career-mcp

An MCP server for the job-search loop: store a resume, drop in a job description, get a real match analysis, a tailored resume and cover letter (exported to PDF), a LinkedIn About section — plus a structured interview that captures your career stories so they're ready to reuse.

Local-first. Your resume and stories live in a folder on your machine (~/.career-mcp by default) — nothing is uploaded anywhere.

How it works

The MCP server itself doesn't call any LLM. It's a data layer: it stores your resume, job descriptions, voice profile, and stories, and hands them back as context. The actual reasoning — match analysis, tailoring, writing — is done by whatever MCP-capable client you're using (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, etc.), the same way any tool-using conversation works.

If you don't have an MCP client, the bundled CLI (career-mcp-cli) does the same job standalone, using your own Groq or Gemini API key (both have usable free tiers) to do the reasoning itself.

Install

npm install -g @sindhujaks/career-mcp

Use with an MCP client (recommended)

Add to your client's MCP config (e.g. .mcp.json for Claude Code):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "career-mcp": {
      "command": "career-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Then, in conversation: save your resume, save a JD, and ask your client to run a match analysis, draft a tailored resume, write a cover letter, or draft a LinkedIn About. Say "let's capture a career story" to run the guided interview.

Tools

| Tool | Purpose | |---|---| | save_resume / get_resume | Store/retrieve your base resume | | save_voice_profile / get_voice_profile | Store tone/style guidance so generated content sounds like you | | save_jd | Store a job description, sets it as the active application | | get_active_application | Bundles resume + JD + voice profile + relevant stories as context | | list_applications | List all stored applications | | save_output | Persist a generated match analysis / resume / cover letter / About section | | export_pdf | Render a tailored resume, cover letter, or base resume to PDF (themes: navy, minimal, classic; page size: letter or a4) | | save_story / query_stories | Save/retrieve career stories, filterable by tag | | start_story_interview / answer_story_question | Guided, protocol-driven interview to capture one new story |

PDF export

export_pdf turns a saved markdown resume or cover letter into a PDF that ATS systems can read (real, selectable text — not an image).

• Uses the browser you already have. It drives your installed Chrome, Edge, Chromium, or Brave in the background — nothing extra is downloaded. If yours lives somewhere unusual, set CAREER_MCP_CHROME_PATH. If no browser is found, you get an .html file instead: open it and use Print → Save as PDF.
• Works offline. Fonts are bundled with the package.
• Three themes: navy (default — modern sans-serif, navy accents), minimal (monochrome, compact), classic (serif, centered header).
• Letter or A4. Defaults to Letter; set CAREER_MCP_PAGE_SIZE=a4 to change the default.
• Cover letters only on request — the default document is the tailored resume.

The PDF is written next to the markdown (e.g. outputs/tailored_resume.pdf). The markdown stays the source of truth: edit it, then export again.

Resumes render best in this shape (the MCP client is told this automatically):

# Full Name
Target title · positioning
City · email · phone · linkedin.com/in/you

## Summary
...

## Experience
### Job Title — Company
*2021 – Present | City*
- Achievement bullet

Use standalone (no MCP client)

cp .env.example .env   # fill in CAREER_MCP_API_KEY (free Groq or Gemini key)

career-mcp-cli set-resume --file resume.txt
career-mcp-cli set-jd --company Acme --role "Senior Engineer" --file jd.txt
career-mcp-cli analyze
career-mcp-cli resume                         # also writes the PDF
career-mcp-cli cover-letter --pdf             # --pdf is optional
career-mcp-cli pdf --theme classic --page-size a4
career-mcp-cli about
career-mcp-cli interview   # guided story capture

Data layout

~/.career-mcp/
├── resume.json
├── voice_profile.md
├── stories/<slug>.md
└── applications/<company-role>/
    ├── jd.json
    └── outputs/{match_analysis,tailored_resume,cover_letter,linkedin_about}.md
        (+ tailored_resume.pdf / cover_letter.pdf once exported)

Override the location with CAREER_MCP_DATA_DIR.

License

MIT