Accelerator Application Triage MCP Server (Demo)

A small MCP server that turns startup/founder application triage into something any MCP-compatible AI client (like Claude Desktop) can query in plain language, instead of manually digging through a spreadsheet or form tool.

This was originally built with an accelerator in the food-systems and plant-based innovation space in mind — the kind of program that runs a structured pipeline of applications, scoring, and mentor review each cycle. The tools and mock data reflect that context, but the underlying pattern is generic: any accelerator, incubator, or grant program with an application pipeline could point this same server at their own system of record.

This is a portfolio / demo build, so the mock data here answers questions specific to that food-systems accelerator context (sector tags like "alt-protein" and "fermentation," food-sector countries and founders). Swap src/data.ts for a different dataset and the same four tools would answer the equivalent questions for a fintech accelerator, a climate-tech program, or any other domain — what changes is the data, not the architecture. In a real deployment, src/data.ts would be replaced with calls to whatever system of record the organization actually uses (Airtable, Notion, a form tool's API, etc.) — the four tools below wouldn't need to change at all. That's the point of MCP: the AI client doesn't care what's behind the tool.

What it can answer

• "Which alt-protein applications scored 7+ on impact?"

• "What's still sitting in David's review queue?"

• "What hasn't been picked up by any reviewer yet?"

• "Pull up the full file on K4G-2026-058, including notes."

• "Flag Root & Policy Lab for a full panel discussion — team needs co-founder diligence."

Tools

Setup

npm install
npm run build

Running it standalone

npm start

It will sit and wait for MCP messages on stdin/stdout — that's normal, it's designed to be launched by an MCP client, not run interactively.

Connecting to Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop's config file:

   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this server (replace the path with wherever you put this folder):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "k4g-applications": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/k4g-applications-mcp-server/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop. You should see "k4g-applications" listed under the tools/connectors icon, and you can ask questions like the ones above directly in chat.

Extending this toward a real deployment

• Swap src/data.ts for a real API client (Airtable/Notion/etc.) — the tool signatures in src/index.ts stay the same.

• Add write tools carefully: k4g_flag_for_review is deliberately the only tool that changes data, and it only ever flags — it never rejects or accepts an application outright, so a human still makes the final call.

• For a hosted/shared version (multiple reviewers, not just local use), swap the stdio transport for Streamable HTTP — see the MCP docs at https://modelcontextprotocol.io.