Connect your knowledge base through KnowMan's MCP server

Choose a concrete first connection

Begin with a task that has an answer you can check. Find a saved article, read a known decision, or ask a question about a small collection of sources. This makes your first connection useful and gives you a clear way to assess the result.

KnowMan lists Claude, Codex, Cursor and your own agents as clients. Its setup guidance specifically names Claude Desktop and Claude Code. Choose a listed client you already intend to use, then follow the configuration supplied by KnowMan.

Define success before you connect: the client retrieves the intended source, the text matches your saved item, and you can identify what supports the answer. Keep connection setup and answer quality as separate checks.

Prepare the source you will use for testing

Your first test needs recognizable content. Save an article through the browser extension or web app, then inspect the saved item. Choose something with a distinctive title, phrase or argument so you can tell whether the client found the right material.

KnowMan reads saved articles in full and tags them automatically. You can search saved text, highlights and notes. If your test concerns a decision, keep its reasoning in a Memory and identify the reading that informed it.

Write a short expected result for yourself before asking the agent. For example: the answer should identify the chosen approach, explain the recorded reason, and point to the relevant article. This is your review checklist, not a claim about what an untested client will return.

Create an agent key and use the supplied configuration

KnowMan's documented flow starts in Settings. Create an agent key with the permissions you choose, then paste the supplied configuration snippet into your MCP client. Use the current snippet as your reference for connection details.

Match access to your intended work. A source-reading task and a link-saving task have different needs. Choose only the permissions needed for the workflow you are testing, and review that choice before broadening the task.

1. Open KnowMan Settings and create an agent key.
2. Choose permissions appropriate to the intended task.
3. Copy the configuration snippet supplied by KnowMan.
4. Add that snippet using your chosen client's configuration process.
5. Test retrieval of the saved source you prepared.

Use the right tool for each part of the task

The server has six tools. Understanding their individual jobs makes it easier to request evidence, inspect results and recognize the boundary between reading existing knowledge and saving something new.

• Use kb_search to search what you have saved.
• Use kb_get_item to read a saved item's full text.
• Use kb_ask to ask a question and receive an answer with citations.
• Use kb_memories to read decisions, playbooks, facts and notes.
• Use kb_recent to see recently saved material.
• Use kb_save to save a new link.

1. For your first research task, request a relevant search.
2. Ask the agent to read the matching saved item.
3. Request an answer that distinguishes source evidence from interpretation.
4. Inspect the cited material before using the result.

Test retrieval and answers separately

First ask for a source you know exists: Find the article I saved about our review process and read its full text. Inspect whether the returned material matches your saved item. This checks a narrower question than whether a recommendation is persuasive.

Next ask a question whose answer appears in that source. Request the supporting passage and inspect it. Then try a decision question that needs both a Memory and an article, such as: What approach did I choose, and what reading supported it?

Finally, ask a question your saved material does not settle. Use this to inspect how the response handles missing evidence. Your review should distinguish an unsupported conclusion, an inference and a statement grounded in a retrieved source.

Keep saving links separate from keeping decisions

A connected agent can save a new link through kb_save. That is useful when a task turns up reading you want in your knowledge base. Ask for a specific link to be saved so the action remains easy to review.

Agents cannot write Memories. When a task produces a decision worth keeping, review it and record the decision yourself in KnowMan. Include what you chose, why, the sources behind it, and the conditions that would justify a change.

Keep playbooks equally clear. State the task they govern, the constraints to follow and the expected outcome. A connected agent can read a playbook, but your request and review should still establish whether it was relevant to the work.

Check plan boundaries before expanding the workflow

Free includes AI assistant connection, Memories and keyword search. Free Ask is capped at five questions a day. Pro adds semantic search; on Free, semantic search falls back to keyword search. Feeds, newsletters and ingestion rules are Pro features.

Every new account begins with 14 days of Pro, with no credit card required. Use the trial to assess the features your workflow needs, then repeat representative searches on the plan you intend to keep. Avoid assuming a successful trial demonstrates the same search behavior on Free.

If a connection test fails, narrow the check. Confirm the saved item in KnowMan, review the supplied configuration, and inspect the permissions you selected. Record the exact failure before changing anything. A clear, repeatable test makes the next troubleshooting step easier to choose.