diff --git a/src/clients/mcp-http-server.ts b/src/clients/mcp-http-server.ts
index eeaf30c..6dd9062 100644
--- a/src/clients/mcp-http-server.ts
+++ b/src/clients/mcp-http-server.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ import { isInitializeRequest } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/types.js";
 import { createServer, IncomingMessage, ServerResponse } from "node:http";
 import { randomUUID, timingSafeEqual } from "node:crypto";
 import { createMCPServer, MCPServerConfig } from "./mcp-server.js";
+import { MultiIndexRunner } from "./multi-index-runner.js";
+import { buildClientUserAgent } from "../core/utils.js";
 
 /**
  * HTTP error with status code for proper client error responses.
@@ -165,9 +167,24 @@ export async function createMCPHttpServer(
   // Store transports by session ID
   const transports: Map<string, StreamableHTTPServerTransport> = new Map();
 
+  // Create a shared MultiIndexRunner instance for all HTTP sessions
+  // This avoids redundant store.list() + store.loadSearch() calls for every session
+  const clientUserAgent = buildClientUserAgent("mcp");
+  const sharedRunner = await MultiIndexRunner.create({
+    store: config.store,
+    indexNames: config.indexNames,
+    searchOnly: config.searchOnly,
+    clientUserAgent,
+  });
+
   // Create the underlying MCP server factory (creates new instance per session)
+  // Each session gets its own MCP Server instance (required by MCP protocol),
+  // but they all share the same MultiIndexRunner to avoid redundant store operations
   const createServerInstance = async (): Promise<Server> => {
-    return createMCPServer(config);
+    return createMCPServer({
+      ...config,
+      runner: sharedRunner,
+    });
   };
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/clients/mcp-server.ts b/src/clients/mcp-server.ts
index cd5151e..2b287b9 100644
--- a/src/clients/mcp-server.ts
+++ b/src/clients/mcp-server.ts
@@ -71,6 +71,14 @@ export interface MCPServerConfig {
    * @default "0.1.0"
    */
   version?: string;
+  /**
+   * Optional shared MultiIndexRunner instance.
+   * When provided, this runner is used instead of creating a new one.
+   * This is useful for sharing a single runner across multiple MCP server instances
+   * (e.g., in HTTP server with multiple sessions) to avoid redundant store operations.
+   * @default undefined (creates a new runner)
+   */
+  runner?: MultiIndexRunner;
 }
 /**
  * Create an MCP server instance.
@@ -94,16 +102,23 @@ export interface MCPServerConfig {
 export async function createMCPServer(
   config: MCPServerConfig
 ): Promise<Server> {
-  // Create shared runner for multi-index operations
-  // Build User-Agent for analytics tracking
-  const clientUserAgent = buildClientUserAgent("mcp");
-  
-  const runner = await MultiIndexRunner.create({
-    store: config.store,
-    indexNames: config.indexNames,
-    searchOnly: config.searchOnly,
-    clientUserAgent,
-  });
+  // Use provided runner or create a new one
+  let runner: MultiIndexRunner;
+  if (config.runner) {
+    // Use the shared runner provided by the caller
+    runner = config.runner;
+  } else {
+    // Create a new runner for this server instance
+    // Build User-Agent for analytics tracking
+    const clientUserAgent = buildClientUserAgent("mcp");
+
+    runner = await MultiIndexRunner.create({
+      store: config.store,
+      indexNames: config.indexNames,
+      searchOnly: config.searchOnly,
+      clientUserAgent,
+    });
+  }
   const { indexNames, indexes } = runner;
   const searchOnly = !runner.hasFileOperations();
   // Format index list for tool descriptions
@@ -122,6 +137,9 @@ export async function createMCPServer(
   );
   // Use the SDK's oninitialized callback to capture MCP client info
   // This preserves the SDK's protocol version negotiation
+  // Note: When using a shared runner (e.g., in HTTP server), this will update
+  // the User-Agent for all sessions (last writer wins). This is acceptable
+  // because the User-Agent is primarily for analytics tracking.
   server.oninitialized = () => {
     const clientInfo = server.getClientVersion();
     if (clientInfo) {