OurAfrica Course-Builder MCP Server

Build OurAfrica courses with your own Claude subscription — no per-token API key.

This is a Model Context Protocol server. You run it inside your own AI client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or a claude.ai connector). Your Claude subscription does the thinking; this server exposes tools that create and edit courses in OurAfrica on your behalf. You just chat: "Build me a beginner course on food safety with 4 modules."

Because the intelligence runs in your client, there is nothing to pay per token and no provider API key to manage — it uses the Claude (or other MCP-capable) subscription you already have.

What you need

1. An OurAfrica account with the Content Author role.
2. Node.js 18 or newer on your machine.
3. A course-builder MCP token. In the OurAfrica dashboard go to Courses → New course → Build with your AI assistant → Create token, and copy the oa_pat_… value (shown once).

Configure your AI client

The server is launched by your client with two environment variables:

| Variable | Required | Default | | --- | --- | --- | | OURAFRICA_MCP_TOKEN | yes | — (your oa_pat_… token) | | OURAFRICA_API_URL | no | https://api.ourafrica.co.zw | | OURAFRICA_MCP_TIMEOUT_MS | no | 60000 |

Claude Desktop

Edit claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config), then restart Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ourafrica-course-builder": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ourafrica/course-builder-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OURAFRICA_MCP_TOKEN": "oa_pat_your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add ourafrica-course-builder \
  --env OURAFRICA_MCP_TOKEN=oa_pat_your_token_here \
  -- npx -y @ourafrica/course-builder-mcp

claude.ai (web) custom connector

claude.ai connectors are remote (HTTP) only — they cannot launch this local stdio server. To use it from claude.ai it must be deployed as a hosted HTTP MCP endpoint; that is a separate deployment (see Roadmap below). For now use Claude Desktop or Claude Code.

Running from source (before it is published to npm)

cd dashboard/mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

Then point your client's command/args at the built entry instead of npx:

{
  "command": "node",
  "args": ["C:/path/to/dashboard/mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
  "env": { "OURAFRICA_MCP_TOKEN": "oa_pat_your_token_here" }
}

Tools

Build a whole thing in one call (preferred — never leaves a shell):

| Tool | What it does | | --- | --- | | create_course_tree | Build an ENTIRE course — course + every module + every lesson (with Markdown body) + quizzes — in one call. Returns all ids + any per-item errors. | | create_module_tree | Add a full module (its lessons + optional quiz) to an existing course. |

Targeted create / read / update:

| Tool | What it does | | --- | --- | | ourafrica_whoami | Confirm which account the token belongs to | | list_my_courses / get_course | List your courses / fetch one with its full tree | | create_course / update_course | Create an empty course / edit its fields | | set_course_pricing | Set price + subject | | list_modules / create_module / update_module | Manage sections | | get_lesson / create_lesson / update_lesson | Manage lessons + their Markdown body | | create_quiz | Create a quiz with questions + options in one call | | update_quiz / add_quiz_question / update_quiz_question / update_quiz_option | Edit an existing quiz | | search_library | Semantic search over existing lessons |

Publishing — a course is REFUSED unless it clears the quality gate:

| Tool | What it does | | --- | --- | | lint_course | The publish gate, read without publishing: { publishable, issues[], metrics }. Call this BEFORE publish_course. | | publish_course_lessons | Publish every draft lesson in a course. Lessons are created as drafts and block the course until published. | | lint_lesson / publish_lesson | Check or publish a single lesson. | | publish_course | Publish a DRAFT course (only when you ask, and only once lint_course says publishable). | | archive_course | Remove a course from the catalogue. |

Graded assessments (submitted work marked against a rubric — not a quiz):

| Tool | What it does | | --- | --- | | create_assessment | Create one, with its rubric criteria in the same call. Every course needs ≥1 to publish; advanced courses need a capstone. | | list_assessments / get_assessment / update_assessment | Read and edit them | | add_rubric_item / list_rubric_items | Manage the marking criteria | | delete_assessment / delete_rubric_item | Permanent, confirm: true gated |

Reorder: reorder_modules, reorder_lessons, reorder_quiz_questions, reorder_quiz_options (pass all ids in the new order).

Delete (permanent, gated): delete_course, delete_module, delete_lesson, delete_quiz, delete_quiz_question, delete_quiz_option, delete_assessment, delete_rubric_item. Each refuses unless you pass confirm: true — the assistant will tell you exactly what will be deleted and ask before doing it.

Two MCP resources (ourafrica://guide/authoring, ourafrica://schema/course) and a build-a-course prompt are also exposed so your model builds complete courses in the platform's house style.

Security

• A token authenticates as you and is limited to course-authoring endpoints; it cannot touch billing, org admin, or mint more tokens.
• The plaintext token is shown once — store it only in your client's config env.
• Revoke a token any time on the Build with your AI assistant page. Revoked or expired tokens stop working immediately.
• Newly built courses stay in DRAFT until you (or the model, at your explicit request) publish them.
• A token cannot reach billing, org admin or learner submissions — only the course-authoring surface (courses, modules, lessons, assets, quizzes, assessments and their rubrics).

Publishing (maintainers)

Published to npm as @ourafrica/course-builder-mcp under the ourafrica org.

• Release a new version: bump version in package.json and merge to main. The workflow .github/workflows/publish-mcp.yml (in the dashboard repo) builds, tests, and npm publishes — but only when the version is one npm doesn't already have.
• Secret: the workflow uses the repo secret NPM_TOKEN on kudzaiprichard/ourafrica_dashboard — an npm Granular Access Token, Read+write on the @ourafrica scope, 2FA-bypass on, 90-day expiry (created 2026-07-16 → expires ~2026-10-14). When it expires, publishes fail until it's rotated (the app is unaffected).
• Rotate the token / full ops details: see COURSE_BUILDER_MCP.md at the dashboard repo root.

Roadmap

• Hosted HTTP transport so claude.ai / ChatGPT remote connectors can use it directly.
• Media attach (image/video by URL) and glossary tools — video minutes are a blocking publish-gate floor that currently only the dashboard can satisfy.