Simplify installation: support npx / env-var auth like other MCP servers

[Ortes]

Problem

The current installation process requires 5 manual steps that are unique to this MCP server:

1. Download a platform-specific binary from GitHub Releases
2. Remove macOS quarantine (xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine ...)
3. Run a separate authenticate command
4. Reference the binary with an absolute, machine-specific path in config
5. Manually update when a new version is released

This is a significant friction compared to every other MCP server in the ecosystem, which can be set up in a single .mcp.json snippet.

No documentation for Claude Code

The README and docs only cover Claude Desktop and Cursor setup. There are no instructions for Claude Code (Anthropic's CLI), which is one of the most popular MCP clients. Claude Code uses a .mcp.json file for configuration — the setup pattern is different from Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json, and users are left to figure it out on their own.

Other MCP servers (Stripe, Notion, PostHog, Firebase…) all include Claude Code setup instructions in their docs.

How every other MCP server does it

npx + env var (most common)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stripe": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@stripe/mcp@latest"],
      "env": { "STRIPE_SECRET_KEY": "sk_..." }
    }
  }
}

Same pattern for GitHub, Firebase, Supabase, Sentry, and dozens more. One copy-paste, zero binary management.

Hosted OAuth (zero local install)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notion": { "url": "https://mcp.notion.com/mcp" }
  }
}

Notion, Linear, and others offer a hosted MCP endpoint — nothing to install at all, auth handled via OAuth in the client.

Remote server + API key

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "posthog": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote@latest", "https://mcp.posthog.com/sse",
               "--header", "Authorization:${AUTH}"],
      "env": { "AUTH": "Bearer phx_..." }
    }
  }
}

What I'd love to see

Any of the following would bring Algolia in line with the rest of the MCP ecosystem:

Option	Config
npx (ideal)	"command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@algolia/mcp@latest"] with ALGOLIA_APP_ID / ALGOLIA_API_KEY as env vars
Hosted endpoint	"url": "https://mcp.algolia.com/sse" + OAuth or API key header
Remote + mcp-remote	Same as PostHog pattern above

Benefits

• Shareable: .mcp.json can be committed to a repo — no machine-specific binary paths
• Auto-updating: npx @algolia/mcp@latest always gets the latest version
• Cross-platform: no macOS quarantine dance, works on Linux/Windows out of the box
• Onboarding: copy-paste a 5-line JSON block instead of reading a multi-step guide

Context

I only need read-only search access. Having to download, unquarantine, and authenticate a binary just to run search queries feels disproportionate. A simple npx command with ALGOLIA_APP_ID + a search-only API key in env vars would be perfect.

Thanks for building the MCP server — looking forward to a smoother setup!