Sitecore AI MCP Server
Provides tools for retrieving item details and listing children of items from a Sitecore XM Cloud Content Management GraphQL API.
Click on "Deploy Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type
@followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@Sitecore AI MCP Server List the children of /sitecore/content/home"
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
Sitecore AI MCP Server
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that exposes two read tools over the SitecoreAI / XM Cloud Content Management GraphQL API:
Tool | What it does |
| Fetch one item's full detail: id, name, path, template name, display name, all fields, children count |
| List an item's immediate children, optionally filtered by template |
It runs over stdio, so any MCP client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, etc.) can launch it as a local subprocess. Authentication uses the OAuth 2.0 client-credentials grant, with an in-memory token manager that caches and proactively refreshes the access token before it expires.
1. Prerequisites
Node.js 18+ (uses the built-in global
fetch).A Sitecore XM Cloud environment (or a self-hosted CM instance) whose Content Management GraphQL API is enabled.
An OAuth client (client id + secret) that is authorised to call that API.
Related MCP server: SitecoreMCP
2. Install & build
npm install
npm run buildThis compiles src/** to dist/**. The executable entrypoint is
dist/index.js.
3. Configure environment variables
Copy the example file and fill in the values:
cp .env.example .envVariable | Required | Description |
| ✅ | Content Management GraphQL endpoint, e.g. |
| ✅ | OAuth token endpoint (identity server), e.g. |
| ✅ | OAuth client id |
| ✅ | OAuth client secret |
| ⬜ | OAuth scope, if your identity server requires one |
| ⬜ | OAuth audience, if your identity server requires one |
The server never logs the client secret or the access token. Errors are surfaced with a category (
auth,forbidden,not_found,invalid_template,graphql,network,config) and a short, secret-free detail string.
Access policy (deny-by-default)
Every tool call passes through a path-based policy before any field values or children are read:
Zero-network deny — the well-known Sitecore protected roots (
/sitecore/system,/sitecore/templates,/sitecore/layout) have fixed, public GUIDs, so a request for one is refused with no network call at all.Path gate — for every other id, a minimal path-only lookup runs first, the policy decides, and only then is the item's content fetched. Anything outside the allow-list is denied by default; a denial surfaces as a
[forbidden]tool error.
Variable | Default | Purpose |
|
| Readable path prefixes. Anything not matched is denied. |
|
| Blocked outright unless developer mode is on. |
|
| When |
Why block templates/system/layout by default: an agent that can read — and especially, once write tools exist, edit — a template can take down every page built on it with one plausible-looking change. Keep
SITECORE_DEVELOPER_MODEoff in any environment an agent reaches unsupervised, and turn it on only for a deliberate developer session.Because the tools are keyed by item id (an opaque GUID), the id → path mapping for non-root items requires exactly one lightweight metadata lookup; the gate then runs before any content, field values, or (future) mutation is touched.
Where to generate the OAuth client id / secret
XM Cloud (Sitecore Cloud):
Sign in to the XM Cloud Deploy / Cloud Portal.
Open Credentials (Organization settings → Automation client credentials, or the environment's Developer settings).
Create a new client with the scope/role needed to read content via the Authoring/Content GraphQL API.
Copy the generated Client ID and Client Secret into
.env.The token endpoint for Sitecore Cloud is typically
https://auth.sitecorecloud.io/oauth/token— set that asSITECORE_TOKEN_URL.
Self-hosted XM / CM instance:
Register an OAuth client in your Sitecore Identity Server configuration (a
ClientCredentialsgrant client) with a client id and secret.Grant it the API resource/scope for the GraphQL endpoint.
Use your identity server's token endpoint (e.g.
https://<cm-host>/sitecore/api/identity/tokenor the IdentityServer/connect/token) asSITECORE_TOKEN_URL.
The exact GraphQL schema differs slightly between endpoints. This server targets the XM Cloud Authoring & Management GraphQL API shape (
item(where: { itemId, language, version }),fields { nodes { name value } },children { nodes / totalCount }). If your endpoint uses a different schema, adjust the queries insrc/tools/getItemDetail.tsandsrc/tools/listItems.ts.
4. Register the server in an MCP client
Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)
Location:
macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonWindows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"sitecore-ai": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["C:\\path\\to\\SItecoreAISimpleMCP\\dist\\index.js"],
"env": {
"SITECORE_API_URL": "https://<cm-host>/sitecore/api/authoring/graphql/v1",
"SITECORE_TOKEN_URL": "https://auth.sitecorecloud.io/oauth/token",
"SITECORE_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
"SITECORE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret"
}
}
}
}Restart Claude Desktop; the two tools appear under the 🔌 tools menu.
Claude Code
claude mcp add sitecore-ai \
--env SITECORE_API_URL=https://<cm-host>/sitecore/api/authoring/graphql/v1 \
--env SITECORE_TOKEN_URL=https://auth.sitecorecloud.io/oauth/token \
--env SITECORE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id \
--env SITECORE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret \
-- node C:\\path\\to\\SItecoreAISimpleMCP\\dist\\index.js5. Usage examples
get_item_detail:
{ "itemId": "110D559F-DEA5-42EA-9C1C-8A5DF7E70EF9", "language": "en" }list_items (optionally filtered by template):
{
"parentId": "0DE95AE4-41AB-4D01-9EB0-67441B7C2450",
"language": "en",
"templateId": "76036F5E-CBCE-46D1-AF0A-4143F9B557AA"
}GUIDs may be dashed, braced ({...}), or raw 32-hex — all forms are accepted.
6. Tests
npm testUnit tests cover:
Token manager — grant request shape, caching, proactive refresh before expiry, concurrent-refresh coalescing,
invalidate(), and 401/network/config error handling (plus a check that the secret never leaks into errors).get_item_detail— field mapping, defaults, version passthrough, not-found handling, and input validation.list_items— child mapping, template filtering (GUID-form-insensitive), invalid-template detection, empty children, not-found, input validation, and policy enforcement (protected parent by id/path, per-child filtering).Access policy — allow-list matching, protected-area blocking, deny by default, sibling-prefix safety, developer-mode lifting the block, and
fromEnvparsing.
Both tool suites mock the GraphQL client; the token-manager suite mocks
fetch.
7. Project structure
src/
index.ts # server entrypoint, registers tools over stdio
sitecoreClient.ts # GraphQL client wrapper (adds bearer token, 401 retry)
itemPath.ts # minimal id -> path lookup used by the policy gate
policy.ts # PathPolicy: deny-by-default allow-list + protected roots
context.ts # ToolContext = { client, policy }
schemas.ts # zod input schemas
errors.ts # SitecoreError + error categories
auth/
tokenManager.ts # OAuth client-credentials fetch/cache/refresh
tools/
getItemDetail.ts # get_item_detail implementation
listItems.ts # list_items implementation
tests/
tokenManager.test.ts
policy.test.ts
getItemDetail.test.ts
listItems.test.tsLicense
MIT
Available Tools
2 toolsget_item_detailGet Sitecore item detailA
Fetch a single Sitecore / XM Cloud item's full details: id, name, path, template name, display name, all field names/values, and children count.
Inputs: itemId (required), version, language.
list_itemsList Sitecore child itemsA
List the immediate children of a Sitecore / XM Cloud item. Optionally filter by template id. Returns id, name, path, template name and display name.
Inputs: parentId (required), language, templateId.
Tool Schema Changelog
Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.
Loading tool schema changelog…
TDQS
Scored across 2 tools
The two tools have clearly distinct purposes: one fetches detailed information about a single item, while the other lists children of an item. There is no overlap or ambiguity.
Both tools follow a consistent verb_noun pattern: 'get_item_detail' and 'list_items'. The naming is predictable and conventional.
With only 2 tools, the server feels minimal but not unreasonable for a focused read-only item browsing scenario. The count is borderline per the calibration.
The tools only support reading item details and listing children. Missing write operations (create, update, delete), search, or other content management features leave significant gaps for a Sitecore server.
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