selfdoc-mcp-server

Guided self-interview that generates portable AI context files for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Kiro, and ChatGPT.

Stop re-explaining your workflow. Generate concise, editable context files once, then reuse them everywhere.

Unlike broad memory systems, Selfdoc focuses on one narrow job: turning human preferences and workflows into portable instruction files. Local-first. Markdown-first. No cloud account. No API key required.

How it compares

In an internal 120-call Claude API evaluation across four behavioral tests (name compliance, boundary enforcement, source restrictions, communication style), Selfdoc standard scored higher than a verbose soul.md-style context while using fewer words:

| Approach | Compliance | Words | Efficiency | |---|---|---|---| | Selfdoc standard | 0.93 | 167 | 5.6/kw | | soul.md style | 0.83 | 224 | 3.7/kw | | Selfdoc minimal | 0.81 | 80 | 10.1/kw | | No context | 0.32 | 0 | — |

The full benchmark harness is not yet included in the package — treat these numbers as directional product evidence, not an independent academic benchmark.

Design principle: split individual rules with brief reasoning (e.g., NEVER: ... (these are personal projects, separate from work)) outperform both verbose personality dumps and bare commands. Aligns with ETH Zurich (arXiv:2602.11988) and JAWs 2026 (arXiv:2601.20404).

Install

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (Mac) or %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

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

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport stdio selfdoc -- npx -y selfdoc-mcp-server

Cursor

Add .cursor/mcp.json:

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

Tools

| Tool | What it does | |------|-------------| | selfdoc_interview | 8-phase guided self-documentation (identity → boundaries) | | selfdoc_generate | Creates identity.md, knowledge.md, workflows.md, learnings.md | | selfdoc_export | Exports to CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, .cursorrules, .mdc, ChatGPT, Kiro (all 3 files) | | selfdoc_learn | Appends timestamped learning to journal | | selfdoc_recall | Searches across your self-documentation | | selfdoc_delete_profile | Permanently deletes all selfdoc data after exact confirmation |

Export sizes

Per ETH Zurich research, verbose context files can reduce coding agent performance. Selfdoc supports three sizes:

| Size | Lines | Use case | |------|-------|----------| | minimal | 5–7 | Coding agents (Claude Code, Codex). Only your top rules. | | standard | ~15 | General use. Role, stack, quality criteria, boundaries. | | full | ~25 | Personal reference. Everything from your interview. |

Safety

• Overwrite protection: Selfdoc never overwrites your existing project files such as CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md. Generated Selfdoc export files use a .selfdoc suffix, and previous Selfdoc exports are backed up before replacement.
• Redaction: Selfdoc applies basic local redaction to export files for common emails, GitHub tokens (classic + PAT), OpenAI/Anthropic sk- keys, AWS access keys, Slack tokens, and US/Korean phone patterns. Raw interview data under ~/.selfdoc/ is stored as provided. Review all files manually before sharing.
• Local only: All data stored at ~/.selfdoc/. Nothing leaves your machine.

Data storage

~/.selfdoc/
├── identity.md           # Who you are
├── knowledge.md          # What you know
├── workflows.md          # How you work
├── learnings.md          # What you discovered (append-only)
├── .interview-data.json  # Raw answers
├── exports/              # Tool-specific output files
└── backups/              # Previous export versions

Kiro steering

Selfdoc generates all three Kiro steering files per Kiro docs:

• kiro-product.md — role, quality criteria, context
• kiro-tech.md — stack, AI tools
• kiro-structure.md — rules, boundaries

Copy and rename to .kiro/steering/ in your project:

cp ~/.selfdoc/exports/kiro-product.md   .kiro/steering/product.md
cp ~/.selfdoc/exports/kiro-tech.md      .kiro/steering/tech.md
cp ~/.selfdoc/exports/kiro-structure.md .kiro/steering/structure.md

Development

git clone https://github.com/testofschool/selfdoc-mcp-server.git
cd selfdoc-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build
node dist/index.js  # runs on stdio

License

MIT