mcp-think-tank

MCP Think Tank is an MCP server that provides a structured environment for advanced reasoning, memory, and tool orchestration. It exposes capabilities such as a dedicated think tool for sequential reasoning, a knowledge graph for persistent memory, task management utilities, and web research integrations via Exa. Once started via the MCP configuration, clients like Cursor or Claude @Web can interact with the server to perform structured thinking, log observations to memory, plan tasks, and fetch web-sourced information when needed. Use the think tool to perform multi-step reasoning with optional self-reflection, and leverage the memory tools to upsert entities, create relations, and query past observations. The Exa integration allows you to perform web searches and obtain sourced answers, provided you supply an Exa API key in the environment.

Typical workflows involve: (1) using the think tool to break down a complex problem into sequenced steps, with optional self-reflection to identify gaps in reasoning; (2) recording key observations in the knowledge graph and linking related concepts; (3) planning and tracking tasks related to the problem using the Task Management tools; (4) performing web research with exa_search and exa_answer when external information is required; and (5) enabling safeguards around tool usage with configurable call limits and caching for performance.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+ and npm installed on your system
• Access to install npm packages (npx available)
• Optional: Exa API key if you plan to use web research features

Installation steps:

1. Ensure Node.js is installed

   • Check: node -v
   • Check: npm -v

2. Install and run the MCP Think Tank server via NPX (no permanent install required):

   • npm config set "@mcp:registry" https://registry.npmjs.org/
   • npx -y mcp-think-tank

3. Configure environment variables (example):

   • EXA_API_KEY=your-exa-api-key
   • MCP_MEMORY_BACKEND=default

4. If you prefer a persistent installation, you can install globally and run the server via the package scripts provided by the project:

   • npm install -g mcp-think-tank
   • mcp-think-tank

5. Run with the MCP config described in this document. Ensure the environment variables are set in the runtime environment (shell or process manager like PM2).

Note: Refer to the project README for any project-specific commands or scripts that may be introduced in newer releases.

Tips and common issues:

• Ensure your EXA_API_KEY is valid; without it, web research tools may fail to fetch results.
• If memory persistence is important, configure a dedicated memory backend and ensure proper permissions for any storage path.
• When using npx for the first time, npm may cache the package; subsequent starts will be faster.
• If you encounter port or binding errors, verify that no other process is using the default MCP server port and adjust configuration accordingly.
• The Think Tool supports optional self-reflection via the selfReflect: true parameter; use reflectPrompt to customize reflection prompts when needed.
• Keep Node.js updated to minimize compatibility issues with TypeScript typings and dependencies in the MCP Think Tank project.