personal-kg-mcp

Decision intelligence for multi-agent workflows

⸻

🚨 The Problem: Context Evaporates

Multi-agent development is fast—but context gets lost at every handoff: • Planning sessions → compressed into short GitHub issues • Architecture debates → collapsed into one-line directives in Cursor • Implementation agents → see what to do, not why

Result: Tasks move quickly, but decisions lose their reasoning. Context exists somewhere—it just doesn't travel.

⸻

✅ The Solution: Auto-Captured Decision Context

Personal KG preserves the "why" behind every decision—automatically, without extra work.

Captured context includes: • Full reasoning chains • Alternatives considered + rejected • Constraints & trade-offs that shaped choices • Idea evolution across planning sessions • Nuanced context beyond specs

⸻

🔁 The Learning Loop

Personal KG isn't just storage—it's a continuous improvement engine: • Accountability → Every directive is traceable to its reasoning • Auditability → Agent actions are explainable and reviewable • Reflection & Analysis → See what worked, what failed, and improve continuously

⸻

🌊 Impact: From Compressed Tasks to Full Context

Before Personal KG • Stripped-down tasks • Fragmented context • Agents move fast but blind

After Personal KG • Tasks + reasoning, constraints, and alternatives • Rich context flows seamlessly across tools • Agents move fast with full understanding

⸻

👉 Personal KG = Never lose the why. Capture it once, use it everywhere.

Installation

NPM Package

The Personal KG MCP server is available as an NPM package:

npm install @tomschell/personal-kg-mcp

MCP Configuration

1. Configure MCP Server in .cursor/mcp.json or your MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "personal-kg-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "node_modules/@tomschell/personal-kg-mcp/dist/server.js"
      ],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/project",
      "env": {
        "PKG_STORAGE_DIR": ".kg",
        "PKG_AUTO_BACKUP_MINUTES": "0",
        "PKG_USE_ANN": "true",
        "PKG_GITHUB_INTEGRATION_ENABLED": "true",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_ENABLED": "true",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_TOOLS": "github",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_EXCLUDE": "",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_AUTO": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

2. Set up GitHub Integration (optional):

   • Create a GitHub Personal Access Token

   • Add to .env file: PKG_GITHUB_TOKEN=github_pat_your_token_here

   • Or set as environment variable

3. Restart your MCP client (Cursor, Claude Desktop, etc.)

⚠️ Important: MCP servers are only loaded at session startup. After adding or modifying the MCP configuration, you must restart your Claude Code, Cursor, or Claude Desktop session for the tools to become available. Simply saving the config file is not enough.

Configuration Options

Environment Setup

For a complete list of environment variables, see .env.example.

Setup Options:

1. Conductor Workspaces (recommended for 1Password users):

   ./scripts/setup-conductor.sh

   This creates symlinks to your 1Password-managed environment files.

2. Manual Setup:

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env with your values

3. MCP Config: Add environment variables directly to your MCP configuration (see above).

Related MCP server: VibeTape MCP Server

Quick Start

npm install @tomschell/personal-kg-mcp

Installation

1. Configure MCP Server in .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "personal-kg-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "node_modules/@tomschell/personal-kg-mcp/dist/server.js"
      ],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/project",
      "env": {
        "PKG_STORAGE_DIR": ".kg",
        "PKG_AUTO_BACKUP_MINUTES": "0",
        "PKG_USE_ANN": "true",
        "PKG_GITHUB_INTEGRATION_ENABLED": "true",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_ENABLED": "true",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_TOOLS": "github",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_EXCLUDE": "",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_AUTO": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

2. Set up GitHub Integration (optional):

   • Create a GitHub Personal Access Token

   • Add to .env file: PKG_GITHUB_TOKEN=github_pat_your_token_here

   • Or set as environment variable

3. Restart your MCP client (Cursor, Claude Desktop, etc.)

Basic Usage

Start with these essential tools:

Configuration

The Personal KG MCP server is configured through environment variables set in .cursor/mcp.json.

Storage Configuration

PKG_STORAGE_DIR

• Description: Directory path for Personal KG storage

• Default: .kg

• Example: "PKG_STORAGE_DIR": "data/knowledge/personal"

GitHub Integration

PKG_GITHUB_INTEGRATION_ENABLED

• Description: Enable/disable GitHub integration in session warmup

• Default: false (disabled by default for security)

• Values: "true" or "false"

• Note: Requires PKG_GITHUB_TOKEN to be set to actually enable

PKG_GITHUB_TOKEN

• Description: GitHub Personal Access Token for Personal KG integration

• Default: Not set

• Security: Store in .env file, not in version control

MCP Capture Configuration

PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_ENABLED

• Description: Enable/disable automatic capture of MCP tool calls

• Default: true

PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_TOOLS

• Description: Comma-separated list of MCP tool names to capture

• Default: "github"

• Example: "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_TOOLS": "obsidian,notion,github"

PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_EXCLUDE

• Description: Comma-separated list of MCP tool names to exclude

• Default: "" (empty)

PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_AUTO

• Description: Enable automatic capture without explicit calls

• Default: "true"

Example Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "personal-kg-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "node_modules/@tomschell/personal-kg-mcp/dist/server.js"
      ],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/project",
      "env": {
        "PKG_STORAGE_DIR": ".kg",
        "PKG_AUTO_BACKUP_MINUTES": "0",
        "PKG_USE_ANN": "true",
        "PKG_GITHUB_INTEGRATION_ENABLED": "true",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_ENABLED": "true",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_TOOLS": "github",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_EXCLUDE": "",
        "PKG_MCP_CAPTURE_AUTO": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Usage Guide

Tag Conventions

• Normalised tags: proj:<name>, ws:<workstream>, ticket:<id>

• Examples: proj:kg ws:kg-dev ticket:78

Agent Training Reminders

Important for Developers: The kg_session_warmup tool includes an agentTrainingReminders field. These reminders are NOT user-facing documentation - they are designed to train AI agents on proper development workflows during coding sessions.

Purpose:

• Train agents on commit frequency and git best practices

• Guide agents to follow project workflow conventions

• Improve agent behavior through consistent guidance

• Ensure code quality and proper git usage

Who sees this:

• AI agents during session warmup (embedded in context)

• Developers reading the code

• NOT end users browsing documentation

Users benefit from these reminders indirectly through improved agent behavior, not by reading them directly.

Proactive Behavior

1. Capture key moments with kg_capture (decisions, progress, insights, questions).

2. At session boundaries use kg_capture_session (include next_actions[]).

3. When resuming a topic call kg_get_relevant_context or kg_get_project_state.

4. Track open questions with kg_open_questions and resolve with kg_resolve_question.

5. Link entries with kg_edges (operation: "create", relation: "blocks" or "derived_from").

Core Tools

Capture

Search & Retrieval

Node Operations

Relationships

Question Tracking

Admin & Maintenance

Analysis

Relationship Type Guide

Best-Practice Flow

1. Start / resume → kg_session_warmup({ project: "my-project" }) (discovery mode if no project)

2. Before starting work → kg_get_relevant_context({ query: "topic" }) for background

3. During dev → kg_capture decisions, progress, insights, questions

4. Track questions → kg_open_questions to see unresolved items

5. Link related work → kg_edges({ operation: "create", ... })

6. End session → kg_capture_session with summary and next_actions

Claude Code Integration

Add these instructions to your project's CLAUDE.md to enable automatic knowledge graph usage:

## Knowledge Graph

This project uses personal-kg-mcp for decision tracking and context management.

### Session Start
- Run `kg_session_warmup` with project name at the start of each session
- Use discovery mode (no project) to see all available projects

### During Work
- Capture important decisions with `kg_capture` (type: "decision")
- Log progress on features with `kg_capture` (type: "progress")
- Record insights and learnings with `kg_capture` (type: "insight")
- Track open questions with `kg_capture` (type: "question")

### Context Retrieval
- Use `kg_get_relevant_context` before starting work on a topic
- Check `kg_open_questions` for unresolved items
- Use `kg_query_context` for topic summaries

### Session End
- Summarize work with `kg_capture_session`
- Include `next_actions` for continuity

Recommended CLAUDE.md Snippet

For projects using personal-kg-mcp, add to your CLAUDE.md:

## Knowledge Graph
- **MCP Server**: personal-kg-mcp
- **Storage**: `.kg/` (gitignored)
- **Usage**: Capture decisions, track questions, maintain context across sessions
- **Session Start**: Always run `kg_session_warmup` with project name
- **Key Tools**: kg_capture, kg_session_warmup, kg_get_relevant_context, kg_open_questions

Examples

Session Warmup

{
  "tool": "kg_session_warmup",
  "args": { "project": "kg", "limit": 20 }
}

Capture Progress

{
  "tool": "kg_capture",
  "args": {
    "content": "Progress: added query tools for Issue 64",
    "type": "progress",
    "sessionId": "<sessionId>",
    "tags": ["proj:kg", "ws:kg-dev", "ticket:64"],
    "importance": "medium"
  }
}

Session Summary

{
  "tool": "kg_capture_session",
  "args": {
    "summary": "Completed KG tool analysis and documentation updates",
    "next_actions": ["Implement simplified system prompt", "Update .cursorrules"],
    "artifacts": ["Issue #215", "Updated documentation"]
  }
}

Link Related Work

{
  "tool": "kg_edges",
  "args": {
    "operation": "create",
    "fromNodeId": "<decisionId>",
    "toNodeId": "<taskId>",
    "relation": "blocks"
  }
}

Get Context Before Starting

{
  "tool": "kg_query_context",
  "args": { "topic": "CI/CD pipeline improvements" }
}

Consolidated Tools (v3.0)

Tools have been consolidated for easier use:

New Features

• kg_open_questions - Track unresolved questions with staleness detection

• kg_resolve_question - Mark questions as resolved

• kg_get_relevant_context - Proactive context injection for queries

Development

Building

cd packages/personal-kg-mcp
npm install
npm run build

Testing

npm test
npm run test:unit
npm test -- config.test.ts --run

Development Mode

npm run dev

Changelog

[2.1.0] - 2025-08-16

• Configuration System: Centralized configuration management via environment variables

• GitHub Integration: Configurable GitHub integration with secure token handling

• MCP Capture: Configurable automatic capture of MCP tool calls

• Security: GitHub integration disabled by default, secure token storage recommendations

[2.0.0] - 2025-08-14

• Modular Architecture: Refactored from monolithic 1,625-line server to modular structure

• Core Tools Module: kg_health, kg_capture, kg_capture_session, kg_link_session

• Search Tools Module: kg_list_recent, kg_search, kg_semantic_search, kg_find_similar, kg_query_time_range, kg_query_context

• Relationship Tools Module: 10 relationship management tools

• Maintenance Tools Module: 5 maintenance tools

• Analysis Tools Module: 4 analysis tools

• Project Tools Module: 3 project tools

• Deprecated Tools Module: 6 deprecated tools

• Comprehensive Documentation: Detailed architecture guide

• GitHub Repository: Standalone repository at https://github.com/tomschell/personal-kg-mcp

• CI/CD Pipeline: GitHub Actions for testing, building, and deployment

[1.0.0] - 2025-01-01

• Initial Personal KG MCP server implementation

• 43 tools for knowledge graph management

• File-based storage system

• Vector similarity search

• Relationship management

• Session management

• Project state tracking

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.