brs-mcp

An MCP server that scaffolds runnable Roku channels (BrightScript + SceneGraph) from a validated AppSpec, zips them, and optionally sideloads them to a Roku in developer mode.

What it does

An AI assistant (or any MCP client) passes a strict, versioned AppSpec. The server returns a complete project tree, produces a sideload-ready zip, and optionally installs it on a Roku device. Every generated file comes from a curated, hand-authored, device-tested template; the server never asks an LLM to write BrightScript.

Same spec in, same bytes out, every time. Zips are byte-reproducible across hosts (sorted entries, fixed mtime). Re-running on a machine in a different time zone produces identical output.

For a fuller styled reference with per-tool I/O examples, see docs/index.html.

Related MCP server: Echo MCP Server

Install

For a styled walkthrough with prereqs, four numbered steps, and update guidance on one page, see docs/install.html.

npm install -g brs-mcp

Wire it into your MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brs-mcp": {
      "command": "brs-mcp"
    }
  }
}

The server speaks MCP over stdio. Logs go to stderr; stdout is reserved for JSON-RPC.

Verify

One-liner that cold-fetches the published package and exercises a real MCP initialize handshake. No global install required:

echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"x","version":"1"}}}' | npx -y brs-mcp

Expected response on stdout (one JSON object, formatted here for readability):

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": {
    "protocolVersion": "2024-11-05",
    "capabilities": { "tools": {} },
    "serverInfo": { "name": "brs-mcp", "version": "0.1.0" }
  }
}

Exit code 0, stderr silent. If you see any stdout output that isn't a single JSON-RPC object, something in your shell is polluting the transport; verify with npx -y brs-mcp <<< '{}' 2>/dev/null | head -c 200.

Tools

list_templates

List every template bundled with this server.

• Input: {}

• Output: { "templates": [{ "id", "category", "version", "description" }] }

get_template_schema

Return the JSON Schema (Draft 7) for a template's AppSpec, plus a minimal example.

• Input: { "id": "video_grid_channel" }

• Output: { "schema": <JSON Schema>, "example_spec": <AppSpec> }

generate_app

Render a Roku channel project from a validated AppSpec. Optionally zip and sideload.

• Input: { "spec", "output_dir", "assets_root"?, "overwrite"?, "zip"?, "sideload"? }

• Output (success): { "ok": true, "project_dir", "files_written", "zip_path"?, "sideload"? }

• sideload implies zip: true (enforced by schema).

package_app

Zip an already-generated project directory into a sideload-ready archive. Validates a top-level manifest. Output is byte-reproducible.

• Input: { "project_dir", "output_zip"? }

• Output: { "ok": true, "zip_path", "size_bytes", "entry_count" }

sideload_app

Install a zip on a Roku in developer mode via HTTP Digest-authenticated multipart POST to /plugin_install. dev_password is never logged or echoed.

• Input: { "zip_path", "device_ip", "dev_password" }

• Output: { "ok": true, "status": "installed" | "identical", "message", "duration_ms", "raw_html"? }

Templates

screensaver

Roku screensaver channel. Three styles:

• slideshow: crossfade through bundled images.

• animated: bouncing colored shapes (no images required).

• quadrant: 4-up grid of bundled images with rotating cells.

{
  "template": "screensaver",
  "spec_version": 1,
  "app": { "name": "My Screensaver", "major_version": 1, "minor_version": 0, "build_version": 0 },
  "style": "animated"
}

Roku menu label note: When sideloaded via the dev web server, screensavers always appear in Settings -> Theme -> Screensavers as the literal string (dev), not as the app.name value. This is a Roku dev-build UX quirk and applies to every sideloaded screensaver including Roku's own canonical samples. The screensaver_title manifest field IS still required (and is presumably used once the screensaver is published through the channel store), but for sideload-based testing, look for the (dev) entry.

video_grid_channel

VOD grid: home (RowList) → detail → video player. Consumes mRSS, Roku Direct Publisher JSON, or a custom JSON feed.

{
  "template": "video_grid_channel",
  "spec_version": 1,
  "app": { "name": "Example", "major_version": 1, "minor_version": 0, "build_version": 0 },
  "branding": {
    "primary_color": "#E50914",
    "background_color": "#141414",
    "text_color": "#FFFFFF",
    "splash": { "hd": "./splash_hd.png", "fhd": "./splash_fhd.png" },
    "icon": { "hd": "./icon_hd.png", "fhd": "./icon_fhd.png" }
  },
  "content": {
    "feed_url": "https://example.com/feed.json",
    "feed_format": "roku_direct_publisher_json"
  }
}

Highlights: deep-link aware (Main(args) + roInput runtime listener); centralized screen-stack with focus restoration; canonical Roku Overhang brand bar; BusySpinner during feed load; async feed fetch via roUrlTransfer.asyncGetToString.

Error taxonomy

Every failure response carries { ok: false, stage, code, message, details? }. stage is one of validate, render, write, package, sideload.

Architecture

Strict one-way dependency flow under src/:

• tools/: MCP handlers. Composition root.

• templates/: Static template registry + EJS engine + render helpers. No network.

• build/: Atomic writer + deterministic zip packager (yazl, STORED, forced DOS timestamps). No network.

• device/: The ONLY module that imports a network client (undici). RFC 2617 Digest auth, multipart streaming via fs.openAsBlob, parsed Roku response markers.

• spec/: Shared zod schemas + error factory.

Real-device fixtures

test/fixtures/roku-responses/ contains the HTML response bodies the parser is tested against. They are captured against a live Roku via scripts/smoke.ts. Provenance and capture date live in test/fixtures/roku-responses/README.md.

Determinism

No Date.now(), no Math.random(), no clock skew leak into template output or the zip. Same AppSpec produces the same bytes on any host.

Contributing

Run npm install once after cloning. This installs the husky pre-commit hook via the prepare lifecycle script. Without it, your first commit bypasses the lint / format check.

The full local quality gate is:

npm run format:check && npm run lint && npm run typecheck && npm run build && npm test

License

MIT; see LICENSE.