okf-mcp

okf-mcp

okf-mcp publishes Open Knowledge Format v0.2 from the systems that already hold the knowledge, and serves the result to agents. It is a local-first consumer, validator, graph index, CLI, and MCP server.

The part that is hard is writing to a catalog safely. A configured producer reads an external source and returns a candidate bundle; okf-mcp validates it, then publishes it under an ownership manifest that records exactly which files it owns. Hand-authored content is never adopted, a source that did not change rewrites nothing, and no producer output escapes its bundle. @mfdaves/okf-postgres reads PostgreSQL catalogs this way without reading a single table row.

Reading is the ordinary half. It consumes an OKF bundle directory of Markdown files with YAML frontmatter. An optional workspace mode can federate several bundles. Concepts are exposed through CLI commands and MCP resources and tools for validation, structured search, graph navigation, provenance inspection, and proposal-based authoring.

The core intentionally has no database, embeddings, build step, or hosted-service dependency. It uses js-yaml for safe YAML, CommonMark for Markdown structure, MiniSearch for in-memory BM25+ text retrieval, and the official Model Context Protocol TypeScript SDK v2 for stdio MCP. Local root mode makes no network calls. Optional remote loading fetches public Markdown concepts and only their explicitly referenced inert assets from GitHub. Nothing in the v0.2 computation support executes code or attests a receipt.

OKF v0.2 Support And Extensions

OKF v0.2 intentionally specifies a portable file format, not a serving or query runtime. okf-mcp keeps that boundary explicit:

The following are okf-mcp extensions rather than requirements of the format:

• CLI, MCP, and HTTP interfaces; in-memory search and graph views
• optional multi-bundle okf.project.yaml workspaces and typed relations
• compatibility id, aliases, and okf:// locators
• proposal-backed authoring with explicit acceptance
• bounded GitHub remote loading and explicitly mapped pinned Git sources
• generator plugins and stricter opt-in project policies such as strictLinks

Install And Run

Node 22 or newer is required.

Install from the GitHub release:

git clone --branch v0.12.0-rc.1 https://github.com/mfdaves/okf-mcp.git

cd okf-mcp npm ci node bin/okf-mcp.js --root ./path/to/okf validate

Pin the published version for reproducible use:

npx -y @mfdaves/okf-mcp@0.12.0-rc.1 --version

npx -y @mfdaves/okf-mcp@0.12.0-rc.1 --root ./path/to/okf validate

For a persistent installation:

npm install --global @mfdaves/okf-mcp@0.12.0-rc.1

okf --version okf --root ./path/to/okf validate okf-mcp --root ./path/to/okf mcp

To work from the current source branch:

git clone https://github.com/mfdaves/okf-mcp.git

cd okf-mcp npm ci npm test node bin/okf-mcp.js --version

--root accepts one local OKF bundle directory and is the recommended okf-mcp interface for a single bundle. The portable identity of each concept is its extensionless path inside that root.

--bundle accepts either a path or id=path. Multiple flags remain supported for compatibility. --project and its bundles: list are an optional okf-mcp federation/authoring extension, not part of OKF v0.2.

--remote-bundle accepts id=https://github.com/ / /tree/ / . It fetches public Markdown first, then only bundle-local files explicitly named by standard v0.2 resource fields. Remote content remains read-only and inert.

--inspect prints a compact graph summary and exits. Without --inspect and without an explicit command, the process starts a stdio MCP server.

The package exposes both okf and okf-mcp binaries when installed. Without an explicit source, the CLI first discovers the nearest root index.md declaring okf_version; nearest-project discovery remains a compatibility fallback.

CLI exit statuses are 0 for success, 1 for validation or operational failure, and 2 for invalid usage. Unknown options are rejected.

Included OKF Reference

This repository publishes a self-describing OKF bundle for the product, its runtime boundaries, interfaces, authoring workflows, and safety policy. Its portable entry Concept ID is overview/okf-mcp; okf://okf-mcp/overview/okf-mcp remains the workspace/MCP resource locator.

Validate and query the bundled reference from a checkout or installed package:

okf --root okf/okf-mcp validate

okf --root okf/okf-mcp search "proposal" okf --root okf/okf-mcp concept overview/okf-mcp

Load the reference bundle directly from the current source branch:

okf --remote-bundle okf-mcp=https://github.com/mfdaves/okf-mcp/tree/main/okf/okf-mcp --inspect

The published v0.8.0 tag retains its original okf/bundles/okf-mcp path. The shorter okf/okf-mcp path was prepared in the unpublished 0.8.1 maintenance checkpoint and ships with v0.9.0; the immutable v0.8.0 release remains unchanged.

The @mfdaves/okf-mcp npm package includes both okf.project.yaml and the complete reference bundle.

Optional Multi-Bundle Project Config

Use okf.project.yaml only when one process must federate multiple roots, configure generators or external metadata producers, or enforce a project-wide relation vocabulary:

project: Example

strictLinks: false bundles:

• id: app root: okf/bundles/app include: ["**/*.md"] exclude: ["archive/**"]
• id: data root: okf/bundles/data
• id: company-database root: okf/company-database

relationTypes:

• deployed_by

remoteBundles:

• id: shared url: https://github.com/example/okf-atlas/tree/main/bundles/shared include: ["public/"] exclude: ["drafts/"]

plugins:

• name: docs type: filesystem root: docs output: okf/bundles/app/generated/docs bundle: app

producers:

• name: main-database type: postgresql package: "@mfdaves/okf-postgres" bundle: company-database config: connectionEnv: DATABASE_URL source: company-db schemas: [public] includeIndexes: true

Run project commands:

okf --project okf.project.yaml validate

okf --project okf.project.yaml search "orders" okf --project okf.project.yaml graph mermaid okf --project okf.project.yaml generate okf --project okf.project.yaml producer list okf --project okf.project.yaml producer preview main-database okf --project okf.project.yaml producer run main-database --write --actor process:nightly-refresh okf --project okf.project.yaml mcp okf --project okf.project.yaml mcp --authoring okf --project okf.project.yaml mcp --allow-remote-tool OKF_WRITE_TOKEN=change-me okf --project okf.project.yaml serve okf --remote-bundle shared=https://github.com/example/okf-atlas/tree/main/bundles/shared --inspect

Commands:

• mcp
• validate
• graph [json|dot|mermaid]
• search
• concept
• neighbors
• paths
• provenance
• edge-kinds
• computation inspect|prepare|check-receipt
• asset
• source
• migrate check|preview
• generate
• producer list|preview|run
• serve

External metadata producers

Producers are separate from the built-in plugins: generators. A producer reads metadata from an external source and returns an in-memory candidate OKF bundle; okf-mcp validates and publishes that candidate. Install each producer package alongside the project, then allowlist its exact bare package name in the trusted project configuration. MCP callers can select a configured producer but cannot replace its package, configuration, credentials, queries, bundle, or output paths.

The package must be installed under a node_modules directory belonging to the project, resolved by its exact bare name. Ordinary registry installs, npm workspaces, npm link, and store-backed layouts such as pnpm all satisfy this; a path in configuration never does.

The package must export the versioned okfProducer API. Producer API v1 targets OKF v0.2 and separates validateConfig() from side-effect-free destination generation. Candidate concepts require native generated and non-empty sources provenance. The host rejects unsafe paths, malformed concepts, unresolved links or typed relations, unowned file collisions, locally modified managed files, secret values in output, and any candidate that would leave the complete project invalid.

Both interfaces run the same host. Use the CLI for scheduled refreshes:

okf --project okf.project.yaml producer preview main-database

okf --project okf.project.yaml producer run main-database --write --actor process:nightly-refresh

producer preview exits 1 when the candidate is invalid; producer run exits 1 when nothing was published. Both print the same receipt the MCP tools return.

For a configured project, MCP exposes:

• okf_list_producers: list configuration without loading package code or reading the source
• okf_preview_producer: read source metadata and return a validated, non-writing diff
• okf_run_producer: regenerate under the shared writer queue and publish with revision checks and rollback; available only with --write plus a truthful --actor using human: , process: , or provider/model syntax

Preview and run accept only the configured producer name plus optional receipt detail. Receipts include bounded numeric source-object summaries and publication-diff counts. Publication records owned relative paths and SHA-256 digests in the bundle-local .okf-producer.json. Only unchanged paths owned by the prior manifest can be updated or removed; hand-authored content is never adopted implicitly. The manifest contains no producer configuration, credentials, or connection details.

Two rules keep a managed bundle stable across repeated runs:

• A producer restamps generated.at on every run. The host compares each candidate against the published file ignoring that stamp, so a source that did not change reports unchanged and leaves the bytes, the timestamps, and the manifest untouched. Publication-diff counts therefore describe the source, not the run.
• A manifest entry alone is not authorit