MCP server reference
cdno-mcp is a Model Context Protocol server that exposes your
vault to AI clients (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Kiro, Gemini CLI, …). It runs the same domain
engine as the CLI, so anything the assistant does goes through the same rules and lands in the same
Markdown files. To wire it up, see Connect to Claude.
Transport and vault selection
Two binaries serve the same tool catalogue:
cdno-mcpspeaks JSON-RPC over stdio — the client launches it as a subprocess. It opens the vault named byCUADERNO_VAULT_PATH, or, if that’s unset, discovers one from its working directory (the same rule as the CLI).cdno-mcp-serverspeaks MCP Streamable HTTP for remote clients — see The HTTP server for its flags and security model.
The tool surface
The server advertises 46 tools. This reference groups them by purpose:
| Group | Page | What’s in it |
|---|---|---|
| Context-gathering reads | Context-gathering tools | Orientation, project/portfolio/weekly context, search, reads, lint, triage list |
| Writes | Write tools | Log, capture, file evidence, project/action/milestone/waiting edits, commitments, tracking, daily/weekly sections |
| Creation & lifecycle | Creation and lifecycle tools | Create projects/portfolios/questions/stewardships, link portfolios, park/activate, status transitions |
Every tool returns typed JSON; the shapes mirror the CLI’s --json output, so a
client gets the same structures whichever surface it uses.
Conventions
- Slugs, not paths. Tools take slugs (
surrogate-model), matching the CLI. - Substring matching for completing actions/milestones and resolving waiting-on items, exactly as on the CLI.
- The same rules apply. The five-project cap, append-only notes, auto-logged project-state history, and commitments aggregation all hold — the MCP server is not a back door around them.
Building skills on top
Multi-step rituals (a morning orientation, a guided weekly review) are best wrapped as Claude skills that call these tools in sequence. See Using with Claude skills.