Hostaway MCP Server

# Hostaway MCP Server - Audit Summary **Audit Date**: 2025-10-30 **Auditor**: Claude Code (MCP Builder Skill) **Overall Score**: 6.5/10 --- ## Executive Summary Your Hostaway MCP server has a **solid foundation** (FastAPI backend, OAuth2, rate limiting, pagination) but the **stdio MCP bridge** has significant gaps in adhering to MCP best practices. **Key Finding**: The recent `summary=true` fix resolved context overflow, but represents only **1 of 15+ issues** identified in this audit. --- ## Audit Scores by Category | Category | Score | Status | |----------|-------|--------| | Tool Naming & Discovery | 4/10 | ❌ Needs Work | | Tool Descriptions | 5/10 | ⚠️ Needs Improvement | | Input Schemas | 7/10 | ⚠️ Good, Missing Constraints | | Response Formats | 3/10 | ❌ JSON-Only (Missing Markdown) | | Pagination & Limits | 8/10 | ✅ Good (Cursor Pagination) | | Error Handling | 4/10 | ❌ Generic Errors | | Tool Annotations | 0/10 | ❌ Missing Entirely | | Security | 8/10 | ✅ Good (OAuth2, Rate Limiting) | | Testing | 6/10 | ⚠️ No MCP-Specific Tests | | Context Optimization | 8/10 | ✅ Good (Summary Mode) | --- ## Critical Issues (HIGH Priority) ### 1. Missing Service Prefixes ❌ **Problem**: Tools named `list_properties`, `search_bookings` will conflict with other property management MCPs. **Impact**: HIGH - Your tools won't work alongside other MCP servers **MCP Best Practice Violated**: > "Include service prefix: Use `slack_send_message` instead of just `send_message`" **Fix**: Rename all tools: - `list_properties` → `hostaway_list_properties` - `search_bookings` → `hostaway_search_bookings` - etc. (7 tools total) **Estimated Time**: 1-2 hours --- ### 2. Missing Tool Annotations ❌ **Problem**: No `readOnlyHint`, `destructiveHint`, `idempotentHint`, or `openWorldHint` on any tools. **Impact**: MEDIUM - Claude can't understand tool behavior (safe to retry? modifies data?) **Fix**: Add annotations to all 7 tools. **Estimated Time**: 30 minutes --- ### 3. Generic Error Messages ❌ **Problem**: Errors like `HTTP Error: 404` don't guide AI agents toward correct usage. **Impact**: HIGH - Users and AI agents get stuck without guidance **MCP Best Practice Violated**: > "Design Actionable Error Messages: Suggest specific next steps" **Current**: ```python return [TextContent(text=f"HTTP Error: {e}")] ``` **Should Be**: ```python return [TextContent(text= f"Property 999999 not found. " f"Use hostaway_list_properties to see available properties." )] ``` **Estimated Time**: 2-3 hours --- ### 4. JSON-Only Responses ❌ **Problem**: No Markdown formatting support - all responses are JSON dumps. **Impact**: HIGH - Poor UX for users reading responses **MCP Best Practice Violated**: > "All tools should support both JSON and Markdown formats" **Fix**: Add `response_format` parameter and Markdown formatters. **Estimated Time**: 3-4 hours --- ## Medium Priority Improvements ### 5. Vague Tool Descriptions ⚠️ **Problem**: Descriptions lack usage examples, "when to use", and "when NOT to use" guidance. **Estimated Time**: 2-3 hours ### 6. Missing Input Constraints ⚠️ **Problem**: No `minimum`, `maximum`, `pattern`, or `examples` in input schemas. **Estimated Time**: 2-3 hours ### 7. No CHARACTER_LIMIT Truncation ⚠️ **Problem**: Large responses aren't truncated with helpful guidance. **Estimated Time**: 1-2 hours --- ## Strengths ✅ 1. **Excellent FastAPI Backend** - Clean architecture with cursor pagination - OAuth 2.0 authentication - Rate limiting (IP + account level) - Response summarization (80-90% reduction) 2. **Production-Ready Infrastructure** - Deployed and working (http://72.60.233.157:8080) - 17/17 unit tests passing - Structured logging with correlation IDs 3. **Recent Improvements** - `summary=true` parameter prevents context overflow - Pydantic models with validation - Comprehensive error handling (backend) --- ## Improvement Roadmap ### Week 1: HIGH Priority Fixes (8-10 hours) - **Day 1-2**: Add service prefixes + tool annotations - **Day 3-4**: Improve error messages with actionable guidance - **Day 5**: Add response format support (Markdown + JSON) ### Week 2: MEDIUM Priority (6-8 hours) - **Day 1-2**: Enhance tool descriptions with examples - **Day 3**: Add input validation constraints - **Day 4**: Implement CHARACTER_LIMIT truncation - **Day 5**: Testing and documentation ### Week 3: Production Deployment - **Day 1**: Staging deployment - **Day 2-3**: User acceptance testing - **Day 4**: Production deployment - **Day 5**: Monitoring and optimization --- ## MCP Best Practices Compliance Matrix | Best Practice | Current | Target | Priority | |---------------|---------|--------|----------| | Service-prefixed tool names | ❌ | ✅ | HIGH | | Tool annotations | ❌ | ✅ | HIGH | | Actionable error messages | ❌ | ✅ | HIGH | | Response format options | ❌ | ✅ | HIGH | | Detailed input schemas | ⚠️ | ✅ | MEDIUM | | Usage examples in descriptions | ❌ | ✅ | MEDIUM | | CHARACTER_LIMIT truncation | ❌ | ✅ | MEDIUM | | OAuth 2.1 authentication | ✅ | ✅ | - | | Rate limiting | ✅ | ✅ | - | | Cursor pagination | ✅ | ✅ | - | --- ## Resources - **Full Audit Report**: See detailed findings in MCP audit conversation - **Migration Guide**: `docs/MCP_MIGRATION_GUIDE.md` (1,622 lines) - **MCP Best Practices**: `.claude/plugins/.../mcp-builder/reference/mcp_best_practices.md` - **MCP Protocol Docs**: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/llms-full.txt --- ## Recommendations 1. **Start with HIGH priority fixes** - These are blocking MCP best practices compliance 2. **Test incrementally** - Each fix can be tested independently 3. **Use MCP Inspector** - `npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector mcp_stdio_server.py` 4. **Monitor adoption** - Track tool usage after deployment 5. **Gather feedback** - Beta test with Claude Desktop users --- ## Next Steps 1. Review the migration guide: `docs/MCP_MIGRATION_GUIDE.md` 2. Create feature branch: `git checkout -b mcp-improvements` 3. Start with Fix 1 (Service Prefixes) - easiest to implement 4. Test with MCP Inspector after each fix 5. Deploy to staging for user testing **Total Estimated Time**: 12-16 hours **Risk Level**: Low (incremental, testable changes) **Backward Compatibility**: 99% (tool name changes can be aliased) --- **Questions?** Refer to the detailed migration guide or ask Claude Code for specific implementation guidance.