NOVAI MCP server

A read-only Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets any MCP-equipped agent query the live NOVAI chain over its public JSON-RPC endpoint. It exposes query tools only. There is no write, sign, submit, or key-handling path anywhere in this package.

NOVAI is an AI-native layer 1 with chained-BFT consensus. This server is a thin, typed bridge: an agent discovers the tools through standard MCP tooling and reads the chain without writing any SDK code.

Safety boundary

This is version 0 and it is read-only by design.

• Every tool is a query that maps to a single read method on the public endpoint.

• The package never holds a private key, never signs, and never submits a transaction.

• The write methods the chain exposes are deliberately not wired in.

Related MCP server: Grove Public Endpoints MCP Server

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or newer.

Install and run

Run it directly with npx:

npx novai-mcp-server

Or install it and run the binary:

npm install novai-mcp-server
novai-mcp-server

The server speaks MCP over stdio. Point your MCP client at the command above.

Example MCP client configuration

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

Configuration

• NOVAI_RPC_URL overrides the JSON-RPC endpoint. It defaults to the public NOVAI URL, https://rpc.novai.network. No other configuration, no secrets, and no auth are required, because the public endpoint is open and read-only.

Tools

All hashes and ids are 64 hex characters (32 bytes, no 0x prefix). All heights are non-negative integers. Every input is validated before any network call, and both chain errors and transport failures are returned as clean tool errors with no stack traces.

A note on block lookups by height

The endpoint retains a bounded recent window of blocks by height, so a height far below the current tip can return null even though it was a valid block. Lookups by hash work for any block the node still indexes. Call novai_get_chain_status first to learn the current tip height.

Development

npm install
npm run build
npm test

npm test runs the offline unit and validation tests. To exercise the live endpoint:

npm run test:live

An end-to-end stdio check that spawns the built server and drives it with a real MCP client is available:

npm run build && node scripts/smoke.mjs

License

MIT. See the LICENSE file.