# Creation Kit MCP

Creation Kit MCP is the canonical archive-first Bethesda specialist for Codex.

- Plugin: `creation-kit`
- MCP server: `creation-kit-mcp`
- Canonical invocation: `@creation-kit`
- Compatibility invocation: `@carl`
- Internal router: Carl
- Optional orchestration: Nawnie and Shawn Core

The server exposes fixed-owner tools for Creation Kit authoring, TES records, Papyrus, assets and archives, BMKB knowledge, authenticated Vortex operations, runtime verification, packaging, archival, restoration, and release readiness. Its Starfield tool audit recognizes xTranslator, Console Command Cheats, LiveINI, TN Power Tools, and Console Command Runner without launching them, and separates physical deployment from runtime compatibility. The guarded `creation_kit_xedit_cli_preflight` and `creation_kit_xedit_cli_run` tools use the configured SF1Edit binary with no shell, reject the live game Data directory, require an isolated staging workspace and a new companion ESM, and require archive receipts before execution. Starfield, Fallout 4, and Skyrim Special Edition have full write contracts. Earlier Bethesda games and Fallout 76 remain read-only knowledge and audit targets.

Every target-changing operation requires `confirm: true`, an exact context snapshot, a verified archive receipt, expected pre-change state, and an authorization note. The server exposes no deletion, raw shell, arbitrary executable, raw database, direct Vortex LevelDB, direct generated `Plugins.txt`, or save-editing interface.

Standalone operation does not require Shawn Core. Core routing and the `@carl`
compatibility skill are optional integrations. Configure archive and game roots
per machine; no public release may contain private absolute paths.

Release staging is allowlist-based and fails closed on missing first-party
licensing or unproven database provenance:

```powershell
python scripts/stage_release.py --mode public --destination .release --dry-run
python scripts/stage_release.py --mode private --destination .private-release --dry-run
```

The public MCP surface is CLI-only and does not expose Creation Kit UI
Automation. Editor-only operations fail closed as unavailable headless
capabilities. The hidden xEdit script wrapper does not send mouse, keyboard, or
UIA input, but xEdit still creates an internal VCL GUI process and is therefore
reported separately from native headless tools.

The private Mutagen Starfield experiment has proved only a new ESP containing
one typed quest record, binary write, and binary reopen. Quest aliases, VMAD
scripts and properties, existing-plugin mutation, generated CK data, and
in-game behavior remain unproven. The GPL-3.0 adapter is not part of the default
standalone distribution.

Validation:

```powershell
py -3.12 -B scripts\validate_creation_kit.py
py -3.12 -B -m pytest -q
py -3.12 -B tests\smoke_creation_kit.py
```

These checks prove source contracts and fresh-process MCP behavior. They do not prove in-game behavior. In-game claims require `creation_kit_runtime_receipt` with a disposable profile and save, log markers, a save, and a hard reload.