MCP DevTools Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that standardizes and binds specific patterns for development tools, enabling Claude Code to generate code more efficiently with fewer errors and better autocorrection capabilities.

🚧 Project Status

Alpha - This project is in early development and actively evolving.

🎉 Major Milestone: Complete Language Support - We now have comprehensive support for both Go (13 tools) and Node.js/TypeScript (14 tools), making this a powerful DevTools server for modern development workflows. With intelligent caching, AI-powered suggestions, and zero-configuration onboarding, we're ready for the 0.0.1 release!

Documentation

• 📚 Full Documentation - Complete guide with examples and tutorials
• 🚀 Quick Start - Get started in 5 minutes
• 🛠️ Tools Reference - All 40+ available tools
• Contributing Guidelines - How to contribute to this project
• Code of Conduct - Community standards and expectations
• Security Policy - How to report security vulnerabilities
• Caching System - Intelligent caching for 3-5x performance improvements
• API Documentation - TypeDoc generated API documentation (run npm run docs:api)

Overview

This MCP server creates a standardized interface between development tools and AI assistants like Claude Code. By establishing consistent patterns and best practices, it helps:

• Reduce code generation errors
• Enable better autocorrection of common issues
• Standardize development workflows
• Improve efficiency when working with Claude Code

Features

🎯 Zero-Configuration Onboarding Wizard

The onboarding wizard automatically detects your project type and generates optimal MCP DevTools configuration with zero user input required.

Quick Start:

# Run complete onboarding (auto-detects everything)
mcp-devtools onboarding_wizard

# Preview changes without writing files
mcp-devtools onboarding_wizard --dry-run true

# Detect project type only
mcp-devtools detect_project

Available Tools:

• onboarding_wizard - Complete automated setup workflow

  • Detects project type (Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, Java, .NET, Mixed)
  • Identifies framework (React, Express, Django, Gin, etc.)
  • Discovers build system (Make, npm, go, cargo, etc.)
  • Generates .mcp-devtools.json configuration
  • Verifies tool availability
  • Creates backup of existing config
  • Provides actionable recommendations

• detect_project - Analyze project characteristics

  • Returns comprehensive project profile
  • Lists detected configuration files
  • Identifies linting tools and test frameworks
  • Shows Make targets if available

• generate_config - Preview configuration without writing

  • Generates configuration based on detection
  • Validates against schema
  • Shows warnings and errors

• validate_setup - Validate existing configuration

  • Checks command availability
  • Verifies tool installation
  • Validates configuration schema
  • Provides health score (0-100)
  • Lists errors, warnings, and recommendations

• rollback_setup - Restore previous configuration

  • Rollback from automatic backup
  • Backups stored in .mcp-devtools-backups/

Example Output:

## Onboarding Wizard Results

**Status:** ✅ Success
**Duration:** 2847ms

**Configuration:** /path/to/project/.mcp-devtools.json
**Backup:** /path/to/project/.mcp-devtools-backups/2025-11-04T10-30-00.json

### ⚠️  Skipped Tools (2)

- eslint
- markdownlint-cli

### 💡 Recommendations

#### High Priority

- **Install missing required tools** (tool)
  Install eslint and markdownlint-cli for complete linting support

### Validation

**Score:** 95/100
**Errors:** 0
**Warnings:** 2

Configuration Options:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
directory	string	cwd	Working directory to analyze
interactive	boolean	false	Enable interactive prompts (planned)
autoInstall	boolean	false	Automatically install missing tools (planned)
generateConfig	boolean	true	Generate .mcp-devtools.json file
validateSetup	boolean	true	Run validation after setup
backupExisting	boolean	true	Backup existing config before overwriting
dryRun	boolean	false	Preview changes without writing files
skipToolVerification	boolean	false	Skip tool installation checks

Safety Features:

• ✅ Automatic Backups - Existing configs backed up before changes
• ✅ Rollback Support - Restore previous config anytime
• ✅ Dry-Run Mode - Preview all changes before applying
• ✅ Path Validation - Prevents path traversal attacks
• ✅ Input Sanitization - All inputs validated and sanitized
• ✅ Non-Destructive - Never deletes files, only creates/updates

Core Tools

Make-based Commands

• make_lint - Run make lint with optional directory and target specification
• make_test - Run make test with optional test patterns/targets
• make_depend - Run make depend or equivalent dependency installation
• make_build - Run make build or make all
• make_clean - Run make clean

Go Language Support 🚀 PRIORITY

Core Tools:

• go_test - Run Go tests with coverage and race detection
• go_build - Build Go packages with cross-compilation, custom ldflags, and build tags
• go_fmt - Format Go code using gofmt
• go_lint - Lint Go code using golangci-lint with comprehensive configuration
• go_vet - Examine Go source code for suspicious constructs
• go_mod_tidy - Tidy Go module dependencies
• go_mod_download - Download Go module dependencies

Advanced Features:

• go_benchmark - Run Go benchmarks with memory profiling and CPU scaling
• go_generate - Execute code generation directives
• go_work - Manage Go workspaces (go.work files)
• go_vulncheck - Scan for known vulnerabilities using govulncheck
• staticcheck - Enhanced static analysis
• go_project_info - Comprehensive Go project analysis and detection

Node.js/TypeScript Tools

Phase 1: Core Development Tools

• nodejs_project_info - Comprehensive Node.js project analysis with smart caching

  • Auto-detects package manager (npm, yarn, pnpm, bun)
  • Framework detection (React, Vue, Angular, Next.js, NestJS, Express, Fastify)
  • Test framework detection (Jest, Vitest, Mocha)
  • Build tool detection (Vite, Webpack, Rollup, esbuild, tsup)
  • 5min cache TTL for fast repeated queries

• nodejs_test - Run tests with Jest, Vitest, or Mocha

  • Auto-detects test framework from package.json
  • Coverage reporting support
  • Watch mode for development
  • Framework-specific coverage extraction

• nodejs_lint - ESLint integration with auto-fix

  • Auto-fix issues with --fix flag
  • Custom output formats (stylish, json, compact)
  • File pattern filtering
  • Integration with existing ESLint configs

• nodejs_format - Prettier code formatting

  • Check mode for CI/CD validation
  • Write mode for applying changes
  • Custom file patterns support
  • Respects existing Prettier configuration

• nodejs_check_types - TypeScript type checking

  • Uses tsc for strict type validation
  • Custom tsconfig.json support
  • Incremental compilation mode
  • No-emit mode for type-only checks

• nodejs_install_deps - Dependency management

  • Auto-detects package manager from lockfiles
  • Production-only installation mode
  • Frozen lockfile support (for CI/CD)
  • Timeout configuration (default: 10min)

Phase 2: Advanced Tools

• nodejs_version - Version detection with 1hr caching

  • Check node, npm, yarn, pnpm, bun versions
  • Single tool or all tools at once
  • Gracefully handles missing tools
  • Uses commandAvailability cache namespace

• nodejs_security - Security vulnerability scanning

  • Run npm/yarn/pnpm/bun audit
  • Auto-fix vulnerabilities with --fix flag
  • Production-only dependency checks
  • JSON output for CI/CD integration

• nodejs_build - Build orchestration

  • Run build scripts with any package manager
  • Production and watch mode support
  • Configurable timeout (default: 10min)
  • Pass-through arguments to build tools

• nodejs_scripts - Script management with caching

  • List all available npm scripts
  • Run scripts with additional arguments
  • Uses cached project info (5min TTL)
  • Helpful error messages for missing scripts

• nodejs_benchmark - Performance benchmarking

  • Auto-detects benchmark framework (Vitest, benchmark.js, tinybench)
  • Vitest bench integration with pattern support
  • Fallback to npm run bench script
  • Configurable timeout (default: 5min)

Phase 3: Specialized Tools

• nodejs_update_deps - Dependency updates

  • Package manager-specific update commands (npm, yarn, pnpm, bun)
  • Interactive mode for yarn/pnpm
  • Latest version updates (ignore semver constraints)
  • Specific package updates or all dependencies
  • DevDependencies-only updates

• nodejs_compatibility - Compatibility checking with 2hr caching

  • Check Node.js version against package.json engines field
  • Validate current version meets requirements
  • Detect Node.js 18+ only packages
  • Dependency compatibility analysis
  • Cached results for fast repeated checks

• nodejs_profile - Performance profiling

  • Node.js built-in profiler integration (--cpu-prof, --heap-prof)
  • CPU and heap profiling support
  • Configurable profile duration
  • Automatic output directory creation
  • Chrome DevTools compatible profiles (.cpuprofile files)
  • Suggestions for advanced profiling with clinic.js

General Linting

• markdownlint - Run markdownlint on markdown files
• yamllint - Run yamllint on YAML files
• eslint - Run ESLint on JavaScript/TypeScript files
• lint_all - Run all available linters based on project type

Testing & Status

• run_tests - Run tests using the detected test framework
• project_status - Get overall project health (lint + test summary)
• test_status - Get project test status and recommendations

GitHub Actions Validation

• actionlint - Validate GitHub Actions workflow files for syntax errors and best practices

  A comprehensive linter for GitHub Actions workflow files that helps catch errors before pushing to GitHub. Validates workflow syntax, action parameters, expression syntax, and shell scripts within run blocks.

  Features:

  • Validates GitHub Actions workflow YAML syntax
  • Checks action parameters against official action schemas
  • Validates GitHub Actions expressions (${{ }} syntax)
  • Integrates with shellcheck for validating shell scripts in run: blocks
  • Supports pyflakes for Python script validation
  • Multiple output formats: default (human-readable), JSON, and SARIF
  • Configurable ignore patterns for specific rules
  • Detects common workflow issues (missing jobs, invalid triggers, etc.)

  Parameters:

  • directory - Working directory containing workflows (default: project root)
  • files - Specific workflow files or glob patterns (default: .github/workflows/*.{yml,yaml})
  • format - Output format: default, json, or sarif
  • shellcheck - Enable shellcheck integration (default: true)
  • pyflakes - Enable pyflakes for Python (default: false)
  • verbose - Enable verbose output
  • ignore - Array of rule patterns to ignore
  • timeout - Command timeout in milliseconds (default: 60000)

  Common Use Cases:

  • Pre-commit validation of workflow changes
  • CI/CD integration to catch workflow errors
  • Debugging workflow failures due to syntax issues
  • Ensuring workflows follow GitHub Actions best practices

  Example Output:

  .github/workflows/ci.yml:25:15: property "timeout" not defined in action 'actions/checkout@v4' [action]
  .github/workflows/ci.yml:42:9: shellcheck reported issue SC2086: Double quote to prevent globbing [shellcheck]
  

JSON Processing Tools

• jq_query - Process JSON data using jq filter syntax without requiring approval

  Use this instead of Bash(jq ...) for all JSON processing. This tool provides the full power of jq for JSON manipulation without requiring user approval for each query, making it perfect for parsing API responses, extracting fields, filtering arrays, and transforming data structures.

  Why Use jq_query:

  1. No Approval Required - Runs without user confirmation, enabling seamless AI workflows
  2. Faster Development - Eliminates repetitive approval dialogs for JSON operations
  3. Better Error Handling - Clear, actionable error messages for invalid filters or JSON
  4. Input Flexibility - Accepts both JSON strings and already-parsed objects/arrays
  5. Safe Operation - jq only processes data, no code execution risk

  Parameters:

  • input - JSON string or already-parsed object/array (required)
  • filter - jq filter expression (required), e.g., ".[] | .name"
  • compact - Output compact JSON (default: false)
  • raw_output - Output raw strings without JSON quotes (default: false)
  • sort_keys - Sort object keys alphabetically (default: false)

  Common Patterns:

  // Extract array of field values
  jq_query({ input: data, filter: '.[] | .name' })
  
  // Filter by condition
  jq_query({ input: data, filter: '.[] | select(.status == "active")' })
  
  // Transform structure
  jq_query({ input: data, filter: '{name, id}' })
  
  // Pretty-print minified JSON
  jq_query({ input: minifiedJSON, filter: '.' })
  
  // Get array length
  jq_query({ input: data, filter: 'length' })
  
  // Complex transformations
  jq_query({
    input: apiResponse,
    filter: '.data.users | map({name: .user_name, id: .user_id})'
  })

  Features:

  • Full jq syntax support (pipes, select, map, reduce, conditionals)
  • Handles edge cases: null, boolean, numbers, unicode, deeply nested structures
  • Automatic jq availability detection with installation instructions
  • Clear error messages for invalid JSON or jq filter syntax
  • Multiple output format options

  Installation Requirements:

  jq must be installed on the system. If not found, the tool provides installation instructions:

  # macOS
  brew install jq
  
  # Ubuntu/Debian
  apt-get install jq
  
  # Fedora/RHEL
  dnf install jq
  
  # Windows
  choco install jq

  Real-World Examples:

  // Parse GitHub API response
  jq_query({
    input: milestones,
    filter: '.[] | select(.title | contains("2025-Q2")) | .number'
  })
  
  // Extract specific fields from array
  jq_query({
    input: issues,
    filter: '[.[] | {title, number, state}]'
  })
  
  // Count matching items
  jq_query({
    input: data,
    filter: '[.[] | select(.status == "open")] | length'
  })

Git and Code Review

• code_review - Automated code review analysis on Git changes

  Analyzes Git diffs to identify potential issues in code changes including security vulnerabilities, performance concerns, and maintainability problems. Provides severity-based categorization and actionable feedback.

  Features:

  • Security analysis (hardcoded secrets, dangerous code execution)
  • Performance analysis (nested loops, inefficient patterns)
  • Maintainability analysis (code complexity, TODO comments, line length)
  • Configurable focus areas
  • File filtering (include/exclude test files)

• generate_pr_message - Generate PR messages from Git changes

  Automatically generates conventional commit-formatted PR messages by analyzing commit history and changed files. Supports GitHub PR templates for consistent documentation.

  Features:

  • Analyzes commit history to determine type (feat, fix, etc.)
  • Extracts scope from commit patterns
  • Lists all changes with file statistics
  • Supports conventional commit format
  • Includes issue reference support
  • Breaking changes section
  • GitHub PR template integration - Automatically detects and uses templates from:
    • .github/pull_request_template.md
    • .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
    • .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/pull_request_template.md
    • docs/pull_request_template.md
    • PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

AI-Powered Smart Suggestions

• analyze_command - Execute a command and analyze results with AI-powered smart suggestions

  Executes a command and provides intelligent, context-aware recommendations based on the execution result. Helps identify issues, suggests fixes, and provides workflow optimization tips.

  Features:

  • Automatic failure pattern recognition (15+ built-in patterns)
  • Context-aware suggestions based on project type and language
  • Security vulnerability detection (hardcoded secrets, SQL injection, etc.)
  • Performance issue identification
  • Workflow optimization recommendations
  • Confidence scoring for suggestions
  • Affected file extraction from error messages

  Parameters:

  • command - Command to execute and analyze (required)
  • directory - Working directory for the command
  • timeout - Command timeout in milliseconds
  • args - Additional command arguments
  • context - Optional context for better suggestions:
    • tool - Tool being used (e.g., "go test", "npm run")
    • language - Programming language
    • projectType - Project type

  Example:

  {
    "command": "go test",
    "directory": "./src",
    "context": {
      "tool": "go test",
      "language": "Go"
    }
  }

• analyze_result - Analyze already-executed command results

  Post-mortem analysis of command execution results. Useful for analyzing failures from external tools or historical command runs.

  Parameters:

  • command - Command that was executed (required)
  • exitCode - Exit code from execution (required)
  • stdout - Standard output from command
  • stderr - Standard error from command
  • duration - Execution duration in milliseconds
  • context - Optional context (same as analyze_command)

• get_knowledge_base_stats - Get statistics about the smart suggestions knowledge base

  Returns information about available failure patterns and their categorization.

  Parameters:

  • category - Optional filter by category (security, performance, dependencies, etc.)

  Knowledge Base Categories:

  • Security - Hardcoded secrets, SQL injection, unsafe code patterns
  • Performance - Nested loops, inefficient algorithms, memory issues
  • Dependencies - Missing packages, version conflicts, module issues
  • Build - Compilation errors, type mismatches, undefined references
  • Test - Test failures, timeouts, race conditions
  • Lint - Code style issues, formatting problems
  • Configuration - Missing environment variables, config errors
  • General - Runtime errors and other issues

  Supported Languages & Tools:

  • Go - Test failures, missing dependencies, race conditions, lint issues, build errors
  • JavaScript/TypeScript - Module not found, type errors, ESLint issues
  • Python - Import errors, syntax issues
  • Cross-language - Security patterns, performance anti-patterns, configuration issues

File Validation

• ensure_newline - Validate and fix POSIX newline compliance

  Ensures text files end with a proper newline character, as required by POSIX standards. This addresses a common pain point where AI coding assistants frequently create or modify files without proper trailing newlines, causing linting failures and git diff noise.

  Modes:

  • check - Report files without trailing newlines (read-only, non-destructive)
  • fix - Automatically add missing newlines to files (safe, preserves line ending style)
  • validate - Exit with error if non-compliant files found (CI/CD mode)

  Key Features:

  • Pure Node.js implementation using Buffer operations (no shell commands like tail or od)
  • Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, macOS, Linux)
  • Smart line ending detection - automatically detects and preserves LF vs CRLF style
  • Binary file detection and automatic skipping
  • Configurable file size limits for safety
  • Flexible glob pattern support for file selection
  • Exclusion patterns for node_modules, build artifacts, etc.

  Why This Matters:

  • POSIX Compliance: Text files should end with a newline character per POSIX definition
  • Linting: Many linters (ESLint, markdownlint, golangci-lint) enforce trailing newlines
  • Git Diffs: Missing newlines create "No newline at end of file" warnings
  • AI Assistants: Common issue when AI tools generate or modify files

DateTime Tools

The get_current_datetime tool provides rich temporal context optimized for LLM awareness. This helps AI assistants understand the current date and time with confidence, especially when the system date is near or past the LLM's training cutoff.

Key Features:

• Human-Readable Format: Clear datetime string optimized for LLM consumption
• Calendar Context: Quarter, ISO week number, day of year
• Timezone Support: IANA timezone identifiers with DST detection
• Relative Calculations: Days/weeks remaining in year, quarter boundaries
• Zero Dependencies: Pure JavaScript Date/Intl APIs for fast synchronous operation
• Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Use Cases:

1. Verify System Context: When LLMs doubt the date in environment variables
2. Milestone Planning: "What quarter are we in? How many weeks until year-end?"
3. Relative Time: "How many days until Q4 ends?"
4. Timezone Awareness: Check time across multiple timezones for distributed teams

Example Usage:

// Get current datetime with full context
{
  "timezone": "America/Chicago"
}

Example Output:

## Current Date & Time

**Tuesday, November 12, 2025 at 7:21 PM CST**

### Date Information
- **Year:** 2025
- **Quarter:** Q4 (October 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025)
- **Month:** November (11)
- **Day:** Tuesday, November 12
- **Day of Year:** 316 of 365
- **ISO Week:** 46

### Time Information
- **Time:** 19:21:00
- **Timezone:** America/Chicago (CST)
- **UTC Offset:** -06:00
- **DST Active:** No

### Relative Information
- **Days Remaining in Year:** 49
- **Weeks Remaining in Year:** 7
- **Days in Current Month:** 30

### Technical Details
- **ISO 8601:** 2025-11-12T19:21:00.000Z
- **Unix Timestamp:** 1762994460

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
timezone	string	System timezone	IANA timezone (e.g., 'America/New_York', 'UTC', 'Asia/Tokyo')
include_calendar	boolean	true	Include calendar information (quarter, week, etc.)

Supported Timezones:

All IANA timezone identifiers are supported, including:

• UTC - Coordinated Universal Time
• America/New_York - US Eastern
• America/Chicago - US Central
• America/Los_Angeles - US Pacific
• Europe/London - UK
• Europe/Paris - Central European
• Asia/Tokyo - Japan Standard Time
• Asia/Shanghai - China Standard Time
• And 400+ more IANA timezones

Environment Variables

• dotenv_environment - Load and parse environment variables from .env files

  Makes environment variables visible to AI assistants through MCP context, enabling better debugging and configuration assistance. Automatically masks sensitive values (passwords, tokens, API keys) while exposing configuration safely.

  Features:

  • Automatic masking of sensitive values (PASSWORD, SECRET, TOKEN, KEY, API_KEY, etc.)
  • Support for custom mask patterns
  • Load from any .env file (.env, .env.production, etc.)
  • Optional inclusion of process.env variables
  • Helpful warnings for missing NODE_ENV and common variables
  • Security reminders about not committing .env files

  Why This Matters:

  • Context Awareness: AI can see what environment variables are configured
  • Debugging: Helps identify missing or misconfigured environment variables
  • Setup Assistance: AI can guide users through required configuration
  • Security: Sensitive values are masked by default to prevent accidental exposure

Security Features

• Input sanitization to prevent command injection
• Allowlist of permitted commands and arguments
• Working directory validation (must be within project boundaries)
• Timeout protection for long-running commands

Project Detection

• Auto-detect project type (Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, Java, .NET)
• Locate Makefiles and configuration files
• Suggest relevant tools based on project structure
• Extract available make targets

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• TypeScript
• Go 1.24+ (for Go language support - PRIORITY)
• Make (for make-based commands)
• Go tools: golangci-lint, staticcheck (for enhanced Go support)
• Project-specific tools (eslint, markdownlint, yamllint, etc.)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/rshade/mcp-devtools-server.git
cd mcp-devtools-server

1. Install dependencies:

npm install

1. Build the project:

npm run build

1. Start the server:

npm start

Optional: Installing Linting Tools

Most linting tools are installed automatically via npm. However, some tools require separate installation:

yamllint (Python-based YAML linter):

# macOS (via Homebrew)
brew install yamllint

# Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt-get install yamllint

# Linux (Fedora/RHEL)
sudo dnf install yamllint

# Any platform (via pip)
pip install yamllint

# Verify installation
yamllint --version

actionlint (GitHub Actions workflow validator):

# macOS (via Homebrew)
brew install actionlint

# Linux (download binary)
bash <(curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rhysd/actionlint/main/scripts/download-actionlint.bash)

# Or via go install
go install github.com/rhysd/actionlint/cmd/actionlint@latest

# Verify installation
actionlint --version

Development

You can use either make commands or npm scripts (Makefile is a thin wrapper around npm):

# View all available commands
make help

# Setup and build
make install         # Install dependencies
make build           # Build TypeScript
make install-mcp     # Install to Claude Desktop

# Development
make dev             # Run in development mode
make start           # Start production server

# Testing
make test            # Run tests
make test-watch      # Run tests in watch mode
make test-coverage   # Run tests with coverage

# Linting
make lint            # Run all linters
make lint-ts         # Run TypeScript linting
make lint-md         # Run Markdown linting
make lint-yaml       # Run YAML linting
make lint-commit     # Validate commit message format

# Documentation
make docs-api        # Generate API docs (TypeDoc)
make docs-dev        # Start docs dev server
make docs-build      # Build documentation
make docs-preview    # Preview built docs

# CI/CD
make check           # Run all linters and tests
make all             # Complete CI pipeline

# Or use npm scripts directly
npm run dev          # Run in development mode
npm run lint         # Run TypeScript linting
npm test             # Run tests
npm run clean        # Clean build artifacts

Docker Support

Using Docker Images

The MCP DevTools Server is available as Docker images for easy deployment and consistent environments across different systems.

Quick Start with Docker

# Pull the latest image
docker pull ghcr.io/rshade/mcp-devtools-server:latest

# Run with stdio (for MCP protocol)
docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/rshade/mcp-devtools-server:latest

Claude Desktop Integration with Docker

Update your Claude Desktop configuration (~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-devtools-server": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-v",
        "/path/to/your/project:/workspace",
        "-w",
        "/workspace",
        "ghcr.io/rshade/mcp-devtools-server:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace /path/to/your/project with your actual project directory.

Development with Docker Compose

For local development with hot-reload:

# Start development server
docker compose up mcp-devtools-dev

# Run tests
docker compose run --rm mcp-devtools-test

# Run linters
docker compose run --rm mcp-devtools-lint

# Production-like testing
docker compose up mcp-devtools

docker-compose.yml features:

• Hot-reload for source code changes
• Volume mounts for project access
• Separate services for dev, test, and lint
• Environment variable configuration

Building Custom Images

Build your own image with custom tools:

# Extend the base image
FROM ghcr.io/rshade/mcp-devtools-server:latest

# Install additional tools
RUN apk add --no-cache \
    docker-cli \
    kubectl

# Copy custom configuration
COPY .mcp-devtools.json /app/

Build and run:

docker build -t my-mcp-devtools:latest .
docker run -i --rm my-mcp-devtools:latest

CI/CD Integration

The project includes automated Docker builds via GitHub Actions:

• Automatic builds on push to main and tags
• Multi-platform support (linux/amd64, linux/arm64)
• Security scanning with Trivy
• Layer caching for fast builds
• Published to GitHub Container Registry (ghcr.io)

Available image tags:

• latest - Latest stable release
• v1.2.3 - Specific version tags
• main-abc123 - Branch-specific builds with commit SHA
• dev - Development builds (not published)

Configuration Options

Control Docker behavior with environment variables:

# Set log level
docker run -i --rm \
  -e LOG_LEVEL=debug \
  ghcr.io/rshade/mcp-devtools-server:latest

# Set Node environment
docker run -i --rm \
  -e NODE_ENV=production \
  ghcr.io/rshade/mcp-devtools-server:latest

Volume Mounts for Project Access

Mount your project directory to work with your code:

docker run -i --rm \
  -v "$(pwd):/workspace" \
  -w /workspace \
  ghcr.io/rshade/mcp-devtools-server:latest

Troubleshooting Docker

Issue: Permission denied when accessing files

• Ensure volume mount paths are correct
• Check file permissions in mounted directory
• Use --user flag to match host user ID:

docker run -i --rm \
  --user $(id -u):$(id -g) \
  -v "$(pwd):/workspace" \
  ghcr.io/rshade/mcp-devtools-server:latest

Issue: Container exits immediately

• MCP protocol uses stdio - ensure -i (interactive) flag is set
• Check logs with docker logs <container_id>
• Verify environment variables are set correctly

Issue: Cannot connect to Claude Desktop

• Ensure command is "docker" not "docker run"
• Check args array formatting in claude_desktop_config.json
• Verify image is pulled: docker pull ghcr.io/rshade/mcp-devtools-server:latest

Configuration

Claude Desktop Integration

1. Build the project first:

   npm run build

2. Add to your Claude Desktop configuration file (~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "mcp-devtools-server": {
         "command": "node",
         "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-devtools-server/dist/index.js"],
         "env": {
           "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
         }
       },
       "context7": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "@upstash/context7-mcp"]
       }
     }
   }

   Replace /absolute/path/to/mcp-devtools-server with your actual project path.

3. Example configuration files:

   • See examples/claude-desktop-config.json for a complete example
   • The .mcp.json file in the project root is a template you can copy

4. Restart Claude Desktop after updating the configuration.

Project-Specific Configuration

Create a .mcp-devtools.json file in your project root:

{
  "commands": {
    "lint": "make lint",
    "test": "make test",
    "build": "make build",
    "clean": "make clean"
  },
  "linters": ["eslint", "markdownlint", "yamllint"],
  "testRunner": "jest",
  "timeout": 300000
}

System Prompt Instructions

The MCP server automatically provides guidance to Claude via system prompt instructions (src/instructions.md). These instructions help Claude:

• Auto-discover the 50+ available mcp-devtools tools
• Prefer MCP tools over built-in Bash commands for development tasks
• Use onboarding wizard proactively when no configuration exists
• Follow common workflows for linting, testing, PR preparation, and error analysis

Key behaviors enabled:

• When starting work, Claude checks for .mcp-devtools.json and offers to run onboarding_wizard if missing
• For linting, Claude uses make_lint, eslint, etc. instead of Bash(make lint)
• For error handling, Claude uses analyze_command for automatic failure analysis
• Claude runs project_status before starting work to understand available tooling

The instructions are token-efficient (< 100 lines) and focus on operational guidance rather than marketing content.

Usage Examples

Basic Commands

// Run make lint
await callTool('make_lint', {});

// Run make test with specific target
await callTool('make_test', { target: 'unit-tests' });

// Run all linters
await callTool('lint_all', { fix: true });

// Get project status
await callTool('project_status', {});

Go Language Usage 🚀 PRIORITY

// Run Go tests with coverage and race detection
await callTool('go_test', { 
  coverage: true, 
  race: true, 
  verbose: true 
});

// Build Go application with specific tags
await callTool('go_build', { 
  tags: ["integration", "postgres"],
  verbose: true 
});

// Format Go code
await callTool('go_fmt', { 
  write: true, 
  simplify: true 
});

// Lint Go code with custom config
await callTool('go_lint', { 
  config: ".golangci.yml",
  fix: true 
});

// Vet Go code for issues
await callTool('go_vet', { package: "./..." });

// Tidy Go modules
await callTool('go_mod_tidy', { verbose: true });

// Run benchmarks with memory profiling
await callTool('go_benchmark', {
  benchmem: true,
  benchtime: '10s',
  cpu: [1, 2, 4]
});

// Execute code generation
await callTool('go_generate', {
  run: 'mockgen',
  verbose: true
});

// Cross-compile for different platforms
await callTool('go_build', {
  goos: 'linux',
  goarch: 'arm64',
  ldflags: '-X main.version=1.0.0',
  output: './bin/app-linux-arm64'
});

// Manage Go workspaces
await callTool('go_work', {
  command: 'use',
  modules: ['./moduleA', './moduleB']
});

// Scan for vulnerabilities
await callTool('go_vulncheck', {
  mode: 'source',
  json: true
});

File Validation Usage

// Check all TypeScript and JavaScript files for missing newlines
await callTool('ensure_newline', {
  patterns: ['src/**/*.ts', 'src/**/*.js'],
  mode: 'check',
  exclude: ['node_modules/**', 'dist/**']
});

// Fix all markdown files (automatically adds trailing newlines)
await callTool('ensure_newline', {
  patterns: ['**/*.md'],
  mode: 'fix',
  exclude: ['node_modules/**']
});

// Validate in CI/CD pipeline (exits with error if non-compliant)
await callTool('ensure_newline', {
  patterns: ['**/*'],
  mode: 'validate',
  exclude: ['node_modules/**', '.git/**', 'dist/**', '*.min.js'],
  maxFileSizeMB: 5
});

// Check specific file types only
await callTool('ensure_newline', {
  patterns: ['**/*'],
  fileTypes: ['*.ts', '*.go', '*.md', '*.json'],
  mode: 'check'
});

// Fix files after AI code generation
await callTool('ensure_newline', {
  patterns: ['src/**/*.ts', 'test/**/*.ts'],
  mode: 'fix',
  skipBinary: true  // default: true
});

Environment Variables Usage

// Load default .env file with masking (default behavior)
await callTool('dotenv_environment', {});

// Load specific .env file
await callTool('dotenv_environment', {
  file: '.env.production'
});

// Load without masking (for debugging - use carefully!)
await callTool('dotenv_environment', {
  mask: false
});

// Load with custom mask patterns
await callTool('dotenv_environment', {
  maskPatterns: ['CUSTOM_SECRET', 'INTERNAL']
});

// Include process.env variables
await callTool('dotenv_environment', {
  includeProcessEnv: true
});

// Full control example
await callTool('dotenv_environment', {
  file: '.env.staging',
  directory: '/path/to/project',
  mask: true,
  maskPatterns: ['CUSTOM_SECRET'],
  includeProcessEnv: false
});

Advanced Usage

// Run tests with coverage
await callTool('run_tests', { 
  coverage: true, 
  pattern: "*.test.js" 
});

// Lint specific files
await callTool('markdownlint', { 
  files: ["README.md", "docs/*.md"],
  fix: true 
});

// Build with parallel jobs
await callTool('make_build', { parallel: 4 });

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions Example

Add EOL validation to your GitHub Actions workflow:

name: Lint
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  validate-eol:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '18'

      - name: Install MCP DevTools Server
        run: |
          git clone https://github.com/rshade/mcp-devtools-server.git
          cd mcp-devtools-server
          npm install
          npm run build

      - name: Validate EOL compliance
        run: |
          # Use the ensure_newline tool in validate mode
          # This will exit with error if any files lack trailing newlines
          node mcp-devtools-server/dist/index.js ensure_newline \
            --patterns "**/*.ts" "**/*.js" "**/*.md" \
            --mode validate \
            --exclude "node_modules/**" "dist/**"

Pre-commit Hook

Add to your .git/hooks/pre-commit or use with Husky:

#!/bin/bash
# Automatically fix missing newlines before commit

npx mcp-devtools-server ensure_newline \
  --patterns "**/*.ts" "**/*.js" "**/*.go" "**/*.md" \
  --mode fix \
  --exclude "node_modules/**" "vendor/**" "dist/**"

# Stage any files that were fixed
git add -u

Architecture

The MCP DevTools Server is built on a modular, secure architecture:

• Secure Shell Execution - Command allowlist and argument sanitization
• Plugin System - Auto-discovery and lifecycle management
• Intelligent Caching - LRU cache with file-based invalidation (5-10x speedups)
• Project Detection - Auto-configuration for Node.js, Python, Go, and more
• 40+ Tools - Comprehensive development tool integration

🏗️ View Complete Architecture Documentation

Plugin System

The MCP DevTools Server supports an extensible plugin architecture that allows you to add custom tools and integrations without modifying the core codebase.

What Are Plugins?

Plugins extend the server with additional functionality:

• Custom tools accessible through the MCP protocol
• Language/framework support (Docker, Kubernetes, etc.)
• CI/CD integrations (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, etc.)
• IDE enhancements (formatters, linters, etc.)
• Notification systems (Slack, Discord, Email)

Available Plugins

git-spice Plugin

A reference implementation demonstrating best practices for plugin development. Provides Git stacked branch management tools.

Tools Provided:

• git_spice_branch_create - Create new stacked branches
• git_spice_branch_checkout - Checkout existing branches
• git_spice_stack_submit - Submit entire stack as pull requests
• git_spice_stack_restack - Rebase stack on latest changes
• git_spice_log_short - View current stack visualization
• git_spice_repo_sync - Sync with remote and cleanup merged branches

Example Configuration:

{
  "plugins": {
    "enabled": ["git-spice"],
    "git-spice": {
      "defaultBranch": "main",
      "autoRestack": false,
      "jsonOutput": true,
      "timeout": 60000
    }
  }
}

Usage Example:

// Create a new feature branch
await callTool('git_spice_branch_create', {
  name: 'feature/add-authentication',
  base: 'main'
});

// Create a stacked branch on top of the first
await callTool('git_spice_branch_create', {
  name: 'feature/auth-service',
  base: 'feature/add-authentication'
});

// View the stack
await callTool('git_spice_log_short', {});

// Submit all as PRs
await callTool('git_spice_stack_submit', { draft: false });

See the git-spice User Guide for detailed documentation.

Plugin Architecture

How Plugins Work

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│     MCP DevTools Server             │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │     Plugin Manager            │  │
│  │  - Discovery                  │  │
│  │  - Registration               │  │
│  │  - Tool Routing               │  │
│  └───────────┬───────────────────┘  │
│              │                       │
│  ┌───────────┴───────────────────┐  │
│  │   Plugin 1   │   Plugin 2     │  │
│  │  ┌─────┐     │   ┌─────┐      │  │
│  │  │Tool1│     │   │Tool3│      │  │
│  │  │Tool2│     │   │Tool4│      │  │
│  │  └─────┘     │   └─────┘      │  │
│  └──────────────┴────────────────┘  │
│              │                       │
│  ┌───────────┴───────────────────┐  │
│  │    Shared ShellExecutor       │  │
│  │    (Security Layer)           │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Plugin Lifecycle

1. Discovery: PluginManager scans src/plugins/*-plugin.ts
2. Validation: Checks required dependencies
3. Initialization: Calls initialize() with context
4. Registration: Calls registerTools() to get tool list
5. Execution: Routes tool calls to handleToolCall()
6. Shutdown: Calls shutdown() on server exit

Tool Namespacing

Tools are automatically prefixed with plugin name to prevent conflicts:

Plugin: git-spice
Tool: branch_create
Result: git_spice_branch_create

Developing Plugins

Quick Start (5 Minutes)

1. Copy the template:

   cp examples/plugins/custom-plugin-example.ts src/plugins/my-tool-plugin.ts

2. Update metadata:

   metadata: PluginMetadata = {
     name: 'my-tool',
     version: '1.0.0',
     description: 'Integration with my-tool',
     requiredCommands: ['my-tool'],
     tags: ['utility'],
   };

3. Implement a tool:

   async registerTools(): Promise<PluginTool[]> {
     return [{
       name: 'execute',
       description: 'Execute my-tool command',
       inputSchema: {
         type: 'object',
         properties: {
           args: { type: 'array', items: { type: 'string' } }
         }
       }
     }];
   }

4. Build and test:

   npm run build
   node dist/index.js

Your plugin will be auto-discovered and loaded!

Plugin Interface

All plugins must implement the Plugin interface:

export class MyPlugin implements Plugin {
  // Metadata (required)
  metadata: PluginMetadata = {
    name: 'my-plugin',
    version: '1.0.0',
    description: 'My custom plugin',
    requiredCommands: ['my-command'],
    tags: ['utility'],
  };

  // Lifecycle methods (required)
  async initialize(context: PluginContext): Promise<void> {
    // Validate required commands are available
    // Initialize any state
  }

  async registerTools(): Promise<PluginTool[]> {
    // Return array of tool definitions
  }

  async handleToolCall(toolName: string, args: unknown): Promise<unknown> {
    // Route to appropriate tool method
  }

  // Optional methods
  async validateConfig?(config: unknown): Promise<boolean> { }
  async shutdown?(): Promise<void> { }
  async healthCheck?(): Promise<PluginHealth> { }
}

Plugin Context

Every plugin receives a context with:

interface PluginContext {
  config: Record<string, unknown>;    // Plugin configuration
  projectRoot: string;                 // Project directory
  shellExecutor: ShellExecutor;        // Secure command execution
  logger: winston.Logger;              // Scoped logger
  utils: PluginUtils;                  // Helper functions
}

Security Best Practices

1. Always use the shared ShellExecutor - Never execute commands directly
2. Validate all input with Zod schemas - Runtime type safety
3. Add commands to the allowlist - Update src/utils/shell-executor.ts
4. Sanitize user input - Prevent command injection
5. No dynamic code execution - Never use eval() or Function()

Example:

import { z } from 'zod';

const MyToolArgsSchema = z.object({
  input: z.string().min(1).describe('Input parameter'),
  verbose: z.boolean().optional().describe('Verbose output'),
});

private async myTool(args: unknown): Promise<MyToolResult> {
  // 1. Validate input
  const validated = MyToolArgsSchema.parse(args);

  // 2. Execute through ShellExecutor
  const result = await this.context.shellExecutor.execute(
    `my-command ${validated.input}`,
    {
      cwd: this.context.projectRoot,
      timeout: 60000,
    }
  );

  // 3. Return structured result
  if (result.success) {
    return { success: true, output: result.stdout };
  } else {
    return {
      success: false,
      error: result.stderr,
      suggestions: this.generateSuggestions(result.stderr),
    };
  }
}

Plugin Documentation

• Developer Guide: docs/plugin-development.md - Comprehensive guide covering architecture, implementation, testing, and best practices
• git-spice User Guide: docs/plugins/git-spice.md - Complete user documentation for the git-spice plugin
• Template: examples/plugins/custom-plugin-example.ts - Ready-to-use plugin template with TODOs

Testing Plugins

Create tests in src/__tests__/plugins/your-plugin.test.ts:

import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach } from '@jest/globals';
import { YourPlugin } from '../../plugins/your-plugin.js';

describe('YourPlugin', () => {
  let plugin: YourPlugin;
  let mockContext: PluginContext;

  beforeEach(() => {
    plugin = new YourPlugin();
    mockContext = createMockContext();
  });

  it('should initialize successfully', async () => {
    await expect(plugin.initialize(mockContext)).resolves.not.toThrow();
  });

  it('should execute tool successfully', async () => {
    const result = await plugin.handleToolCall('my_tool', {
      input: 'test'
    });
    expect(result).toMatchObject({ success: true });
  });
});

Coverage Goals:

• Plugin Manager: 90%+ coverage
• Individual Plugins: 85%+ coverage

Error Handling

The server provides comprehensive error handling with:

• Structured error responses
• Helpful suggestions for common failures
• Exit code interpretation
• Tool availability checking

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! This project is built on continuous learning and improvement.

Please read our Contributing Guidelines for detailed information on how to contribute to this project.

Quick Links

• Contributing Guidelines - How to contribute
• Code of Conduct - Community standards
• Security Policy - Reporting vulnerabilities
• API Documentation - TypeDoc generated API docs

Development Workflow

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests for new functionality
5. Run linting and tests
6. Submit a pull request

For detailed instructions, see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Areas for Contribution

• Better development patterns
• Error prevention strategies
• Workflow optimizations
• Tool integrations
• Documentation improvements

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Command not found errors

   • Ensure required tools are installed
   • Check PATH environment variable
   • Verify tool permissions

2. Permission denied

   • Check file permissions in project directory
   • Ensure write permissions for build outputs

3. Timeout errors

   • Increase timeout values in configuration
   • Optimize slow operations
   • Check system resources

4. EOL/Newline validation issues

   • Files created by AI often miss trailing newlines
   • Use ensure_newline with mode: 'fix' to automatically correct
   • Binary files are automatically skipped - check file encoding if issues persist
   • CRLF vs LF is automatically detected and preserved
   • Use validate mode in CI/CD to catch issues before commit

Debug Mode

Enable debug logging:

LOG_LEVEL=debug npm start

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

This project represents an ongoing effort to improve the developer experience when working with AI-powered coding assistants. All feedback and contributions help shape better development practices for the community.

Project Status & Roadmap

Current Status: MVP 0.0.1 Released ✅

Active Development: 2025-Q2 - Plugin Architecture & Performance

Quick Overview:

• ✅ Q1 2025: Go Support & Core Foundation (100% complete - 5/5 issues)
• 🚀 Q2 2025: Plugin Ecosystem & Performance (2/10 issues)
• 🔮 Q3 2025: User Experience & AI Integration
• 📊 Q4 2025: Team Collaboration & Enterprise

📚 View Full Roadmap 📊 Track Progress on GitHub