feat: provide the chat of the rag by MCP

.dockerignore

@@ -18,3 +18,6 @@ frontend/*.log
 */.venv
 */.env
 */*.pyc
+
+
+**/.notebooks

.gitignore

@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ auth
 node_modules/
 
 **/.notebooks
+**/.notebooks/*
 **/todo*.md
+**/mcp.json
 
 # Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
 __pycache__/

Makefile

@@ -27,3 +27,4 @@ build_and_push:
 	docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64 -t $(REGISTRY)/document-extractor:$(IMAGE_TAG)  -f document-extractor/Dockerfile --push .
 	docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64 -t $(REGISTRY)/frontend:$(IMAGE_TAG)  -f frontend/apps/chat-app/Dockerfile --push .
 	docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64 -t $(REGISTRY)/admin-frontend:$(IMAGE_TAG)  -f frontend/apps/admin-app/Dockerfile --push .
+    docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64 -t $(REGISTRY)/mcp-server:$(IMAGE_TAG)  -f mcp-server/Dockerfile --push .

README.md

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ This repository contains the following components:
 - [*rag-backend*](#111-rag-backend): The main component of the RAG.
 - [*admin-backend*](#112-admin-backend): Manages user documents and confluence spaces, interacts with document-extractor and rag-backend.
 - [*document-extractor*](#113-document-extractor): Extracts content from documents and Confluence spaces.
+- [*mcp-server*](#114-mcp-server): Model Context Protocol server that provides MCP-compatible access to the RAG system.
 - *frontend*: Frontend for both, chat and admin APIs.
 - *rag-infrastructure*: Contains the helm-chart and other files related to infrastructure and deployment. Please consult [this README](https://github.com/stackitcloud/rag-infrastructure/blob/main/README.md) for further information.
 - *rag-core-library*: Contains the API-libraries that are used to construct the backend-services in this repository. For further information, please consult [this README](https://github.com/stackitcloud/rag-core-library/blob/main/README.md).
@@ -68,6 +69,17 @@ The Document extractor is a component that is used to extract the content from t
 
 All components are provided by the *extractor-api-lib*. For further information on endpoints and requirements, please consult [this README](https://github.com/stackitcloud/rag-core-library/blob/main/README.md#3-extractor-api-lib).
 
+#### 1.1.4 MCP Server
+
+The MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides a bridge between MCP-compatible clients and the RAG backend. It enables AI assistants and other tools to interact with the RAG system through standardized MCP tools.
+
+The MCP server runs as a sidecar container alongside the main RAG backend and exposes two main tools:
+
+- `chat_simple`: Basic question-answering without conversation history
+- `chat_with_history`: Advanced chat interface with conversation history and returns structured responses with `answer`, `finish_reason`, and `citations`.
+
+For further information on configuration and usage, please consult the [MCP Server README](./mcp-server/README.md).
+
 ### 1.2 Requirements
 
 > 📝  *Windows users*: make sure you use wsl for infrastructure setup & orchestration.

Tiltfile

@@ -177,8 +177,37 @@ local_resource(
     allow_parallel=True,
 )
 
+################################## build mcp image and do live update ##################################################
+# NOTE: full image names should match the one in the helm chart values.yaml!
+registry = "ghcr.io/stackitcloud/rag-template"
+mcp_image_name = "rag-mcp"
+
+mcp_context = "./mcp-server"
+mcp_full_image_name = "%s/%s" % (registry, mcp_image_name)
+docker_build(
+    mcp_full_image_name,
+    ".",
+    build_args={
+        "dev": "1" if backend_debug else "0",
+    },
+    live_update=[
+        sync(mcp_context, "/app/mcp-server"),
+    ],
+    dockerfile=mcp_context + "/Dockerfile",
+)
+
+# Add linter trigger
+local_resource(
+    "MCP server linting",
+    create_linter_command(mcp_context, "back"),
+    labels=["linting"],
+    auto_init=False,
+    trigger_mode=TRIGGER_MODE_AUTO,
+    allow_parallel=True,
+)
+
 ########################################################################################################################
-################################## build admin backend image and do live update ##############################################
+################################## build admin backend image and do live update ########################################
 ########################################################################################################################
 
 # NOTE: full image names should match the one in the helm chart values.yaml!
@@ -313,6 +342,8 @@ value_override = [
     "features.minio.enabled=true",
     "shared.config.tls.enabled=false",
     "shared.ssl=false",
+    "shared.config.basicAuth.enabled=true",
+    "features.mcp.enabled=true",
     # ingress host names
     "backend.ingress.host.name=rag.localhost",
     # langfuse
@@ -398,6 +429,11 @@ k8s_resource(
             31415,
             container_port=31415,
             name="Backend-Debugger",
+        ),
+        port_forward(
+            9090,
+            container_port=8000,
+            name="MCP-Server",
         )
     ],
     labels=["backend"],

mcp-server/Dockerfile

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+FROM --platform=linux/amd64 python:3.11.7-bookworm AS build
+
+ARG dev=0
+ENV POETRY_VIRTUALENVS_PATH=/app/mcp-server/.venv
+ENV POETRY_VERSION=1.8.3
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+RUN DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get update \
+    && DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y build-essential --no-install-recommends make && \
+    python3 -m venv "${POETRY_VIRTUALENVS_PATH}" \
+    && $POETRY_VIRTUALENVS_PATH/bin/pip install "poetry==${POETRY_VERSION}"
+ENV PATH="${POETRY_VIRTUALENVS_PATH}/bin:$PATH"
+
+
+WORKDIR /app/mcp-server
+COPY mcp-server/pyproject.toml mcp-server/poetry.lock ./
+
+RUN mkdir log && chmod 700 log
+RUN touch /app/mcp-server/log/logfile.log && chmod 600 /app/mcp-server/log/logfile.log
+
+RUN poetry config virtualenvs.create false &&\
+    if [ "$dev" = "1" ]; then \
+    poetry install --no-interaction --no-ansi --no-root --with dev; \
+    else \
+    poetry install --no-interaction --no-ansi --no-root; \
+    fi
+
+FROM --platform=linux/amd64 python:3.11.7-bookworm
+ARG dev=0
+
+RUN adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" --uid 65532 nonroot
+
+ENV POETRY_VIRTUALENVS_PATH=/app/mcp-server/.venv
+COPY --from=build --chown=nonroot:nonroot ${POETRY_VIRTUALENVS_PATH} ${POETRY_VIRTUALENVS_PATH}
+COPY --from=build /usr/local/bin/ /usr/local/bin/
+COPY --from=build /usr/bin/make /usr/bin/make
+COPY --from=build /usr/local/lib/ /usr/local/lib/
+
+WORKDIR /app/mcp-server
+COPY --chown=nonroot:nonroot mcp-server/src ./src
+COPY --chown=nonroot:nonroot mcp-server/pyproject.toml mcp-server/poetry.lock ./
+# cleanup
+RUN apt-get clean autoclean
+RUN apt-get autoremove --yes
+
+RUN if [ "$dev" = "0" ]; then \
+        while read -r shell; do rm -f "$shell"; done < /etc/shells; \
+        rm -rf /var/lib/{apt,dpkg,cache,log}/ \
+    else \
+        echo "POETRY_VIRTUALENVS_PATH=/app/mcp-server/.venv" >> /etc/environment;\
+        export POETRY_VIRTUALENVS_PATH=/app/mcp-server/.venv;\
+        export PATH="${POETRY_VIRTUALENVS_PATH}/bin:$PATH";\
+    fi
+
+
+USER nonroot
+COPY --from=build --chown=nonroot:nonroot  /app/mcp-server/log /app/mcp-server/log
+
+ENV PATH="${POETRY_VIRTUALENVS_PATH}/bin:${PATH}"
+
+CMD [ "poetry", "run", "python", "src/main.py" ]

mcp-server/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+# MCP Server
+
+The MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides a bridge between MCP-compatible clients and the RAG backend. It enables AI assistants and other tools to interact with the RAG system through standardized MCP tools.
+
+## Features 🚀
+
+- **Simple Chat Interface**: Basic question-answering without conversation history
+- **Chat with History**: Conversational interface that maintains context across messages
+- **Citation Support**: Returns source documents and metadata for transparency
+- **Streamable HTTP Transport**: Uses HTTP-based transport for reliable communication
+- **Configurable Settings**: Environment-based configuration for different deployment scenarios
+
+## Architecture
+
+The server consists of several key components:
+
+- **RagMcpServer**: Main server class that handles MCP tool registration and request routing
+- **Dependency Container**: Manages dependency injection for clean architecture
+- **Settings**: Environment-based configuration management
+- **RAG Backend Client**: Auto-generated OpenAPI client for backend communication
+
+## Requirements
+
+All required python libraries can be found in the [pyproject.toml](pyproject.toml) file.
+The MCP server uses Poetry for dependency management and shares the base Dockerfile pattern with other services in the RAG template.
+
+## Available Tools
+
+The server exposes two main MCP tools for interacting with the RAG system:
+
+### `chat_simple`
+
+Simple question-answering interface that returns plain text responses.
+
+**Parameters:**
+
+- `session_id` (str): Unique identifier for the chat session
+- `message` (str): The question or message to send to the RAG system
+
+**Returns:**
+
+- `str`: Plain text answer from the RAG system
+
+### `chat_with_history`
+
+Advanced chat interface that supports conversation history and returns structured responses with citations.
+
+**Parameters:**
+
+- `session_id` (str): Unique identifier for the chat session
+- `message` (str): The current question or message
+- `history` (list[dict], optional): Previous conversation history
+
+**History Format:**
+Each history item should be a dictionary with:
+
+- `role`: Either "user" or "assistant"
+- `message`: The message content
+
+**Returns:**
+
+- `dict`: Structured response containing:
+  - `answer`: The response text
+  - `finish_reason`: Why the response ended
+  - `citations`: List of source documents with content and metadata
+
+## Configuration
+
+The server supports configuration through environment variables with the following prefixes:
+
+### MCP Settings (`MCP_` prefix)
+
+- `MCP_HOST`: Server bind address (default: `0.0.0.0`)
+- `MCP_PORT`: Server port (default: `8000`)
+- `MCP_NAME`: Server name (default: `RAG MCP server`)
+
+### Backend Settings (`BACKEND_` prefix)
+
+- `BACKEND_BASE_PATH`: RAG backend URL (default: `http://127.0.0.1:8080`)
+
+## Deployment
+
+The MCP server is designed to be deployed alongside the main RAG backend as a sidecar container. A detailed explanation of the deployment can be found in the [main README](../README.md) and the [infrastructure README](../rag-infrastructure/README.md) of the project.
+
+### Docker Support
+
+The server includes Docker support for containerized deployment and is integrated into the main Tilt development workflow.
+
+### Integration in RAG Template
+
+The MCP server is automatically deployed when `backend.mcp.enabled=true` is set in the Helm values. It runs as a sidecar container alongside the main RAG backend, accessible via:
+
+- **Port**: 8000 (configurable via `MCP_PORT`)
+- **Endpoint**: `/mcp` path through the main ingress
+- **Development**: Port-forwarded to 9090 in local Tilt setup
+
+## Development
+
+The MCP server is integrated into the main RAG template development workflow:
+
+- **Tilt Integration**: Automatically built and deployed with live reload
+- **Linting**: Included in the main linting pipeline
+- **Testing**: Part of the overall test suite
+- **Debugging**: Supports the same debugging workflow as other services
+
+For detailed development setup instructions, see the [main README](../README.md).

mcp-server/api-generator.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+
+docker run --user $(id -u):$(id -g) --rm -v $PWD:/local openapitools/openapi-generator-cli@sha256:b35aee2d0f6ffadadcdad9d8fc3c46e8d48360c20b5731a5f47c809d51f67a04 generate -i /local/rag-core-library/rag-core-api/openapi.yaml -g python -o /local/mcp-server/src --additional-properties=generateSourceCodeOnly=True,packageName=rag_backend_client.openapi_client
+cd ./mcp-server
+black .
+cd ..