uv sync