DevUtils MCP Server

36 everyday developer tools for any MCP-compatible AI assistant. Hashing, encoding, UUID generation, JWT decoding, JSON formatting, network tools, text utilities, and more — all local, no external APIs.

Think of it as busybox for developer tools — small, essential, and always useful.

Also available as a plugin: devutils-cursor-plugin — one-click install for Cursor and Claude Code.

Why?

Every developer needs to hash strings, encode/decode data, generate UUIDs, decode JWTs, format JSON, calculate CIDR ranges, and convert timestamps every day. DevUtils MCP Server brings all of these tools directly into your AI assistant — works with Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and any other MCP-compatible client.

Installation

Prerequisite: Node.js 18+ (Node 22 recommended). Verify with node -v.

One-click / plugin

Use the Add to Cursor / VS Code badges above, or install the plugin:

/plugin marketplace add paladini/devutils-cursor-plugin
/plugin install devutils-mcp@devutils-cursor-plugin

Cursor: Settings → Customize, or add from GitHub paladini/devutils-cursor-plugin.

npx (no install)

npx -y devutils-mcp-server

npm

npm install -g devutils-mcp-server
devutils-mcp-server

Docker

# Published image (when available)
docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/paladini/devutils-mcp-server

# Or build locally
docker build -t devutils-mcp-server .
docker run -i --rm devutils-mcp-server

# Or with Compose
docker compose build
docker compose run --rm -i devutils-mcp

Official MCP Registry

Listed as io.github.paladini/devutils-mcp-server. Search for io.github.paladini/devutils.

GitHub Packages

Releases are dual-published to npm and GitHub Packages as @paladini/devutils-mcp-server (see .github/workflows/release.yml). Prefer the public npm package for most installs; use GitHub Packages when you already authenticate against npm.pkg.github.com.

# After authenticating to npm.pkg.github.com for the @paladini scope:
npx -y @paladini/devutils-mcp-server

Smithery

Also available on Smithery.

Client setup

Cursor

One-click: use the Add to Cursor badge at the top of this README.

Plugin (recommended): Install DevUtils MCP from Cursor Settings → Customize.

Manual: Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "devutils": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "devutils-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "devutils": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "devutils-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Or with Docker:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "devutils": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "ghcr.io/paladini/devutils-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

/plugin marketplace add paladini/devutils-cursor-plugin
/plugin install devutils-mcp@devutils-cursor-plugin

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

One-click: use the VS Code badge at the top, or add to .vscode/mcp.json / user settings:

{
  "servers": {
    "devutils": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "devutils-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "devutils": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "devutils-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Docker MCP Toolkit (Docker Desktop)

If this server is available in the Docker MCP Catalog:

1. Open Docker Desktop → MCP Toolkit
2. Search for DevUtils
3. Click Enable

Local development

npm install
npm run dev

Available tools (36)

Hash (6)

Encoding (8)

Generators (4)

JWT (2)

Formatters (3)

Converters (5)

Network (2)

Text (6)

Architecture

src/
├── index.ts          # MCP server entry point (stdio transport)
└── tools/
    ├── hash.ts       # Cryptographic hash functions
    ├── encoding.ts   # Encode/decode utilities
    ├── generators.ts # ID and password generators
    ├── jwt.ts        # JWT decode and validation
    ├── formatters.ts # JSON formatting and querying
    ├── converters.ts # Data type and unit converters
    ├── network.ts    # Network calculation utilities
    └── text.ts       # Text analysis and manipulation

Tech stack: TypeScript + Node.js 22 · @modelcontextprotocol/sdk · bcryptjs · nanoid · zod