RA-OS Overview

What is RA-OS?

RA-OS is a minimal knowledge graph UI with MCP server integration. It provides a local-first knowledge management system designed to be extended by external AI agents via the Model Context Protocol.

Open Source: github.com/bradwmorris/ra-h_os

Design Philosophy

Local-first — Your knowledge network belongs to you. Everything runs locally in a SQLite database you control.

Agent-agnostic — No built-in AI chat. Instead, RA-OS exposes an MCP server that any AI agent (Claude Code, custom agents) can connect to.

Simple & focused — A compact multi-pane UI for browsing and editing your knowledge graph. No bloat.

Tech Stack

Frontend: Next.js 15, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS
Database: SQLite + sqlite-vec (vector search)
Embeddings: OpenAI (BYO API key)
MCP Server: Local connector for Claude Code and external agents

What's Included

Multi-pane UI for nodes, contexts, map, table, and focus work
Node/Edge CRUD with optional contexts
Full-text and semantic search
MCP server with graph and skill tools
Skills system (shared instructions for internal + external agents)
PDF extraction
Graph visualization (Map view)
BYO API keys

What's NOT Included

Chat interface (use external agents via MCP)
Voice features
Built-in AI agents
Auth/subscription system
Desktop packaging

Two-Panel Layout

┌─────────────┬─────────────────────────┐
│   NODES     │        FOCUS            │
│   Panel     │        Panel            │
│             │                         │
│ • Search    │ • Node content          │
│ • Filters   │ • Connections           │
│ • List      │ • Context + metadata    │
│             │                         │
└─────────────┴─────────────────────────┘

MCP Integration

RA-OS is designed to be the knowledge backend for your AI workflows:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ra-h": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["--yes", "ra-h-mcp-server@2.1.2"]
    }
  }
}

Add this to ~/.claude.json and restart Claude. Run RA-H once first so the database exists. The standalone MCP server can write nodes without the app running, but the app owns chunking and embedding from node source. If you publish a newer MCP release and need clients to pick it up immediately, bump the pinned version here and restart the client.

Core tools include: queryNodes, retrieveQueryContext, createNode, writeContext, updateNode, getNodesById, createEdge, updateEdge, queryEdge, queryContexts, listSkills, readSkill

Documentation

Doc	Description
Schema	Database schema, node/edge structure
Tools & Skills	Available MCP tools, skill system
UI	Component structure, panels, views
MCP	External agent connector setup
Troubleshooting	Common issues and fixes

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