---
title: About Tenets
description: Learn about Tenets, the intelligent code context platform built by manic.agency. Meet the team behind the MCP server for AI coding assistants.
---
# About Tenets
**Tenets** is an open-source intelligent code context platform that helps AI coding assistants understand your codebase better.
## Our Mission
We believe AI coding assistants should have **perfect context**—not just the files you manually select, but the exact code relevant to your task, ranked by importance, and optimized for token budgets.
Tenets solves the "context problem" in AI-assisted development:
- **Too little context** → AI hallucinates or misses dependencies
- **Too much context** → Token limits exceeded, irrelevant noise
- **Manual selection** → Time-consuming, error-prone
Tenets automatically finds, ranks, and aggregates the right code for every prompt.
## How Tenets uses MCP
- **MCP Server**: Tenets runs as a Model Context Protocol server so AI assistants can call it directly—no manual copy/paste.
- **Flow**: You ask in your IDE → MCP routes to `tenets-mcp` → Tenets analyzes and ranks code → the assistant gets the curated context.
- **Why it matters**: Better answers with the right files, fewer hallucinations, and tighter token budgets.
- **Supported IDEs**: Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, and any MCP-capable client.
- **Privacy-first**: Everything runs locally; no code or prompts leave your machine. Core features need zero API keys.
## The Team
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<img src="https://github.com/jddunn.png" alt="Johnny Dunn" style="width: 120px; height: 120px; border-radius: 50%; margin-bottom: 1rem; border: 3px solid #f59e0b;">
<h3 style="margin: 0.5rem 0;">Johnny Dunn</h3>
<p style="color: #666; margin: 0.25rem 0;">Creator & Lead Developer</p>
<p style="font-size: 0.9rem; margin: 0.5rem 0;">Building tools at the intersection of AI and developer experience.</p>
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<a href="https://github.com/jddunn" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="margin: 0 0.5rem;">GitHub</a>
<a href="https://jddunn.github.io" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="margin: 0 0.5rem;">Website</a>
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## Built by manic.agency
Tenets is developed and maintained by [**manic.agency**](https://manic.agency), a software development agency specializing in AI-powered developer tools and automation.
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<h3 style="margin-bottom: 1rem;">Need Custom AI Tooling?</h3>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1.5rem;">We build custom AI integrations, developer tools, and automation solutions.</p>
<a href="https://manic.agency/contact" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="display: inline-block; background: linear-gradient(135deg, #f59e0b 0%, #fbbf24 100%); color: #1a2332; padding: 0.75rem 2rem; border-radius: 8px; text-decoration: none; font-weight: 600;">Contact manic.agency →</a>
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## Open Source
Tenets is **100% open source** under the MIT license. We believe developer tools should be:
- **Transparent** — See exactly how your code is processed
- **Private** — All processing runs locally, no data leaves your machine
- **Extensible** — Customize ranking, add plugins, integrate with your workflow
- **Community-driven** — PRs welcome, issues addressed promptly
## Connect With Us
- **GitHub**: [github.com/jddunn/tenets](https://github.com/jddunn/tenets)
- **PyPI**: [pypi.org/project/tenets](https://pypi.org/project/tenets/)
- **Discord**: [Join our community](https://discord.gg/DzNgXdYm)
- **Email**: [team@tenets.dev](mailto:team@tenets.dev)
- **Agency**: [manic.agency](https://manic.agency)
## Recognition
- Featured on [MCP Servers Directory](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers)
- Built for the [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) ecosystem
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*Have questions? Check our [FAQ](faq.md) or [get in touch](mailto:team@tenets.dev).*
