# Oblique Strategies MCP Server
An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides access to Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies - a collection of prompts designed to help overcome creative blocks through lateral thinking.
## Why?
Why not?
## No, seriously, why?
Because I've built Oblique Strategies thingies for various devices & platforms and I wanted to make another one to play with the MCP protocol.
This is a very silly project and you should just go buy a real deck of cards.
## Quick Start
No installation required, if you have `uvx` and you trust my code from github. (Weirdo.)
Run directly from GitHub using uvx:
```bash
uvx --from git+https://github.com/lmorchard/oblique-strategies-mcp oblique-strategies-mcp
```
For Claude Desktop, add to your config file:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"oblique-strategies": {
"command": "/path/to/uvx",
"args": [
"--from",
"git+https://github.com/lmorchard/oblique-strategies-mcp",
"oblique-strategies-mcp"
]
}
}
}
```
For Claude Code:
```bash
claude mcp add oblique-strategies -- /path/to/uvx --from git+https://github.com/lmorchard/oblique-strategies-mcp oblique-strategies-mcp
```
## Features
- Get random strategies from multiple editions (1975-1982)
- Search strategies by keyword
- Choose from 7 different collections including programming-specific adaptations
- Default: Edition 2 (1978) with 128 strategies
## MCP Tools
- **`get_strategy`** - Get a random strategy (optionally specify edition)
- **`search_strategies`** - Search strategies by keyword
- **`list_editions`** - List all available editions
## Available Collections
- **Edition 1-4**: Original Oblique Strategies (1975-1982)
- **Condensed**: Comprehensive collection (195 strategies)
- **Programmers**: Programming-specific adaptations (96 prompts)
- **Do It**: Action-oriented prompts (32 strategies)
## Installation
### For Development
```bash
# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd oblique-strategies-mcp
# Install dependencies with uv
uv sync
```
## Running the Server
### Development Mode
From the project directory:
```bash
# Using the package entry point
uv run oblique-strategies-mcp
# Or using Python module syntax
uv run python -m oblique_strategies_mcp
# Or using the wrapper script
./run-server.sh
```
### After Global Installation
```bash
oblique-strategies-mcp
```
## Configuration
### For Claude Desktop
Add to your Claude Desktop config file (`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` on macOS):
#### Development Setup
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"oblique-strategies": {
"command": "/path/to/uv",
"args": [
"--directory",
"/path/to/oblique-strategies-mcp",
"run",
"oblique-strategies-mcp"
]
}
}
}
```
Note: Replace `/path/to/uv` with the full path to your uv executable (typically `~/.local/bin/uv` or use `which uv` to find it).
#### Global Installation Setup
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"oblique-strategies": {
"command": "oblique-strategies-mcp",
"args": [],
"env": {}
}
}
}
```
### For Claude Code
#### Development Setup
```bash
claude mcp add oblique-strategies -- uv --directory /path/to/oblique-strategies-mcp run oblique-strategies-mcp
```
#### Using Wrapper Script
```bash
claude mcp add oblique-strategies /path/to/oblique-strategies-mcp/run-server.sh
```
#### Global Installation
```bash
claude mcp add oblique-strategies oblique-strategies-mcp
```
After adding, restart Claude Desktop or reconnect in Claude Code.
## License
MIT
## Acknowledgments
- Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt for creating Oblique Strategies
- Strategy collections sourced from: https://github.com/zzkt/oblique-strategies
