Lessons Learned MCP Server

Central MCP server for storing and querying lessons learned and project-specific implementation details. A Laravel application that exposes two MCP endpoints for any MCP-capable AI client — Cursor, Claude Code, Google Antigravity, and others.

Explainer Video

Watch the explainer on YouTube.

Related MCP server: repo-memory-mcp

Use with ashwinmram/mcp-pusher

This server works with the ashwinmram/mcp-pusher package to push lessons and project details from your Laravel projects via HTTP API.

• Install: composer require ashwinmram/mcp-pusher:^3.0

• Links: GitHub | Packagist

• Best practice: Copy the knowledge capture prompt into your agent; agent gathers git context, synthesizes lessons, runs mcp:append → drafts. mcp:push once at session end. Optional Cursor preCompact hook surfaces the same prompt automatically.

The mcp-pusher package pushes session drafts from docs/.mcp-session/*.jsonl to /api/lessons (generic) and /api/project-details (project-specific) in one mcp:push. See Pushing knowledge (mcp-pusher 3.0) and packages/laravel-mcp-pusher/README.md.

Key Features

• Lessons Learned MCP (/mcp/lessons) — Search, browse, and retrieve lessons with relevance scoring

• Project Details MCP (/mcp/project-details?project=…) — Project-specific implementation details (paths, env, conventions)

• Tools: SearchLessons, GetLessonByCategory, GetLessonTags, FindRelatedLessons, MarkLessonHelpful, SuggestSearchQueries, GetTopLessons, GetCategoryStatistics

• Resources: lessons://overview, lessons://search-guide

• Prompts: LessonsLearnedOverview, LessonsByCategory

Dashboard

Authenticated users can view live stats at /dashboard. Each card shows a current value, a baseline, and a variance badge.

Two comparison patterns are used, both anchored on 30 days:

See in-app Documentation for the same details.

Prerequisites

• PHP 8.2+, Laravel 12

• MySQL or SQLite

• Laravel Herd (recommended) or equivalent local dev setup

• An MCP-capable AI client (Cursor, Claude Code, Google Antigravity, or other)

Initial Setup

1. Clone and Install

composer install
cp .env.example .env
php artisan key:generate
php artisan migrate

2. Configure Environment Variables

Add the following to your .env file:

# MCP server (HTTP base URL for MCP clients and API pushes)
APP_URL=https://mcp-server.test
MCP_SERVER_NAME="Lessons Learned MCP Server"

# MCP client (for pushing from this project via mcp-pusher)
MCP_SERVER_URL=https://mcp-server.test
MCP_API_TOKEN=  # Generated in step 3

3. Generate API Token

Generate a Sanctum API token for MCP authentication:

php artisan mcp:generate-token --name="mcp-client-token"

This command creates a user if none exists, generates a Sanctum token, and displays it. Copy the token (shown only once) and add it to .env:

MCP_API_TOKEN=your-token-here

Use the same token in your MCP client Authorization: Bearer … header.

4. Verify Setup

Ensure your site is accessible. With Laravel Herd:

curl https://mcp-server.test

If needed, link the project to Herd:

herd link mcp-server

Test the MCP endpoint:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE" \
     https://mcp-server.test/mcp/lessons

Configuring your AI client

All clients need:

• Lessons URL: https://mcp-server.test/mcp/lessons

• Project details URL (optional): https://mcp-server.test/mcp/project-details?project=<source> — project must match php artisan mcp:push --source=…

• Header: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_SANCTUM_TOKEN

Example config files (copy and edit): cursor, claude, antigravity. Root mcp.json.example is a minimal Cursor-oriented sample.

Cursor

Settings UI

1. Open Cursor Settings: ⇧+⌘+J (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+J (Windows/Linux)

2. Features → MCP → Add MCP Server

3. Configure:

   • Name: lessons-learned-local (or any name)

   • Transport: SSE

   • URL: https://mcp-server.test/mcp/lessons

   • Headers: {"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_SANCTUM_TOKEN_HERE"}

4. Save and restart Cursor

Project mcp.json

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "lessons-learned-local": {
            "transport": "sse",
            "url": "https://mcp-server.test/mcp/lessons",
            "headers": {
                "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_SANCTUM_TOKEN_HERE"
            }
        }
    }
}

• Global: ~/.cursor/mcp.json or Settings UI — all projects

• Project: mcp.json in project root — this project only (gitignore tokens)

Verify: Settings → MCP → server Connected. Ask: "What lessons do we have about testing Laravel packages?"

Claude Code

Prefer HTTP transport (Laravel Mcp::web uses HTTP). Use SSE only if HTTP fails.

CLI

claude mcp add --transport http lessons-learned \
  https://mcp-server.test/mcp/lessons \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

claude mcp add --transport http project-details-my-app \
  "https://mcp-server.test/mcp/project-details?project=my-app" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Project .mcp.json

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "lessons-learned": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp-server.test/mcp/lessons",
            "headers": {
                "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
            }
        }
    }
}

Scopes: local (default, ~/.claude.json), project (.mcp.json in repo), or user. See Claude Code MCP docs.

Verify: claude mcp list — servers show connected; start a session and query lessons.

Google Antigravity

Shared config: ~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json (Antigravity IDE and CLI share this path per Google codelabs).

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "lessons-learned": {
            "serverUrl": "https://mcp-server.test/mcp/lessons",
            "headers": {
                "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
            }
        },
        "project-details-my-app": {
            "serverUrl": "https://mcp-server.test/mcp/project-details?project=my-app",
            "headers": {
                "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
            }
        }
    }
}

UI: Agent panel → ... → MCP Servers → refresh; add or verify servers.

Verify: MCP server shows connected; ask the agent about available lessons.

Agent startup instructions

Install agent instructions for your AI client:

See agent-instructions README for flags and manual paths.

# Example: full setup for Cursor + Claude + Antigravity (workspace skills)
php artisan mcp:install-agent-instructions --with-hooks --with-claude-md --with-cursorrules

This monorepo uses a short .cursorrules index; consumer projects should use the install commands above or copy stubs from packages/laravel-mcp-pusher/stubs/.

How sessions use the MCP server

1. Your AI client connects with the configured URL and Bearer token

2. The server exposes lessons://overview and MCP tools/prompts

3. With startup instructions configured, the agent reads the overview and queries relevant lessons

4. Lessons inform coding decisions during the session

Example prompts (any client)

• "What lessons do we have about Laravel validation?"

• "Show me lessons tagged with 'php' and 'best-practices'"

• "Give me an overview of available lessons"

• "What do we know about testing Laravel packages?"

Available MCP Components

Tools

• SearchLessons — Search by keyword, category, or tags (MySQL FULLTEXT + relevance scoring)

• GetLessonByCategory — Get all lessons in a category

• GetLessonTags — List available tags

• FindRelatedLessons — Find related lessons by topic relationships

• MarkLessonHelpful — Provide feedback for relevance scoring

• SuggestSearchQueries — Expand searches with related queries

• GetTopLessons — Get highest relevance lessons (optionally by category)

• GetCategoryStatistics — Category stats (avg relevance, top lessons, usage)

Resources

• lessons://overview — Overview of lessons, categories, tags, and recent lessons

• lessons://search-guide — Search strategies, query examples, relevance scoring

Prompts

• LessonsLearnedOverview — Overview of available lessons

• LessonsByCategory — Summary of lessons in a specific category

Pushing knowledge (mcp-pusher 3.0)

Consumer projects use ashwinmram/mcp-pusher. See What's new in 3.0.

Workflow (all IDEs)

1. Copy the knowledge capture prompt block from the package README into your agent (or use the optional Cursor preCompact hook).

2. Agent gathers git context, synthesizes lessons, runs mcp:append → docs/.mcp-session/lessons-draft.jsonl and/or project-details-draft.jsonl.

3. End of session: review drafts (see package README), then php artisan mcp:push --source=<project>.

Draft files are cleared after a successful push unless --no-truncate. Use mcp:extract-session only if drafts are thin after compaction and you have committed work (git-only; see mcp-pusher README).

File layout (3.0)

your-project/
└── docs/
    └── .mcp-session/
        ├── lessons-draft.jsonl         ← generic lessons
        └── project-details-draft.jsonl ← project-specific details

This server (monorepo)

php artisan mcp:push --source=mcp-server

Other Laravel projects

composer require ashwinmram/mcp-pusher:^3.0

Configure MCP_SERVER_URL, MCP_API_TOKEN, gitignore docs/.mcp-session/. Full guide: package README.

Optional: Cursor hooks (this monorepo)

mkdir -p .cursor/hooks
cp packages/laravel-mcp-pusher/stubs/cursor-hooks/hooks.json.example .cursor/hooks.json
cp packages/laravel-mcp-pusher/stubs/cursor-hooks/pre-compact-checkpoint.sh .cursor/hooks/
cp packages/laravel-mcp-pusher/stubs/knowledge-capture-prompt.txt .cursor/hooks/
chmod +x .cursor/hooks/pre-compact-checkpoint.sh

Project Details MCP Server

URL: https://mcp-server.test/mcp/project-details?project=<source_project>

Use the same Bearer token. Add one MCP server entry per project (?project=… must match --source on push).

Managing Tokens

php artisan mcp:list-tokens
php artisan mcp:list-tokens --revoke=<TOKEN_ID>
php artisan mcp:list-tokens --revoke-all
php artisan mcp:generate-token --name="mcp-client-token" --force

Production Setup

1. Update .env with production APP_URL and MCP_SERVER_URL

2. php artisan mcp:generate-token --name="mcp-production" --email="admin@yourdomain.com"

3. Update each MCP client with production URLs and token

4. Set SANCTUM_STATEFUL_DOMAINS for your production domain

Troubleshooting

Token not working

• php artisan mcp:list-tokens

• php artisan mcp:generate-token --force

Client cannot connect

• Confirm URL is reachable: curl -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" https://mcp-server.test/mcp/lessons

• Check Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN (include Bearer)

• Cursor: restart app; verify Settings → MCP → Connected; SSE transport in config

• Claude Code: claude mcp list; try --transport http then --transport sse if needed

• Antigravity: refresh MCP Servers in Agent panel; verify ~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json uses serverUrl and headers

• Herd: site linked and running (herd link mcp-server)

Lessons not loading in agent

• Restart the AI client (MCP often connects at startup)

• Ask: "Use the LessonsLearnedOverview prompt"

• tail -f storage/logs/laravel.log

Authentication errors (401)

• Regenerate token; verify Bearer header in client config

SSL / certificate issues

Herd .test domains use local certificates. If the client rejects HTTPS:

• Trust the certificate in the client, or use mkcert

Database / CORS

• php artisan migrate:status / php artisan migrate

• Ensure domain is in config/sanctum.php stateful domains

Security Considerations

1. Token storage — Never commit tokens; use .env

2. Token rotation — Rotate if compromised

3. HTTPS — Required in production

4. Rate limiting — Consider for MCP endpoints

Project Structure

• routes/ai.php — MCP route registration

• app/Mcp/ — LessonsServer, ProjectDetailsServer

• docs/.mcp-session/ — session drafts for mcp-pusher

• packages/laravel-mcp-pusher — ashwinmram/mcp-pusher (local copy)

Additional Resources

• Laravel Sanctum

• Model Context Protocol

• Laravel MCP

• Cursor MCP

• Claude Code MCP

• Google Antigravity MCP codelab

• Laravel Herd

License

MIT