small-brain

A standalone Invokta Action Engine with local SQLite task management, shared by direct invocation and MCP stdio entry points.

Requires Node.js 22.20.0 or newer.

Task records persist in one stable per-user SQLite database, so MCP clients running as the same operating-system user share tasks without extra configuration. The default locations are:

• Linux: $XDG_DATA_HOME/small-brain/small-brain.db, falling back to ~/.local/share/small-brain/small-brain.db
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/small-brain/small-brain.db
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\\small-brain\\small-brain.db

Override the file path with SMALL_BRAIN_DB, including :memory: for an ephemeral store.

| Capability | Action | | --- | --- | | tasks.create | Create a local task | | tasks.list | List tasks, optionally by status | | tasks.get | Get one task by id | | tasks.update | Update title, description, or status | | tasks.delete | Delete a task |

Install

Install the durable CLI globally, then register its MCP server in the supported clients detected on your machine:

npm install --global small-brain
small-brain install

Remove the managed MCP configuration with:

small-brain uninstall

The installer records the package's absolute entry-point path. Avoid running the install command through an ephemeral package-runner cache, because clearing that cache would invalidate the registered MCP server path.

Develop

Install dependencies and validate the project:

npm ci
npm run check

Invoke directly

npm run direct -- "Write the brief"
npm run direct

The first command creates a task. The second lists the stored tasks.

Develop interactively

npm run devtools

Builds the engine and starts the Invokta devtools on http://127.0.0.1:4100/: browse capabilities, invoke them from schema-seeded JSON, follow the live invocation trace, switch test identities, and read the doctor report. Source changes rebuild and restart the hosted engine automatically.

Run the read-only devtools diagnostics with:

npm run devtools:doctor

Start MCP stdio

npm run mcp:stdio

MCP stdio reserves standard output for protocol messages. Install this engine in all detected MCP clients with:

npm run mcp:install

Remove this engine from every client where Invokta still owns its definition without rebuilding it:

npm run mcp:uninstall

Publish

Confirm that the intended version is consistent in package.json, invokta.mcp.json, and src/engine.ts, then inspect and publish the package:

npm pack --dry-run
npm publish

The prepack lifecycle runs the complete project check and a clean build before npm creates the tarball. Publication targets the public npm registry.