mcp serve

nself mcp

Start a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for the local ɳSelf instance. Enables Claude Code and other MCP-compliant IDEs to introspect your ɳSelf project with zero configuration.

Synopsis

nself mcp [--transport <stdio|sse|http>] [--port <port>]

There is no separate serve or status subcommand — nself mcp itself starts the server.

Description

nself mcp starts the MCP server in stdio mode by default, the native transport that Claude Code expects. Pass --transport sse or --transport http to expose it over a local HTTP port instead; set NSELF_MCP_TOKEN to require a bearer token on those transports.

Run nself mcp from inside an nSelf project directory — it fails fast if one isn't found.

Options

Flag	Default	Description
--transport, -t	stdio	Transport: stdio, sse, or http.
--port, -p	3825	Port for the sse/http transports.

Environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
NSELF_MCP_TOKEN	(empty)	Optional bearer token required on sse/http requests. Unset means no auth check; stdio mode is unaffected.

Claude Code integration

Add to .claude/settings.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nself": {
      "command": "nself",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code will start the server automatically and expose its full tool, resource, and prompt set in its tool context (see cmd-mcp for the generated list). You can then ask Claude Code questions like:

• "What tables does this ɳSelf project have?"
• "What's the health status of this project?"
• "Which plugins are installed?"
• "Tail the hasura logs"
• "What permissions does the 'user' role have?"

Available MCP tools

The tool, resource, and prompt list is generated from source (make mcp-docs) rather than hand-maintained here, so it can't drift the way an earlier hand-listed table did. See cmd-mcp for the current, authoritative list.

Security

• HTTP/SSE transport binds to 127.0.0.1 by default. Never expose to 0.0.0.0 in production.
• Config values whose key contains SECRET, PASSWORD, KEY, or TOKEN are always redacted in tool output; there is no opt-out.
• The migration-apply tool requires an explicit confirm: true argument on every call, and a DDL allowlist blocks destructive statements even then. Treat it as a privileged operation.

Examples

# Stdio only (Claude Code uses this)
nself mcp

# With HTTP/SSE on the default port
nself mcp --transport http --port 3825

Plugin requirement

None — nself mcp is a core CLI command, no plugin or license required.

See also

• cmd-mcp: generated tool/resource/prompt reference for this command
• MCP specification
• cmd-doctor

Note: nself.org/plugins/mcp documents an unrelated paid plugin (bundles/paid/mcp, ɳClaw/ClawDE bundles, its own port and tool set), not this core nself mcp command.