rag-code-mcp

🐛 RagCode Troubleshooting Guide

Solutions for common issues with RagCode MCP server.

Quick Fixes

Problem Quick Solution
“Could not connect to Qdrant” docker start ragcode-qdrant
“Ollama model not found” ollama pull phi3:medium && ollama pull mxbai-embed-large
IDE doesn’t see RagCode Re-run ./ragcode-installer -skip-build
Indexing stuck Check logs: tail -f ~/.local/share/ragcode/bin/mcp.log

Detailed Solutions

“Workspace ‘/home’ is not indexed yet”

Cause: The file_path parameter is missing or points outside a recognized project.

Solution: Provide a valid file_path inside your project:

{ 
  "query": "search query", 
  "file_path": "/path/to/your/project/file.go" 
}

Why this happens: RagCode uses file_path to detect which workspace you’re working in. Without it, it defaults to /home which is not a valid project.

“Could not connect to Qdrant”

Cause: Docker is not running or the Qdrant container is stopped.

Solution:

# Start Docker (Linux)
sudo systemctl start docker

# Start Qdrant container
docker start ragcode-qdrant

# Or restart everything
~/.local/share/ragcode/start.sh

Verify:

docker ps | grep qdrant
# Should show: ragcode-qdrant ... Up ...

“Ollama model not found”

Cause: Required AI models have not been downloaded.

Solution:

# Download embedding model
ollama pull mxbai-embed-large

# Download LLM model
ollama pull phi3:medium

# Verify
ollama list

If using Docker Ollama:

docker exec ragcode-ollama ollama pull mxbai-embed-large
docker exec ragcode-ollama ollama pull phi3:medium

Indexing is Too Slow

Causes:

Solutions:

  1. Use a smaller model: 
    # In config.yaml
llm:
  model: "phi3:mini"  # Instead of phi3:medium
  2. Exclude large directories: 
    workspace:
  exclude_patterns:
    - "vendor"
    - "node_modules"
    - ".git"
    - "dist"
    - "build"
    - "*.min.js"
    - "*.bundle.js"
  3. Wait for background indexing:
    • Indexing runs in the background
    • First query may be slow, subsequent queries are fast
    • Check progress: tail -f ~/.local/share/ragcode/bin/mcp.log

IDE Doesn’t Detect RagCode

Cause: MCP configuration file is missing or incorrect.

Solution 1: Re-run installer

~/.local/share/ragcode/bin/ragcode-installer -skip-build -ollama=local -qdrant=docker

Solution 2: Manual configuration

Check your IDE’s config file exists and has correct content:

IDE Config Path
Windsurf ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
Cursor ~/.cursor/mcp.config.json
VS Code ~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/mcp-servers.json
Claude Desktop ~/.config/Claude/mcp-servers.json

See IDE-SETUP.md for complete configuration examples.

“Empty embedding returned”

Cause: Ollama embedding model is not responding correctly.

Solution:

# Restart Ollama
docker restart ragcode-ollama
# or
systemctl restart ollama

# Test embedding model
curl http://localhost:11434/api/embeddings -d '{
  "model": "mxbai-embed-large",
  "prompt": "test"
}'

High Memory Usage

Cause: Large models or multiple workspaces indexed.

Solutions:

  1. Use smaller models:
    • phi3:mini instead of phi3:medium
    • all-minilm instead of mxbai-embed-large
  2. Limit concurrent operations:
    • Index one workspace at a time
    • Close unused IDE windows
  3. Increase swap (Linux): 
    sudo fallocate -l 8G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile

Docker Permission Denied

Cause: User not in docker group.

Solution (Linux):

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
# Log out and log back in

Solution (macOS):

Search Returns No Results

Causes:

Solutions:

  1. Check if indexed: 
    # Look for collection in Qdrant
curl http://localhost:6333/collections | jq
  2. Force re-index:
    • Use index_workspace tool with file_path parameter
  3. Try broader query:
    • Instead of exact function name, describe what it does
    • Use search_code before hybrid_search

Windows-Specific Issues

WSL Path Issues

Problem: Windows IDE can’t find WSL binary.

Solution: Use wsl.exe wrapper in config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ragcode": {
      "command": "wsl.exe",
      "args": ["-e", "/home/YOUR_USERNAME/.local/share/ragcode/bin/rag-code-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Docker Desktop Not Running

Problem: “Cannot connect to Docker daemon”

Solution:

  1. Start Docker Desktop application
  2. Wait for it to fully initialize (check system tray icon)
  3. Run installer again

📊 Diagnostic Commands

# Check RagCode version
~/.local/share/ragcode/bin/rag-code-mcp --version

# Health check
~/.local/share/ragcode/bin/rag-code-mcp --health

# Check Docker containers
docker ps | grep ragcode

# Check Ollama models
ollama list

# Check Qdrant collections
curl http://localhost:6333/collections | jq

# View logs
tail -100 ~/.local/share/ragcode/bin/mcp.log

# Test Ollama connection
curl http://localhost:11434/api/tags

# Test Qdrant connection
curl http://localhost:6333/collections

🔗 Getting Help

If your issue isn’t listed here:

  1. Check logs: tail -f ~/.local/share/ragcode/bin/mcp.log
  2. Search issues: GitHub Issues
  3. Open new issue: Include logs, OS, and steps to reproduce

🔗 Related Documentation

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