Cerebra Legal MCP Server

# Cerebra Legal MCP Server An enterprise-grade MCP server for legal reasoning and analysis based on the "think" tool concept from [Anthropic's engineering blog](https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/claude-think-tool). ## Overview Cerebra Legal provides three powerful tools for legal reasoning and analysis: 1. **legal_think** - A structured legal reasoning tool that helps analyze complex legal issues with domain-specific guidance and templates. 2. **legal_ask_followup_question** - A specialized tool for asking follow-up questions in legal contexts with domain-specific options. 3. **legal_attempt_completion** - A tool for presenting legal analysis results with proper structure and citation formatting. The server automatically detects legal domains (ANSC contestation, consumer protection, contract analysis) and provides domain-specific guidance, templates, and feedback. ## Features - **Domain Detection**: Automatically identifies the legal domain of the analysis - **Domain-Specific Guidance**: Provides tailored guidance for different legal domains - **Structured Templates**: Offers domain-specific templates for legal analysis - **Citation Formatting**: Properly formats legal citations - **Thought Quality Analysis**: Provides feedback on legal reasoning quality - **Revision Support**: Allows for revising previous thoughts ## Installation ```bash # Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/yoda-digital/mcp-cerebra-legal-server.git cd mcp-cerebra-legal-server # Install dependencies npm install # Build the project npm run build ``` ## Usage ### Running the Server ```bash npm start ``` ### Testing the Server The repository includes a test client that demonstrates how to interact with the server: ```bash # Make the test client executable chmod +x test-client.js # Run the test client ./test-client.js ``` The test client will: 1. Start the server 2. Send a tools/list request to get available tools 3. Send a legal_think request with a sample thought 4. Display the server's responses ### Adding to Claude To add the server to Claude, update your MCP settings file with the following configuration: #### For VSCode Extension Edit the file at `~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json`: ```json { "mcpServers": { "cerebra-legal": { "command": "node", "args": ["/path/to/mcp-cerebra-legal-server/build/index.js"], "disabled": false, "alwaysAllow": [] } } } ``` #### For Claude Desktop App Edit the file at `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` (macOS) or the equivalent on your platform: ```json { "mcpServers": { "cerebra-legal": { "command": "node", "args": ["/path/to/mcp-cerebra-legal-server/build/index.js"], "disabled": false, "alwaysAllow": [] } } } ``` ### Using the Tools in Claude Once the server is added to Claude, you can use the tools in your conversations: ### System Prompt Integration For optimal AI interaction with these legal tools, it's essential to include proper guidance in the system prompt. These tools follow the same AI → Human interaction model as standard Cline tools but with domain-specific enhancements. The system prompt should include detailed documentation for each tool: ``` ## legal_think Description: A structured legal reasoning tool that helps analyze complex legal issues with domain-specific guidance and templates. This tool enables step-by-step legal analysis with feedback on reasoning quality. Parameters: - thought: (required) The current legal reasoning step - thoughtNumber: (required) Current thought number in sequence - totalThoughts: (required) Estimated total thoughts needed - nextThoughtNeeded: (required) Whether another thought step is needed - category: (optional) Legal domain category (auto-detected if not provided) - references: (optional) Array of legal references - isRevision: (optional) Whether this revises previous thinking - revisesThoughtNumber: (optional) Which thought is being reconsidered - requestGuidance: (optional) Whether to request domain-specific guidance - requestTemplate: (optional) Whether to request a domain-specific template Usage: <legal_think> <thought>Your legal reasoning step here</thought> <thoughtNumber>Current thought number</thoughtNumber> <totalThoughts>Estimated total thoughts</totalThoughts> <nextThoughtNeeded>true or false</nextThoughtNeeded> <category>Legal domain (optional)</category> <references>Array of references (optional)</references> <isRevision>true or false (optional)</isRevision> <revisesThoughtNumber>Thought number being revised (optional)</revisesThoughtNumber> <requestGuidance>true or false (optional)</requestGuidance> <requestTemplate>true or false (optional)</requestTemplate> </legal_think> ## legal_ask_followup_question Description: Ask the user a legal domain-specific question to gather additional information needed to complete the task. This tool enhances the standard ask_followup_question with legal domain detection, terminology formatting, and domain-specific suggested options. Parameters: - question: (required) The question to ask the user. This will be automatically enhanced with appropriate legal terminology. - options: (optional) An array of 2-5 options for the user to choose from. If not provided, domain-specific options will be automatically suggested. - context: (optional) Additional context to help with domain detection and question formatting. Usage: <legal_ask_followup_question> <question>Your question here</question> <options> Array of options here (optional), e.g. ["Option 1", "Option 2", "Option 3"] </options> <context>Additional context to help with domain detection (optional)</context> </legal_ask_followup_question> ## legal_attempt_completion Description: Present the result of your work to the user with proper legal structure and formatting. This tool enhances the standard attempt_completion with legal domain detection, document structuring, and citation formatting. Parameters: - result: (required) The result of the task. This will be automatically formatted with proper legal structure. - command: (optional) A CLI command to execute to show a live demo of the result to the user. - context: (optional) Additional context to help with domain detection and result formatting. Usage: <legal_attempt_completion> <result> Your final result description here </result> <command>Command to demonstrate result (optional)</command> <context>Additional context to help with domain detection (optional)</context> </legal_attempt_completion> ``` This guidance ensures the AI understands: 1. These are specialized versions of standard tools 2. They maintain the same AI → Human interaction flow 3. They have additional capabilities and parameters 4. How to properly format the tool calls Without this guidance, the AI might not fully leverage the domain-specific capabilities built into these tools. #### 1. Using legal_think The legal_think tool helps you analyze complex legal issues with structured thinking: ``` I need to analyze an ANSC contestation where a claimant argues that technical specifications in a tender were too restrictive. ``` Claude will use the legal_think tool to: - Detect the legal domain (ANSC contestation) - Provide domain-specific guidance - Offer a structured template for analysis - Give feedback on the quality of legal reasoning - Support revision of previous thoughts #### 2. Using legal_ask_followup_question When Claude needs more information to complete a legal analysis: ``` What specific provisions of the technical specifications are being challenged? ``` Claude will use the legal_ask_followup_question tool to: - Format the question with appropriate legal terminology - Provide domain-specific options for the user to choose from - Detect the legal domain for context-aware questioning #### 3. Using legal_attempt_completion When Claude is ready to present the final legal analysis: ``` Based on my analysis, the technical specifications requiring "minimum 5 years experience" appear disproportionate and likely violate Article 33(2) of Law 131/2015 on public procurement. ``` Claude will use the legal_attempt_completion tool to: - Format the conclusion with proper legal structure - Extract and format legal citations - Organize the analysis into clear sections - Provide a professional legal document format ### Tool Input Schemas #### legal_think ```json { "thought": "Analyzing ANSC contestation where claimant argues technical specifications were too restrictive.", "thoughtNumber": 1, "totalThoughts": 5, "nextThoughtNeeded": true, "category": "ansc_contestation", // Optional, auto-detected if not provided "references": ["Law 131/2015", "ANSC Decision #12345"], // Optional "isRevision": false, // Optional "revisesThoughtNumber": null, // Optional "requestGuidance": true, // Optional "requestTemplate": true // Optional } ``` #### legal_ask_followup_question ```json { "question": "What specific provisions of the technical specifications are being challenged?", "options": [ // Optional, auto-generated if not provided "Are you challenging the experience requirements?", "Are you challenging the technical capacity requirements?", "Are you challenging the financial requirements?", "Are you challenging the certification requirements?" ], "context": "ANSC contestation regarding procurement of IT equipment" // Optional } ``` #### legal_attempt_completion ```json { "result": "Based on the analysis of ANSC contestation #12345, the technical specifications requiring 'minimum 5 years experience' appear disproportionate and likely violate Article 33(2) of Law 131/2015 on public procurement.", "command": null, // Optional "context": "ANSC contestation analysis" // Optional } ``` ## Architecture The server is built with a modular architecture: - **Domain Detector**: Identifies the legal domain of the analysis - **Legal Knowledge Base**: Provides domain-specific guidance and templates - **Citation Formatter**: Formats legal citations properly - **Tool Implementations**: Handles the logic for each tool ## Development ### Project Structure ``` mcp-cerebra-legal-server/ ├── src/ │ ├── shared/ # Shared components │ │ ├── DomainDetector.ts │ │ ├── LegalKnowledgeBase.ts │ │ ├── CitationFormatter.ts │ │ └── types.ts │ ├── tools/ # Tool implementations │ │ ├── LegalThinkTool.ts │ │ ├── LegalAskFollowupQuestionTool.ts │ │ └── LegalAttemptCompletionTool.ts │ ├── utils/ # Utilities │ │ └── logger.ts │ └── index.ts # Main server entry point ├── build/ # Compiled JavaScript ├── test-client.js # Test client ├── package.json └── tsconfig.json ``` ### Building ```bash npm run build ``` ### Testing ```bash # Run the test client ./test-client.js ``` ## Repository This project is available on GitHub at: https://github.com/yoda-digital/mcp-cerebra-legal-server ## References - [The "think" tool: Enabling Claude to stop and think in complex tool use situations](https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/claude-think-tool) - Anthropic Engineering Blog ## License MIT