VitalyGPT MCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that makes Vitaly Friedman's UX insights available as a tool to any LLM.

Vitaly is the founder of Smashing Magazine and one of the most prolific UX educators on the internet. This project collects his insights and serves them as structured, searchable knowledge — so you can reference his thinking directly inside Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client while designing your next product.

Status: Personal use / early preview. Shared with Vitaly for feedback before wider distribution.

What it does

Four tools, zero setup friction:

Topics covered: Forms & Inputs · Navigation & IA · Research & Usability Testing · UX Strategy & Metrics · Design Process · Careers & Communication · UI Components & Patterns · AI & Design Tools

Related MCP server: Next MCP Server

Setup

Requirements: Node.js 18+

All clients use the same server command — only the config file's location (and sometimes its format) differs. After editing, restart the client so it picks up the change.

Claude Code

Create .mcp.json at the root of the folder/workspace you open in Claude Code (not a subfolder — it won't be discovered otherwise):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vitalygpt": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vitalygpt/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Code, then confirm with /mcp or by asking "what MCP servers are connected?".

Claude Desktop

Edit claude_desktop_config.json:

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

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

Same JSON as above (top-level mcpServers key). Restart the app.

Cursor

Create .cursor/mcp.json — either in a project root (project-only) or ~/.cursor/mcp.json (all projects):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vitalygpt": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vitalygpt/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

OpenAI Codex CLI

Add to ~/.codex/config.toml (or .codex/config.toml in a trusted project):

[mcp_servers.vitalygpt]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@vitalygpt/mcp"]

Or via the CLI: codex mcp add vitalygpt -- npx -y @vitalygpt/mcp

Gemini CLI

Add to ~/.gemini/settings.json (global) or .gemini/settings.json (project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vitalygpt": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vitalygpt/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Contributing

Content lives in content/ as plain markdown files — one file per topic. Each insight follows this format:

## Insight Title

One-paragraph summary of the key takeaway.

**Full post:**

The original post content.

**Source:** [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/...) · Vitaly Friedman · YYYY-MM-DD
**Tags:** tag1, tag2, tag3

To add a new insight: edit the relevant topic file and submit a PR. No code knowledge required.

Topic files:

• content/forms-and-inputs.md

• content/navigation-and-ia.md

• content/research-and-testing.md

• content/strategy-and-metrics.md

• content/process-and-workflow.md

• content/careers-and-communication.md

• content/components-and-patterns.md

• content/ai-and-tools.md

Roadmap

• Publish to npm as @vitalygpt/mcp

• Deduplicate near-identical entries

• Add semantic search (embeddings)

• Support for contributions from Vitaly directly

Attribution

All insights are sourced from Vitaly Friedman's public LinkedIn posts, with attribution and links to originals. This project is not affiliated with Vitaly or Smashing Magazine.

License

MIT