lighterpack-mcp

An MCP server that lets AI agents create and manage LighterPack packing lists — add gear, track weights, organize categories, and share lists, all through natural conversation.

Unofficial. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by LighterPack. It talks to LighterPack's own web API (the same one lighterpack.com's browser client uses) — see Architecture below.

What is this?

LighterPack is a free tool backpackers and travelers use to plan and share packing lists — tracking item weights, prices, and categories to optimize what they bring. This MCP server exposes LighterPack's list/category/item model as ~35 tools, so an MCP-compatible AI agent (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, etc.) can build and edit packing lists on your behalf: "Create a 3-day backpacking list with a Shelter category containing my tent and rain jacket, mark the jacket as worn, and give me a share link."

Quick start

Requires Node.js ≥20 and a LighterPack account.

npx @paladini/lighterpack-mcp

Add it to your MCP client's config (example for Claude Desktop, claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lighterpack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@paladini/lighterpack-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "LIGHTERPACK_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "LIGHTERPACK_PASSWORD": "your-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration

Env var	Required	Default	Description
LIGHTERPACK_USERNAME	Yes	—	Your LighterPack account username.
LIGHTERPACK_PASSWORD	Yes	—	Your LighterPack account password.
LIGHTERPACK_BASE_URL	No	https://lighterpack.com	Point at a self-hosted LighterPack instance (it's open source too).

One account per server instance — there's no tool to switch accounts mid-session, by design.

Tool reference

Weights are always in grams at the tool boundary (weight / weightUnit inputs, weightGrams outputs), regardless of what unit LighterPack's own UI happens to display. Internally LighterPack always stores weight in milligrams, so nothing is lost either way.

Library / account

Tool	Description
get_account_info	Signed-in username plus list/category/item counts and library-wide settings.
refresh_library	Force a re-fetch from LighterPack, discarding the local cache.
set_total_unit	Unit LighterPack's UI uses to display list totals.
set_item_unit	Default unit LighterPack's UI pre-fills for new items.
set_currency_symbol	Currency symbol shown next to prices (1-4 chars).

Lists

Tool	Description
create_list	Create a new, empty packing list.
list_lists	Summary of every list (name, category count, totals).
get_list	Full detail for one list: categories, items, computed totals.
rename_list	Rename a list.
set_list_description	Set a list's description.
set_list_optional_fields	Toggle optional columns: images, price, worn, consumable, list description, pack weight.
copy_list	Duplicate a list (categories copied, items shared with the original).
delete_list	Delete a list (fails if it's the only one).
generate_share_link	Mint a public read-only share link (lighterpack.com/r/<code>).

Categories

Tool	Description
add_category	Add a category to a list.
rename_category	Rename a category.
set_category_color	Set or clear a category's swatch color.
remove_category	Remove a category (fails on a list's last category unless force).
reorder_categories	Set a list's category display order.

Items

Tool	Description
add_item_to_category	Add a new item to a category, or link an existing item (shared item).
update_item	Patch name, description, price, weight, link, or image URL.
remove_item_from_category	Unlink an item from one category (keeps the item elsewhere).
delete_item	Delete an item everywhere it's referenced. Cannot be undone.
fork_item	Detach a shared item into an independent copy for one list.
set_item_image_url	Point an item at an external image URL.
upload_item_image	Upload a local/binary photo (JPEG/PNG/WebP, 5MB max) and attach it.

Item flags (per category placement)

Tool	Description
set_item_quantity	Set exact quantity.
increment_item_quantity / decrement_item_quantity	Adjust quantity by N (floored at 0).
set_item_worn	Mark worn/not worn (auto-clears consumable — they're mutually exclusive).
set_item_consumable	Mark consumable/not consumable (auto-clears worn).
set_item_star	Set the favorite/priority level: 0 (none) to 3 — LighterPack's star is a 3-level rating, not a plain flag.

Batch / composite

Tool	Description
add_items_batch	Add several items to one category in a single save round-trip.
create_list_with_items	Scaffold a whole list — categories and items — in one call.
batch_update_items	Apply field and/or flag edits across many items in one call.

Deliberately out of scope: account registration/deletion, password/email changes, and password recovery — high-risk, low-value for an agent to hold.

Architecture

LighterPack has no granular REST API — there's no "create list" or "add item" endpoint. Instead, a user's entire library (every list, category, and item) is a single JSON document, synced via POST /saveLibrary with an optimistic-concurrency token (sync_token). That fetch → mutate → save cycle, the sync_token retry logic, and the business rules (worn/consumable exclusivity, id sequencing, shared items, etc. — ported from LighterPack's own open-source client) all live in @paladini/lighterpack, a standalone TypeScript SDK this server depends on. This repo is intentionally thin: src/tools/* just registers each MCP tool (Zod input schema + agent-facing description) and calls the corresponding SDK method (lp.lists.*, lp.categories.*, lp.items.*, lp.batch.*), returning the SDK's already-formatted view objects (weights in grams, computed totals, etc.) as the tool result.

Limitations

• No realtime push — if you (or someone else) edits the list on lighterpack.com while an agent session is open, call refresh_library to pick up the change.
• One LighterPack account per server instance.
• Account creation/deletion and credential changes are intentionally not exposed as tools.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for dev setup, testing, and how to add a new tool.

License

MIT