octane-mcp

An MCP server for OpenText ALM Octane and OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform (formerly ValueEdge). Node only. No Python, no install step: run it with npx.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "octane": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "octane-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OCTANE_BASE_URL": "https://octane.example.com:8443",
        "OCTANE_SHARED_SPACE_ID": "1001",
        "OCTANE_WORKSPACE_ID": "1002",
        "OCTANE_CLIENT_ID": "your_api_key_id",
        "OCTANE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your_api_key_secret"
      }
    }
  }
}

That block works in Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json), Claude Code (claude mcp add-json octane '<that json>'), Cursor, Windsurf and VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json uses "servers" instead of "mcpServers" and "type": "stdio").

Why another Octane MCP server

Octane's REST API is metadata driven and full of ids: phases, list nodes, workspace users, reference types. Most of what an assistant gets wrong is guessing those. This server:

• Accepts names everywhere. owner: "jane@x.com", phase: "Fixed", severity: "High", release: "R26.3", @me. Names are resolved to {type, id} through live metadata and cached per workspace.

• Translates natural filters (phase = 'New' and owner = @me and creation_time >= '2026-09-01') into Octane OQL, including !=, >=, in, between, ~ contains, null and nested references.

• Covers the testing side, not just backlog: manual test steps, Gherkin scripts, suites, planned and executed runs, run step results, attachments, traceability and release status rollups.

• Returns compact output. References shrink to {id, name}, HTML memos become text, noise fields are dropped. Ask for raw: true when you need everything.

• Fails loudly. Octane's HTTP 200 "partial error" responses, write 404s and 400s are surfaced with the server's own message and a hint about which tool to call next.

• Is honest about writes. Every tool carries MCP annotations; OCTANE_READ_ONLY=true removes write tools entirely.

Related MCP server: HP ALM MCP Server

Tools

Resources: octane://guide/query (filter syntax) and octane://schema/{entity}.

Every tool takes optional workspace_id and shared_space_id to act on another workspace with the same session.

Configuration

You can also keep these in a file and pass --env-file /path/to/.env. A .env in the current directory is picked up automatically.

Internal networks and self-signed certificates

Prefer the CA bundle: export the corporate root certificate as PEM and set OCTANE_CA_CERT. Verification stays on and the chain validates. If that is not possible, OCTANE_VERIFY_SSL=false turns verification off. This is applied to the undici dispatcher used by this server, never through NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED, so other TLS connections in the same process are unaffected.

Check the connection

npx octane-mcp --check --env-file ~/.octane.env

Signs in, prints the workspace name and the resolved current user, signs out.

Writing filters

phase = 'New' and severity in ('High', 'Urgent')
owner = @me and sprint = null
creation_time >= '2026-09-01' and not phase = 'Closed'
parent = 1001                       # children of feature 1001
name ~ 'timeout'                    # contains
release = {name ~ '26.3'}           # explicit nested reference

Native Octane OQL (phase EQ {name EQ ^New^};owner EQ {id EQ 1002}) is accepted unchanged. The full guide is served as the octane://guide/query resource.

Development

npm install
npm test            # vitest, no Octane needed
npm run typecheck
npm run build       # single-file bundle in dist/
node dist/index.js --help

Tests run against a scripted fake of Octane's HTTP responses; nothing talks to a real server.

Credits and licence

MIT. See LICENSE.

The idea and much of the initial tool inventory were inspired by Robin Hermanek's Python server rhermanek/mcp_alm_octane (GPL-3.0). This project is an independent implementation in TypeScript and shares no code with it, but it would not have started without that reference.

API behaviour follows the official ALM Octane REST API documentation.