Clauses

What clauses does

The clauses MCP server provides a local library for reusable contract and proposal paragraphs. It includes 25 generic freelance starter clauses covering areas such as scope, payment, expenses, intellectual property, confidentiality, data protection, termination, liability, warranties, disputes, and general terms. You can also save your own clauses with a title, body, category, tags, and optional jurisdiction or language.

Clause bodies support placeholders such as {{client}}, {{fee}}, and {{payment_days}}. The clauses MCP server can select clauses by ID or category, fill the values supplied for an engagement, and leave unknown values as prompts such as [late fee percent]. Generated documents begin with a statement that they are generic templates and not legal advice.

How it works

Use clause_search to find relevant text across titles, tags, categories, and bodies. Title matches rank above body mentions, and whole-word matching helps distinguish terms such as “fee” from “coffee.” Searches can also use a jurisdiction filter; tag filtering is available in Pro mode. clause_list returns the library in assembly order, while clause_get retrieves a complete clause by ID or partial title.

The clauses MCP server assembles selected clauses with contract_assemble. It orders and numbers them, substitutes supplied variables, and writes either .docx or Markdown output. variables_list shows the values required by a selection before assembly. A draft_contract prompt can choose clauses for an engagement, assemble them, and report missing facts. The clauses://categories resource exposes categories with their counts and assembly order.

Setup and configuration

Three supported deployment paths are described. A hosted endpoint is available at https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/clauses using streamable HTTP and a token passed as a bearer header or in the URL path. The token is required for tool calls. Claude Desktop users can download the clauses.mcpb bundle from the latest release and open it.

For a local installation, clone the repository, run npm install, and build with npm run build. Configure the MCP client to run Node against the resulting dist/index.js using an absolute path. The package is not published on npm yet, so an npx installation is not currently a working path. MCP_LICENSE_KEY may be set to enable Pro mode, or a key can be activated through license_activate.

Tools and capabilities

The clauses MCP server exposes tools for the full library lifecycle:

• clause_add, clause_update, and clause_delete create, revise, and remove entries.
• clause_import loads Markdown, or JSON in Pro mode; clause_export writes Markdown, or JSON in Pro mode.
• clause_search, clause_get, and clause_list inspect the library.
• contract_assemble creates .docx or .md drafts, and variables_list checks required values.
• license_status reports the current mode, while license_activate verifies a Pro key offline.

Imports use a defined Markdown structure with a title, optional metadata lines, a blank line, and the body. Export and assembly do not replace an existing destination unless overwrite: true is provided. In Pro mode, updates retain the previous text as a version.

Limitations and notes

The included clauses are generic freelance templates and have not been reviewed by a lawyer for a particular country, profession, or transaction. The output should be treated as a first draft for qualified legal review, not as a document ready to sign. Free mode includes the 25 starter clauses; Pro adds features such as JSON import and export, tag filtering, and retained previous text for updates.