Pinecone Developer MCP Server

Add to your client

Copy the config for your MCP client and paste it into its config file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pinecone-developer-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pinecone-database/mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PINECONE_API_KEY": "<your-pinecone-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step-by-step guides: Add to Claude Desktop · Add to Cursor · Add to Windsurf

Before you start

• Node.js v18 or later with npx available on PATH
• A Pinecone API key, generated in the Pinecone console at https://app.pinecone.io (set as PINECONE_API_KEY)
• A Pinecone index created with integrated inference (required for the upsert/search record tools)
• An MCP-compatible client such as Cursor, Claude Desktop, or the Gemini CLI

About Pinecone Developer MCP Server

Tools & capabilities (9)

When to use it

• Use it when you want an AI assistant to scaffold and iterate on a Pinecone-backed RAG pipeline conversationally.
• Use it when you need to inspect indexes, namespaces, and record stats without leaving your editor.
• Use it when you want to upsert and semantically search plain-text records without managing your own embedding model.
• Use it when you want results reranked or queried across multiple indexes in one step.
• Use it when you want an assistant to answer Pinecone API questions grounded in current docs.

Quick setup

1. 1Create a Pinecone API key in the console at https://app.pinecone.io.
2. 2Add the server to your client's MCP config, e.g. command `npx` with args `-y @pinecone-database/mcp`.
3. 3Set the PINECONE_API_KEY environment variable in the server's env block.
4. 4Restart your MCP client (Cursor, Claude Desktop) so it picks up the new server.
5. 5Verify by asking the assistant to list your indexes or search the Pinecone docs.

Pinecone Developer MCP Server FAQ