Mind Elixir MCP Server

Let AI assistants build and edit real mind maps in Mind Elixir Desktop.

This is the stdio ↔ HTTP bridge that connects stdio-only MCP clients — Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Cline, Roo Code, Windsurf — to the MCP server built into the Mind Elixir Desktop app.

Requires Mind Elixir Desktop to be installed and running. This server is a local controller for the desktop app, not a standalone cloud service. The bridge forwards tool calls to http://127.0.0.1:6595/mcp and streams the results back.

• Registry name: io.github.mind-elixir/mcp
• npm package: @mind-elixir/mcp
• Setup guide: https://app.mind-elixir.com/blog/use-mcp

Contents

• What you can do with it
• Requirements
• Quick start
• Client configuration
• Connecting without the bridge (HTTP)
• Tools reference
• Recommended agent workflow
• CLI reference
• How it works
• Troubleshooting
• Security and privacy
• Development
• License

What you can do with it

Seven tools let an assistant read and mutate the mind map that is currently open in the app:

• Start a fresh map, or replace the current one with a structure the model designed.
• Inspect every topic, node ID, and parent/child relationship in the current map.
• Rename nodes, add child nodes, and get back the ID of what was just created.
• Attach summary nodes that collapse a range of siblings into one idea.
• Draw labelled arrows between any two nodes to express relationships that the tree cannot.

Typical uses: turning a conversation or a document into a structured map, breaking a project down into a work breakdown structure, summarising a meeting into themes, or having an assistant reorganise notes you already made by hand.

Requirements

Quick start

Start Mind Elixir Desktop first, then verify the bridge can reach it:

npx -y @mind-elixir/mcp@latest

A running bridge prints nothing to stdout (that channel is reserved for JSON-RPC) and stays in the foreground. Diagnostics go to stderr. Quit it with Ctrl+C.

To install the CLI globally instead:

npm install -g @mind-elixir/mcp
mind-elixir-mcp

Then configure your MCP client — see the next section.

Client configuration

Claude Desktop

Edit claude_desktop_config.json:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mind-elixir": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mind-elixir/mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Claude Code

claude mcp add mind-elixir -- npx -y @mind-elixir/mcp@latest

Cursor

Create or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or use Settings → Features → MCP → + Add New MCP Server):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mind-elixir": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mind-elixir/mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code (GitHub Copilot agent mode)

Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace, or to your user-level mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "mind-elixir": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mind-elixir/mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Cline, Roo Code, Windsurf

These extensions share the mcpServers shape used by Cursor:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mind-elixir": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mind-elixir/mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Non-default port

If Mind Elixir Desktop is listening somewhere other than 6595, pass the port through:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mind-elixir": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mind-elixir/mcp@latest", "--port", "7000"]
    }
  }
}

Connecting without the bridge (HTTP)

If your client can talk Streamable HTTP directly, skip this package entirely and point it at the app:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mind-elixir": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:6595/mcp"
    }
  }
}

The app exposes:

CORS is enabled for the Mind Elixir Cloud origin, so browser-hosted clients can call the local server too.

Tools reference

All tools return a plain-text result. Successful mutations answer with OK (or, for add_child, the new node's ID); failures come back as a string beginning with Error:.

Every tool has a 15-second operation budget. If the app does not report back in time, the tool returns Timeout waiting for mindmap operation to complete.

new_mindmap

Creates a new, empty mind map and navigates the app to its editor page.

No parameters.

get_all_nodes

Returns the current map as a nested node tree — every topic, its ID, and its children.

No parameters. Shape of the response:

{
  "topic": "Root Topic",
  "id": "1",
  "children": [
    { "topic": "Child Topic", "id": "b3f1c0e2-…", "children": [] }
  ]
}

Always call this before editing or adding to a map you did not create in this session — IDs are the only way to address nodes.

generate_mindmap

Replaces the entire current map with the structure you supply.

{
  "nodeData": {
    "topic": "Root Topic",
    "id": "1",
    "children": [
      { "topic": "Child Topic 1", "id": "1-1", "children": [] },
      { "topic": "Child Topic 2", "id": "1-2" }
    ]
  }
}

Requirements:

• Every node needs topic (string) and id (string).
• children is optional.
• Use hierarchical numbering (1, 1-1, 1-2, 2, 2-1, …) so later tools can address nodes predictably.

edit_topic

Changes a node's text in place, preserving its position, children, summaries, and arrows.

Returns Error: Node not found if node_id does not exist — call get_all_nodes to refresh your view.

add_child

Adds a child node under an existing parent. The app generates the ID, so the result carries it.

Returns Done. New Node's ID is <id>. — keep that ID if you plan to edit the node later. Returns Error: Parent node not found when the parent is missing.

add_node_summary

Attaches a summary node that consolidates a contiguous range of a parent's children.

Example — summarise the first three children of node 1:

{ "text": "These three all concern onboarding", "parent": "1", "start": 0, "end": 2 }

add_arrow

Draws a labelled connection between two nodes, for relationships the tree cannot express.

Recommended agent workflow