RoadRaven vs Zerno Lite
A side-by-side look at the RoadRaven and Zerno Lite MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose RoadRaven for product management work as a local process; choose Zerno Lite for product management over a hosted endpoint. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose RoadRaven when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Product Management domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
updateNodeStatus, getEventApiStatus, getRoadmap.
Choose Zerno Lite when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Product Management domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- You want tools like
zerno_get_project_brief, zerno_get_agent_context, zerno_list_tasks.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Product Management | Product Management |
| Quality signal | 64/100 · Good | 48/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Remote HTTP/SSE |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 9 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 22 | 8 |
| Full listing | View RoadRaven | View Zerno Lite |
Tools & capabilities
RoadRaven tools 22
updateNodeStatusPush a status update to a node. Requires the desktop app to be running and a roadmap loaded. Routes through the agent dispatcher so the change appears in the event-log drawer (Ctrl+Shift+L).getEventApiStatusReturns the current Event API URL, PID, and startedAt — or an error if the app is not running.getRoadmapReturn the full schema tree from the desktop app, with live-event statuses merged in, plus the current `revision` (pass it as expectedRevision on writes to detect stale reads). Pass omitNotes: true for polling (large roadmaps exceed the tool-result limit): it leaves out notes and the createdAt/updatedAt timestamps; fetch notes with getNode/findNodes. Requires the app to be running and a file to be loaded.getNodeReturn a node by UUID, with its immediate parent ID, full ancestor chain (root-to-parent), and the current roadmap `revision`. Status reflects the live overlay if a recent event landed.findNodesSearch nodes by AND-combined filter: titleContains (case-insensitive substring), status, type, metaKey + metaValue, parentId. All fields optional. Returns matching nodes (without their children; use parentId or getNode for those) with their parent IDs.getStatusConfigReturn the loaded roadmap's statusConfig array (display labels/colors for statuses). Agent mutations accept only core node statuses.getTypeConfigReturn the loaded roadmap's typeConfig array (the valid node-type IDs and their visual configuration).getOpenFileReturn filePath (or null if untitled), isUntitled flag, document title, and total nodeCount. Works even when no file is loaded — returns null filePath and isUntitled=false.createNodeAdd a child node under parentId with the given title. Optional: id (UUID or slug — supply it when recovering/recreating a node so its identity stays stable and history/metadata continuity survives file churn; duplicate_id if it already exists), type, core status (defaults to not-started), notes (markdown), metadata. Returns the new node's id. Requires a loaded roadmap.createRoadmapInitialize an in-memory untitled schema (mirrors File > New). Optional: title, statusConfig, typeConfig. The agent must call saveFileAs to persist the new roadmap to disk.renameNodeChange a node's title.updateNodeTypeChange a node's type string. Use getTypeConfig to discover valid types.- +10 more on the listing page
Zerno Lite tools 8
zerno_get_project_briefnozerno_get_agent_contextnozerno_list_tasksnozerno_get_tasknozerno_update_taskmutateszerno_submit_task_triagecreates proposalszerno_create_agent_intake_taskcreates a taskzerno_capture_session_eventcreates memory event
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
RoadRaven
{
"mcpServers": {
"roadraven": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@roadraven/mcp@0.9.1"
]
}
}
}
Zerno Lite
{
"mcpServers": {
"zerno-lite": {
"url": "https://zerno.one/mcp"
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
RoadRaven is categorized under Product Management and uses a local stdio subprocess. Zerno Lite belongs to Product Management and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Pick RoadRaven for product management work and Zerno Lite for product management.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
RoadRaven has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Zerno Lite has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add roadraven and zerno-lite as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, RoadRaven has a quality signal of 64/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 9 GitHub stars. Zerno Lite has 48/100 (Fair) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.