# merlyn-mcp — Local Development Coach

merlyn is a local-first development coaching engine with an MCP server, interactive TUI, and AI-powered project analysis. It tracks your project phase (PLAN → BUILD → SHIP → GROW) and tells you exactly what to do next.

## Product

- **npm**: `npx merlyn-mcp` (v1.0.1)
- **GitHub**: https://github.com/christiancattaneo/merlyn
- **Site**: https://merlyn-mcp.vercel.app
- **Status**: Live — free, open-source

## Key Capabilities

- **Phase Tracking** — detects PLAN / BUILD / SHIP / GROW state from your codebase
- **37 MCP Tools** — midas_analyze, midas_verify, midas_audit, and more for Cursor/Claude
- **Interactive TUI** — run `npx merlyn-mcp` for a guided coaching session
- **12-Ingredient Audit** — production readiness checklist (Frontend, Backend, DB, Auth, API, State, Design, Testing, Security, Error Handling, Version Control, Deployment)
- **Tornado Debugging** — structured debug cycle: Research → Logs → Tests → Repeat
- **AI Analysis** — optional Anthropic API integration; falls back to local heuristics
- **No cloud, no telemetry** — fully local, privacy-first

## Quick Start

```bash
npx merlyn-mcp          # interactive TUI coach
npx merlyn-mcp server   # start MCP server for Cursor/Claude
npx merlyn-mcp status   # current phase + progress
npx merlyn-mcp audit    # 12-ingredient production audit
```

## MCP Config (Cursor)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "merlyn": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "merlyn-mcp", "server"]
    }
  }
}
```

## Docs

- [GitHub README](https://github.com/christiancattaneo/merlyn)
- [Methodology](https://github.com/christiancattaneo/merlyn/blob/main/docs/METHODOLOGY.md)
- [Full LLM context](https://github.com/christiancattaneo/merlyn/blob/main/docs/llms-full.txt)