lemon-manuals-mcp

Your AI mechanic's service manual. Give your AI assistant access to real repair procedures, diagnostic steps, torque specs, and wiring diagrams for thousands of vehicles (1960--2025, ~70 makes).

Just describe what's wrong with your car in plain English, and the AI will find the right service manual article for you.

What it does

lemon-manuals-mcp connects your AI assistant to the LEMON Manuals database of car service manuals. Once set up, you can ask questions like:

My 2010 Honda Accord cranks but won't start. Fuel pressure is good. What should I check?

The heater fan on my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee only works on the highest setting. What's the fix?

I'm getting a P0011 code on my 2005 Subaru Outback XT. Is it safe to keep driving?

My 2010 Jeep Wrangler shakes violently after hitting a bump on the highway. The shop says I need a new steering damper -- is that right?

The AI will automatically look up your specific vehicle, find the relevant repair or diagnostic procedure in the service manual, and walk you through it.

Setup

lemon-manuals-mcp works with any AI tool that supports MCP servers, including Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, and others.

Cursor

1. Open Cursor (or install it if you haven't).

2. Make sure you have Node.js installed (version 20 or newer). You can check by opening a terminal and running node --version.

3. Open Cursor Settings (Cmd+Shift+J on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+J on Windows/Linux), then go to MCP and click + Add new MCP server.

4. Enter the following:

   • Name: lemon-manuals-mcp
   • Type: command
   • Command: npx -y lemon-manuals-mcp

5. Click Save and make sure the toggle next to lemon-manuals-mcp is green.

That's it. Start a new chat and ask about your car.

For more details on MCP in Cursor, see the Cursor MCP docs.

Claude Desktop

Add this to your Claude Desktop MCP config file (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on Mac):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lemon-manuals-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "lemon-manuals-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Other MCP clients

Any MCP-compatible client can use lemon-manuals-mcp. The server runs as a local command-line process using stdio transport. Point your client at:

npx -y lemon-manuals-mcp

Manual config file setup

If you prefer editing config files directly, create .cursor/mcp.json in your project folder (or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for a global setup):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lemon-manuals-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "lemon-manuals-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Examples

Here are some real problems lemon-manuals-mcp can help with.

"My car won't start"

I have a 2010 Honda Accord, 2.4L. It cranks fine but won't fire. Fuel pressure is good, I'm getting spark, timing looks okay. What else should I check?

The AI will look up your Accord's electrical and ignition systems, find the relevant diagnostic procedures, and walk you through connector checks, circuit testing, and known failure points like the C101 intermediate connector.

"What's this warning light?"

My 2005 Subaru Outback XT is showing a P0011 code and feels low on power on the highway. There's a weird sucking noise. Is it safe to keep driving?

The AI will find the AVCS (variable valve timing) diagnostic procedure for your specific engine, explain what the code means, identify the oil control valve and banjo-bolt screen as likely culprits, and tell you whether it's safe to drive.

"The shop quoted me $X -- is that the right fix?"

My 2010 Jeep Wrangler shakes violently after hitting a bump. The shop says replace the steering damper and shocks. Does that sound right?

The AI will pull up the steering and suspension service manual for your Wrangler, explain that the steering damper is a band-aid for "death wobble," and point you to the actual root cause -- the front track bar and its mounting bolts -- with the correct torque specs.

"How do I fix this myself?"

The heater fan on my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee only works on the highest setting. Lower speeds do nothing. What's going on?

The AI will find the HVAC blower motor resistor diagnostic and replacement procedure, explain that "only works on high" means the resistor has failed (since high speed bypasses it), and flag the connector/pigtail as a common co-failure point.

What's covered

lemon-manuals-mcp has access to service manuals covering:

• ~70 makes including all major US, Japanese, Korean, and European brands
• Model years 1960--2025
• Repair and diagnostic procedures -- step-by-step instructions with images
• Wiring diagrams and connector pinouts
• Torque specifications
• Component locations
• Testing and inspection procedures

The data comes from two databases: LEMON (newer, 2025 data, cleaner organization) and CHARM (older, 2013 data, more detailed for pre-2014 vehicles). The AI automatically picks the best source for your vehicle.

Troubleshooting

The AI says it can't find my vehicle Not every vehicle is in the database. Try slight variations of the model name, or ask the AI to list available variants for your make and year.

The AI isn't using lemon-manuals-mcp Make sure the MCP server is enabled (green toggle in Cursor settings). Try starting a new chat and explicitly mentioning your car problem. In Cursor, you can also type @lemon-manuals-mcp to reference the server directly.

I get an error about Node.js lemon-manuals-mcp requires Node.js 20 or newer. Download it from nodejs.org.

Disclaimer

lemon-manuals-mcp is a client, not a redistributor. It fetches service manual pages on your machine from lemon-manuals.la, a third-party website. It does not host, mirror, or redistribute any manual content.

This project is not affiliated with lemon-manuals.la or its operators.

We take no position on the provenance, copyright status, or legality of the content served by lemon-manuals.la. You are solely responsible for ensuring that your use of this tool and the upstream content complies with all applicable laws in your jurisdiction.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. See LICENSE for the full terms.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Before submitting a PR, please run:

npm test
npx prettier --check .

License

Apache-2.0