# Senior Developer Analysis: Project "Chlorpromazine MCP" - 11 Sept 2025
**Authored by:** Cascade
## 1. Introduction
This document outlines the analysis and subsequent refactoring of the Chlorpromazine MCP server. The primary objective was to pivot the project's focus away from external documentation searching and towards providing a richer, internal, project-based context for a Large Language Model (LLM). The goal is to enhance the LLM's ability to perform project-aware reasoning by grounding it in verifiable data from its immediate environment.
## 2. Summary of Changes
To achieve this pivot, the following changes were implemented:
### Removed Functionality
- **`kill_trip` Tool & `serpSearch` Function:** The tool responsible for performing external web searches via the SerpAPI has been completely removed from `server.ts`. This eliminates the project's dependency on the `SERPAPI_KEY` and the complexities of external API calls.
- **`fact_checked_answer` Prompt:** The associated prompt, which relied on the `kill_trip` tool, has been deleted (`src/prompts/fact-checked-answer.ts`) and de-registered from the prompt handlers.
### Enhanced Functionality
- **`sober_thinking` Tool:** This tool was significantly enhanced in `server.ts`. It now gathers and provides:
1. **Operating System Information:** Detects the current OS (`win32`, `linux`, etc.) and release version.
2. **Recent Git History:** Fetches the last 5 Git commits to provide context on recent changes.
3. **Core Project Files:** Continues to read `README.md`, `.env` (with values hidden), and `CHANGELOG.md`.
- **`sober_thinking` Prompt:** The corresponding prompt in `src/prompts/sober-thinking.ts` was rewritten. It no longer takes a `QUESTION_TEXT` argument. Instead, it instructs the LLM to adopt a **senior software developer persona** and perform a holistic analysis based on the comprehensive data provided by the enhanced tool.
## 3. Senior Developer Assessment
From a senior developer's perspective, these changes represent a significant strategic improvement.
- **Strategic Pivot:** Shifting from external web searches to internal, verifiable project data is a strong decision. It aligns perfectly with the project's stated goal of "grounding" an LLM in reality. This reduces dependencies, API costs, and the risk of the LLM incorporating unreliable or outdated information from the web. The tool is now more focused and self-contained.
- **Improved Contextual Awareness:** The addition of OS and Git history is invaluable. An LLM can now reason about platform-specific behavior (a common source of bugs) and understand the project's recent development velocity and focus. This is crucial for effective debugging, planning, and onboarding.
- **Higher-Value Tasking:** The reframing of the `sober_thinking` prompt elevates its purpose. Instead of being a simple Q&A mechanism, it now initiates a high-level analysis task that is well-suited for a senior developer persona. This is a more effective use of an advanced LLM's capabilities.
- **Code Health:** The recent v0.3.0 refactor into a modular architecture proved its worth; the changes were cleanly isolated to `server.ts` and the `prompts` directory. Removing the SerpAPI logic has simplified `server.ts` and reduced its external surface area, which is a net positive for security and maintainability.
## 4. Recommendations
1. **Update Documentation:** The `README.md` and other relevant documentation should be updated immediately to reflect the removal of the `kill_trip` tool and the significant changes to the `sober_thinking` prompt and tool.
2. **Expand Tooling:** To further empower the "senior developer" persona, consider adding more introspection tools:
* A tool to list the project's file tree (`ls -R`).
* A tool to run the project's test suite (`npm test`).
* A tool to view the contents of a specific file.
3. **Refine Git History Tool:** The Git history tool could be made more flexible by allowing arguments, such as `--since="1 week ago"` or to view the history of a specific file (`git log -- <file_path>`).
## 5. Conclusion
The project is now on a much stronger footing. It is more focused, self-contained, and genuinely useful as a tool for LLM-assisted development. These changes provide a solid foundation for building even more advanced project-aware reasoning capabilities in the future.
