Pinecone Assistant MCP server
https://github.com/pinecone-io/assistant-mcpStop context-switching between Claude Desktop and your Pinecone Assistant. This MCP server brings your vector-powered knowledge base directly into your Claude conversations.
You've built a solid RAG system with Pinecone Assistant. Your documents are indexed, your embeddings are tuned, and your retrieval works perfectly. But every time you need to query your knowledge base during a Claude Desktop session, you're opening browser tabs, switching to the Pinecone Console, or running separate API calls.
That friction adds up. Each context switch breaks your flow and forces you to manually bridge information between your vector database and your AI assistant.
The Pinecone Assistant MCP server eliminates that friction entirely. Claude Desktop gets direct, native access to your Pinecone Assistant through the Model Context Protocol. No more tab switching, no more copy-pasting results, no more interrupted workflows.
When you ask Claude a question, it can instantly query your vector database, retrieve relevant context, and provide answers grounded in your specific knowledge base. The entire process happens seamlessly within your existing Claude Desktop interface.
Document Q&A Without Friction: Ask Claude questions about your company's documentation, technical specs, or research papers. Claude queries your Pinecone Assistant, retrieves the relevant chunks, and provides answers with full context.
Code Documentation at Your Fingertips: If you've indexed your codebase documentation in Pinecone, Claude can instantly surface relevant API docs, implementation details, or architectural decisions while you're coding.
Research Continuity: When you're deep in a research session, Claude can seamlessly pull from your indexed papers, notes, and knowledge base without breaking your concentration.
The setup is straightforward and Docker-first. You'll need your Pinecone API key and Assistant host URL (both available in your Pinecone Console). The server runs as a containerized service that Claude Desktop connects to through the MCP protocol.
Add this configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"pinecone-assistant": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run", "-i", "--rm",
"-e", "PINECONE_API_KEY",
"-e", "PINECONE_ASSISTANT_HOST",
"pinecone/assistant-mcp"
],
"env": {
"PINECONE_API_KEY": "your-api-key",
"PINECONE_ASSISTANT_HOST": "your-assistant-host"
}
}
}
}
The server handles the connection management, authentication, and result formatting automatically. You configure it once and forget about it.
This isn't a community hack or third-party integration. It's an official MCP server maintained by the Pinecone team, written in Rust for performance and reliability. You get the same level of support and maintenance you'd expect from any Pinecone product.
The server supports configurable result counts, proper error handling, and follows MCP best practices. It's designed to be a production-ready component of your development workflow.
This MCP server is most valuable when you've already invested in Pinecone Assistant for your knowledge management. If you're regularly switching between Claude Desktop and your vector database, or if you find yourself manually querying Pinecone to get context for Claude conversations, this integration immediately pays for itself.
It's particularly powerful for teams that have built internal knowledge bases, product documentation systems, or research repositories using Pinecone's vector search capabilities.
The investment in setup time is minimal, but the ongoing productivity gains from eliminated context switching compound quickly. Your knowledge base becomes a native part of your Claude Desktop experience rather than a separate system you have to manage.