Too Many Cooks

Multi-agent coordination MCP server. Lets multiple AI agents safely edit the same codebase simultaneously using file locking, messaging, and shared plans.

Quick Start

⚠️ The server must be running before any agent — or the VSCode extension — can connect.

1. Start the server

Run it with npx, which always fetches the latest published version (no global install required):

npx -y too-many-cooks@latest

It listens on http://localhost:4040. Override the port with TMC_PORT=5050 npx -y too-many-cooks@latest, and set TMC_WORKSPACE to target a specific workspace folder (defaults to process.cwd()).

Or start it from the VSCode extension: open the Command Palette and run Too Many Cooks: Choose Connection Mode → Start Local Server. The extension launches the same npx server for you.

2. Connect your agent

With the server running, point your agent at it:

# Claude Code (Streamable HTTP transport)
claude mcp add --transport http too-many-cooks http://localhost:4040/mcp

VSCode Extension

The companion extension shows a live dashboard of agents, locks, messages, and plans — and can start the server for you.

• From the editor: open the Extensions view, search Too Many Cooks (publisher Nimblesite), and install.
• From the command line: code --install-extension Nimblesite.too-many-cooks
• From a .vsix file: Extensions view → ⋯ menu → Install from VSIX…

Then run Too Many Cooks: Choose Connection Mode → Start Local Server to launch the server and connect in one step.

Packages

| Package | Description | |---------|-------------| | too-many-cooks | MCP server + data layer (TypeScript/Node.js) | | too_many_cooks_vscode_extension | VSCode extension for monitoring agent coordination |

Features

• File locking - agents acquire/release locks to prevent conflicting edits
• Messaging - agents communicate intent and coordinate via messages
• Plans - agents publish plans so others can see what's happening
• Admin dashboard - VSCode extension with tree views for agents, locks, messages, and plans
• Real-time push - state changes delivered via MCP Streamable HTTP transport

Project Structure

too-many-cooks/                     # MCP server (TypeScript/Node.js)
too_many_cooks_vscode_extension/    # VSCode extension (TypeScript)
docs/                               # Specification
website/                            # Documentation website (Eleventy)
scripts/                            # Build/test scripts

Documentation

See the spec for the full protocol specification.

tmc-mcp.dev

License

MIT