CareCircle: Alexa+ that remembers, so families don't have to worry

CareCircle is a self-hosted MCP server (spec 2025-11-25, Streamable HTTP) that gives Alexa+ a long-term memory and the judgment to look after an older adult who lives alone. Margaret, 78, just talks to Alexa the way she always has. CareCircle remembers her medicines, how she feels and when her pills run low, reminds her at the right time, and decides on its own when her daughter and son need to know.

Live demo: https://carecircle-9d2k.onrender.com · MCP endpoint: https://carecircle-9d2k.onrender.com/mcp

Screenshots

Related MCP server: hearth-mcp

Why

About 1 in 4 adults over 65 lives alone, and missed medication is one of the most common reasons older adults end up in hospital. Families either call every day to ask "did you take your pills?" or find out too late. A voice assistant is already in the kitchen. It needs memory, timing and judgment.

What it does

The judgment (risk rules, server/rules.py)

After every dose and check-in, CareCircle decides by itself whether to escalate:

The same trigger is de-duplicated for 6 hours so families aren't spammed. Everything persists in SQLite, so the memory survives sessions, devices and restarts. Each rule is a small plug-in function, and new ones can be added without touching the engine (see Extend it).

Nobody answering is a signal too. A high-urgency alert waits for a family member to tap "I'm on it" (or for any agent to call acknowledge_alert). The moment someone does, Alexa+ tells Margaret who is coming. If nobody answers within 15 minutes (CARECIRCLE_ESCALATE_MINUTES), CareCircle re-sends it as urgent to the whole circle, including escalation-only contacts like a neighbour who can be at the door in two minutes, and tells Margaret what it did.

MCP surface

• 16 tools: whats_next, log_medication, daily_checkin, check_nudges, acknowledge_alert, get_family_messages, get_refill_status, record_refill, prepare_doctor_visit, get_wellbeing_summary, alert_family, show_care_dashboard, get_medication_schedule, add_medication, add_appointment, setup_person

• MCP Apps extension (io.modelcontextprotocol/ui): show_care_dashboard → ui://carecircle/dashboard.html (text/html;profile=mcp-app). The simulator is a minimal MCP Apps host: it reads the resource and posts the tool result into a sandboxed iframe (ui/notifications/tool-result).

• Resources: carecircle://people/{name}/profile (template) and carecircle://rules (the active risk rules)

• Prompt: morning_routine

• Every tool returns speech (what Alexa says), card (what a screen shows) and structured data.

• DNS-rebinding protection stays on in production: only localhost and the deployed hostname are accepted.

Run it locally (2 minutes)

Requires Python 3.10+.

./run.sh

Then open http://localhost:8000. The live demo page shows three things side by side:

• Margaret's kitchen: an Echo Show–style Alexa+ simulator with a mic (Chrome), spoken replies, cards and proactive reminders

• Priya's phone: the CareCircle family app, updating live (also at /family)

• Under the hood: every MCP request, live, with arguments, latency and results

The demo clock buttons (8 AM / 1 PM / 8 PM) shift CareCircle's clock so reminders fire on cue, and +15 min skips ahead to show an unanswered alert escalating. Reset demo restores a fresh week of history.

MCP endpoint: http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp. Use 127.0.0.1 rather than localhost for MCP clients: some resolve localhost to IPv6 first, while the server listens on IPv4.

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector     # connect to http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp (Streamable HTTP)

from mcp import Client
async with Client("http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp") as c:
    r = await c.call_tool("whats_next", {"person": "Margaret"})
    print(r.structured_content["speech"])

Deploy

Render (free, ~3 minutes): click the Deploy to Render button above, sign in with GitHub, and press Apply. render.yaml configures everything. You get https://carecircle-xxxx.onrender.com, with the MCP endpoint at /mcp. On the free plan the service sleeps after 15 minutes idle, and the first request takes about 30 s to wake it.

Docker (anywhere):

docker build -t carecircle . && docker run -p 8000:8000 -e PUBLIC_HOSTS=your.domain.com carecircle

PUBLIC_HOSTS (comma-separated) is the list of hostnames the MCP endpoint accepts besides localhost. Render's hostname is picked up automatically.

The Alexa+ agent's brain (Amazon Bedrock)

simulator/agent.py connects to CareCircle as a real MCP client and picks its model automatically:

1. Amazon Bedrock (Converse API with tool use): when AWS credentials are present. Model: CARECIRCLE_BEDROCK_MODEL (default us.anthropic.claude-haiku-4-5-20251001-v1:0).

2. Anthropic API: if ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set.

3. Local planner: deterministic intent routing, so the demo runs with no keys.

Whichever brain runs, every action is an MCP tools/call. Force one with CARECIRCLE_BRAIN=bedrock|anthropic|local. Optional SMS/email to family through Amazon SNS: set CARECIRCLE_SNS_TOPIC_ARN. Without it, alerts go to data/outbox.jsonl.

Extend it

CareCircle is built from small registered pieces, so most new features are one function in one file:

Step-by-step examples: docs/EXTENDING.md. Rules can be switched off with CARECIRCLE_DISABLED_RULES=poor_sleep,refills.

Tests

.venv/bin/python -m pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
.venv/bin/python -m pytest -q

They cover the risk rules (including plugging in and disabling a custom rule), alert de-duplication and routing, custom alert channels, the demo clock, supply countdown and voice intent routing. GitHub Actions runs them on every push.

Project layout

server/carecircle_server.py   MCP server: 16 tools, MCP App, resources, prompt, website + APIs (one process)
server/rules.py               risk rules: a registry of small @rule functions
server/store.py               SQLite memory, reminders, refills, messages, doctor brief
server/notify.py              alert channels: outbox, webhook, Amazon SNS (@channel registry)
server/ui/dashboard.html      family app, also served as the MCP App resource
simulator/agent.py            voice agent: MCP client + @intent registry / Bedrock / Anthropic brain
web/index.html                live demo: Echo Show simulator, family phone, MCP inspector
config/household.json         the demo household: person, family, medicines, appointments
scripts/seed_demo.py          seeds the household + a week of history
tests/                        pytest suite
docs/EXTENDING.md             how to add rules, channels, intents, tools, households
render.yaml, Dockerfile       deployment

Limits (honest)

• CareCircle is a reminder and family-communication tool, not a medical device. It doesn't diagnose, and a red-flag alert tells family; it doesn't call emergency services.

• The Alexa+ device is simulated in the browser. The MCP server is real and works with any MCP 2025-11-25 client.

• The demo is a single household with no sign-in, and the public demo is shared by everyone who opens it. Next step: OAuth 2.1 per household (supported by the MCP SDK).

License

MIT, see LICENSE.