Claude Desktop

Prerequisites
Before configuring the SearchBlox MCP server, make sure you have:

Node.js: v18 or later — required to run the MCP server via npx. Download from https://nodejs.org/en/download
Claude Desktop — download from https://claude.ai/download
SearchBlox SearchAI version: v12
Server URL — your SearchBlox instance URL (e.g., https://your-server)
SB-PKEY — your SearchBlox Private Key. Find it in the SearchBlox Admin Console under Administration → Users → (your admin user) → copy Private Key

Configuring SearchBlox MCP in Claude Desktop

Locate the config file
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
- Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
  You can also reach it via Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config.

Add the SearchBlox server
Edit claude_desktop_config.json to include the SearchBlox MCP server under mcpServers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searchblox": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://your-server/rest/v2/api/mcp",
        "--header",
        "SB-PKEY: your-SB-PKEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Note: Replace your-server with SearchBlox server address and your-SB
PKEY with SearchBlox API key.

Multiple instances (dev / prod)
Each instance gets its own named key so Claude can tell them apart:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searchblox_dev": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://your-server/rest/v2/api/mcp",
        "--header",
        "SB-PKEY: your-SB-PKEY"
      ]
    },
     "searchblox_prod": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://your-server/rest/v2/api/mcp",
        "--header",
        "SB-PKEY: your-SB-PKEY"
      ]
    }

  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop for the config to take effect. The SearchBlox tools (all prefixed searchblox_) will then appear in the tools menu.

Troubleshooting

If the SearchBlox MCP server fails to connect, the fastest way to diagnose it is to pull the Claude Desktop MCP logs, copy the error, and ask Claude to interpret it.

Locate the log files
Claude Desktop writes a dedicated log file per MCP server:
macOS: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\logs
Look for mcp.log (general MCP activity) and mcp-server-searchblox.log (errors specific to your SearchBlox server). The server-specific file is usually the one that shows why a connection failed.
Copy the recent log output
Open the file and copy the most recent entries, or grab the tail from a terminal:

macOS / Linux:
bash

 tail -n 100 ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp-server-searchblox.log

Windows (PowerShell):
powershell

 Get-Content "$env:APPDATA\Claude\logs\mcp-server-searchblox.log" -Tail 100

Paste the logs into Claude and ask
Start a new chat, paste the copied error log, and ask Claude to diagnose it — for example:

"My SearchBlox MCP server won't connect to Claude Desktop. Here are the logs - what's going wrong and how do I fix it? [paste logs]"

Common errors and fixes

Connection not detected: Verify the URL ends with /rest/v2/api/mcp and the API key is correct.
Connection refused: Check that the SearchBlox server is running and accessible from your machine.
Authentication errors: Confirm your SB-PKEY is valid and has not expired.
Timeout errors: Ensure network/firewall rules allow HTTPS traffic to the SearchBlox port.
Tip: To ensure you are seeing current data, completely shut down and restart Claude Desktop following any configuration updates. Because logs are only created upon a clean start, relying on older logs without a restart can lead to inaccurate troubleshooting.