Implementation notes

This document details the steps required to convert the project into an MCP server.

1. Dependencies

We need to add the MCP SDK to the project.

npm install @modelcontextprotocol/server @modelcontextprotocol/node zod

2. New File: src/node/mcp-server.mjs

This file will contain the server logic.

Key Implementation Details:

• Importing Core:

  import { bake, help } from "./index.mjs";
  import { Server } from "@modelcontextprotocol/server";
  import { serveStdio } from "@modelcontextprotocol/server/stdio";
  // v2 dispatches on the method name; request schemas are no longer the handler key.
  // server.setRequestHandler("tools/list", handler)
  import { z } from "zod";
  import OperationConfig from "../core/config/OperationConfig.json" with {type: "json"};

• Tool Normalization: Convert CyberChef operation names (which may contain spaces, special chars) to valid MCP tool names (regex ^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$).
  • Example: AES Decrypt -> cyberchef_aes_decrypt.
• Argument Mapping: Write a helper function mapArgsToZod(opArgs) that converts CyberChef’s argument definitions into a Zod schema for the MCP tool definition.
• Handling bake: Implement the generic cyberchef_bake tool which takes a raw JSON recipe. This allows complex chaining without multiple round-trips.

3. Docker Configuration

Create a new file Dockerfile.mcp specifically for the server deployment.

FROM node:18-alpine

WORKDIR /app

COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
# Install all dependencies including the new MCP SDK
RUN npm ci

COPY src/ ./src/
COPY babel.config.js .

# Environment variable to toggle "All Tools" mode vs "Bake Only" mode
# Default to ALL for full feature availability
ENV CYBERCHEF_MCP_MODE=ALL

CMD ["node", "src/node/mcp-server.mjs"]

4. Testing

• Run the server locally using node src/node/mcp-server.mjs.
• Use an MCP Inspector or a simple client script to verify listTools returns the expected list.
• Test basic operations (Base64, Hex) and complex recipes via bake.

5. Integration

• Add a script to package.json: "mcp": "node src/node/mcp-server.mjs".