mdp-mcp

An MCP server for MDP, a presentation compiler for AI-written content. Hand it a plain .mdp source and it compiles a design-locked page, slide deck, flyer, report, one-pager, memo, or letter and hands back a file you can open, from any MCP-speaking host.

The author writes meaning; the engine owns all design. Output is deterministic (byte-identical for the same source). The only design knobs are a named theme: and an optional brand-logo: mark the engine places in the masthead.

Install

claude mcp add mdp -- npx -y mdp-mcp

Or in a host config (e.g. Claude Desktop claude_desktop_config.json):

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

Optional env: MDP_OUT_DIR (where artifacts are written; defaults to the OS temp dir), MDP_NO_OPEN=1 (compile and serve without opening a browser). For the Slack tool: SLACK_BOT_TOKEN and (optional) MDP_SLACK_CHANNEL — see Send to Slack.

Tools

| Tool | What it does | |---|---| | mdp_compile(source, form, out_dir?) | Compile to HTML, write a file, return the absolute path. form: page | slides | flyer | report | onepager | memo | letter | all. | | mdp_present(source, form?, out_dir?) | Compile (default slides), serve on a loopback preview, open the browser, return the URL + path. | | mdp_validate(source) | Parse and report { ok, meta, blocks, issues }. Never throws. | | mdp_send_slack(source, form?, channel?, initial_comment?, out_dir?) | Compile one artifact and upload the HTML to a Slack channel as a file. Requires SLACK_BOT_TOKEN; see Send to Slack. |

Resources

• mdp://spec — the MDP specification.
• mdp://example/{name} and mdp://template/{name}: one resource per vendored source. The server lists them from the bundled manifests.

Send to Slack

mdp_send_slack compiles one artifact and uploads the self-contained .html to a Slack channel as a file (via Slack's current external-upload flow). The artifact is the real, design-locked output — opening it in a browser shows the full design, with interactive forms working. Slack does not render an uploaded .html inline; it shows it as a downloadable file.

It needs a Slack bot token (incoming webhooks cannot upload files). One-time setup:

1. Create an app at https://api.slack.com/apps → From scratch.
2. OAuth & Permissions → Bot Token Scopes → add files:write.
3. Install to workspace and copy the Bot User OAuth Token (xoxb-…).
4. Invite the bot to the target channel (/invite @your-app) and copy the channel id (channel name → View channel details → bottom of the dialog, e.g. C0123…). The bot must be a member of the channel or Slack returns not_in_channel.

Then set the env in your MCP host's server config (never commit the token):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mdp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mdp-mcp"],
      "env": { "SLACK_BOT_TOKEN": "xoxb-…", "MDP_SLACK_CHANNEL": "C0123456789" }
    }
  }
}

MDP_SLACK_CHANNEL is the default channel; pass channel to override per call. Expected failures degrade to { ok:false, error } (e.g. no_token, no_channel, not_in_channel, invalid_auth) rather than throwing.

License

Apache-2.0. Part of the MDP monorepo: https://github.com/barmoshe/mdp