Context Awesome

You can use the Context Awesome MCP Server to access curated awesome lists and their items, giving your agents fast, vetted references across thousands of resources. This MCP server connects to a backend that processes the lists and serves relevant results to your MCP clients, improving search quality and reducing random web digging.

How to use

You interact with the Context Awesome MCP Server through an MCP client. Add the server to your client using its HTTP endpoint to start querying sections and items. Use the search tool to discover sections that match your topic, then retrieve the specific items you want in a given list or section. Practical uses include locating the best resources for learning a topic, gathering references for a project, or powering search agents with high-quality materials.

How to install

Prerequisites: you will need a working MCP client in your environment and internet access to reach the MCP server. The server is accessible remotely, or you can run a local development instance if you prefer.

Remote server configuration (hosted MCP server) add to your client with the provided MCP URL.

Add a remote MCP server for Context Awesome in supported clients. Examples are shown for several clients.

Install in Cursor (remote MCP server) using the global MCP server URL.

Additional installation methods and configuration

If you prefer to configure clients individually, you can use explicit snippets shown for various clients. The following options are explicitly provided for adding Context Awesome as an MCP server in different environments.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "context-awesome": {
      "url": "https://www.context-awesome.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Local setup for development or self-hosting

Clone the project, install dependencies, and build the local server. Then you can run the server in development or production mode.

Local development commands

git clone https://github.com/bh-rat/context-awesome.git
cd context-awesome
npm install
npm run build

Running the local server in development or production modes

# Development mode (runs from source)
npm run dev -- [options]

# Production mode (runs compiled version)
npm run start -- [options]

# Common options
# --transport <stdio|http|sse>  Transport mechanism (default: stdio)
# --port <number>               Port for HTTP transport (default: 3000)
# --api-host <url>             Backend API host (default: https://api.context-awesome.com)
# --debug                      Enable debug logging
# --help                       Show help

MCP client configuration examples

For Claude Desktop and Cursor/VS Code integrations, you configure a local node process that runs the MCP server and points clients at the local API host. This requires the node runtime and the built server. Use the examples shown to wire the client to the local server.

Claude Desktop example (stdio configuration)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "context-awesome": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/context-awesome/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "CONTEXT_AWESOME_API_HOST": "https://api.context-awesome.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Notes on usage

Environment variables shown here control where the local MCP server connects. If you run locally, set CONTEXT_AWESOME_API_HOST to the backend API URL you are using. The remote URL for the hosted MCP remains the same for client queries.

Available tools

find_awesome_section

Discovers sections and categories across awesome lists that match your search query.

get_awesome_items

Retrieves items from a specific list or section with token limiting and pagination.