RulesetMCP

Weight-On-Wheels for AI: Keep every agent grounded in your project's rules.

RulesetMCP is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that gives AI agents a project-aware rulebook. Instead of explaining your coding standards, SQL conventions, or process guidelines every time you open a new AI session, you define them once in version-controlled files. RulesetMCP reads those files and exposes tools for listing, summarizing, and applying rules to specific tasks and snippets.

The Problem

Right now you probably:

• ✋ Repeat the same context to AI every session ("Use UPPER-CASE for SQL keywords")
• 📝 Maintain scattered documentation that AI can't easily query
• 🔄 Re-explain architecture decisions across different AI tools
• ⚠️ Hope the AI remembers your project's conventions

The Solution

RulesetMCP acts like a "Weight-On-Wheels" switch for AI assistants: once your rules are loaded, every action is grounded in them. This keeps your rewrites, refactors, and new features aligned with the architecture and process decisions you've already made.

Features

• 🔍 Project discovery via list_projects
• 📋 Structured rules from Markdown and YAML
• 🎯 Contextual queries with get_rules (filter by area, tags, severity)
• 📊 Task-oriented summaries with summarize_rules_for_task
• ✅ Snippet validation with validate_snippet
• 🔄 Hot-reload rules with reload_rules
• 🌐 Universal compatibility via MCP protocol (works with Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and any MCP-compatible client)

Quick Start

1. Install

npm install -g rulesetmcp

Or clone and build locally:

git clone https://github.com/n8daniels/RulesetMCP.git
cd RulesetMCP
npm install
npm run build

2. Create Config

Create rulesetmcp.config.json in your workspace:

{
  "projects": [
    {
      "id": "my-api",
      "name": "My API Project",
      "paths": ["/path/to/my-api"],
      "rulesPaths": ["rules/", "docs/rules/"]
    }
  ],
  "defaultProjectId": "my-api"
}

3. Add Rules

Create rules/RULES.md in your project:

# My API - Coding Standards

## [api-naming-001] RESTful endpoint naming

**Area:** api
**Severity:** warn
**Tags:** api, rest, naming

**Description:**
All REST endpoints must use plural nouns and follow `/api/v1/{resource}` pattern.

**Good Example:**

GET /api/v1/users POST /api/v1/orders

**Bad Example:**

GET /api/getUser POST /api/create-order

4. Configure Your MCP Client

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rulesetmcp": {
      "command": "rulesetmcp",
      "args": ["--config", "/path/to/rulesetmcp.config.json"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code (.claude/settings.json):

{
  "mcp": {
    "rulesetmcp": {
      "command": "rulesetmcp",
      "args": ["--config", "/path/to/rulesetmcp.config.json"]
    }
  }
}

5. Use It!

Now when you work with AI:

You: "Refactor this SQL stored procedure to pull more data from the users table"

AI: [Calls get_rules for project="my-api", area="sql"]
AI: "Based on your project's SQL rules, I'll ensure:
     - All keywords are UPPER-CASE
     - Identifiers use lower_case
     - Proper indexing hints are included

     Here's the refactored procedure..."

Rule Formats

RulesetMCP supports multiple formats:

Markdown (RULES.md)

## [rule-id] Rule Title

**Area:** sql
**Severity:** error
**Tags:** formatting, style

**Description:** What the rule requires

**Rationale:** Why this matters

**Good Example:**
```sql
SELECT * FROM users;

Bad Example:

select * from Users;

### YAML (rules/*.yaml)

```yaml
- id: sql-format-001
  project: my-api
  area: sql
  title: SQL casing convention
  description: All SQL must use UPPER-CASE keywords and lower_case identifiers
  severity: warn
  tags: [sql, style, formatting]
  examples:
    good: |
      SELECT u.user_id FROM users u;
    bad: |
      select UserID from Users;
  appliesTo:
    - "*.sql"
    - "procedures/*"

MCP Tools

list_projects

Discover available projects and their rule sets.

get_rules

Query rules by project, area, tags, or severity.

validate_snippet

Validate code/SQL/config against project rules and get fix suggestions.

summarize_rules_for_task

Get a task-oriented summary of relevant rules before starting work.

reload_rules

Hot-reload rules after editing files on disk.

Philosophy

RulesetMCP embodies the "Weight-On-Wheels" principle: just like an aircraft can't ignore physics once grounded, AI agents shouldn't ignore your project's rules once RulesetMCP is enabled.

This is not just documentation - it's:

• ✅ Machine-readable and queryable
• ✅ Version-controlled with your code
• ✅ Enforceable via validation tools
• ✅ Universal across all MCP-compatible AI tools

Examples

See the examples/ directory for complete sample projects:

• nodejs-api/ - REST API with TypeScript standards
• python-django/ - Django project with security rules
• dotnet-webapi/ - .NET API with architecture patterns

Use Cases

SQL Standardization

- id: sql-format-001
  area: sql
  title: SQL keyword casing
  description: All SQL keywords UPPER-CASE, identifiers lower_case
  severity: warn

Security Guardrails

- id: security-001
  area: security
  title: No hardcoded secrets
  description: Use environment variables or secure vaults
  severity: blocker

Architecture Patterns

- id: arch-http-001
  area: architecture
  title: Use HttpClientFactory
  description: Never instantiate HttpClient directly
  severity: error

Migration Rules

- id: migration-001
  area: migration
  title: Preserve backward compatibility
  description: When refactoring API endpoints, maintain old routes with redirects
  severity: blocker

Roadmap

• [x] Phase 1: Core MCP server with basic tools
• [x] Phase 2: Multi-format rule loading (Markdown, YAML)
• [ ] Phase 3: Advanced validation with pattern matching
• [ ] Phase 4: LLM-assisted rule violation detection
• [ ] Phase 5: VSCode extension for inline hints
• [ ] Phase 6: Pre-commit hooks and CI/CD integration
• [ ] Community rule packs (OWASP, Google Style Guide, etc.)

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Building From Source

npm install
npm run build
npm start

License

MIT License - see LICENSE

Support

• Issues: https://github.com/n8daniels/RulesetMCP/issues
• Discussions: https://github.com/n8daniels/RulesetMCP/discussions
• MCP Community: https://discord.gg/anthropic

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Built with ❤️ for developers tired of repeating themselves to AI

"Stop explaining. Start enforcing."