mcp-structured-thinking

The Structured Thinking MCP Server is a TypeScript-based MCP server that helps an LLM construct mind maps and manage its own thinking process through metacognitive feedback. It assigns quality scores to each thought and tags thoughts with stages (like Problem Definition or Analysis) to steer the thinking trajectory. The server also supports branching thoughts so parallel lines of reasoning can be explored, and it maintains short-term and long-term memories of thoughts for summarization and context retrieval. Use the provided MCP tool, capture_thought, to add thoughts with metadata (content, stage, score, and relationships); revise_thought to update existing thoughts; retrieve_relevant_thoughts to pull related ideas from long-term storage; get_thinking_summary for a complete overview; and clear_thinking_history to reset the session. Tools are designed to be used by an MCP client to progressively build and reflect on an idea space as the LLM thinks aloud.

To use the tools, configure the MCP client with the structured-thinking entry, then issue commands corresponding to the available tools: capture_thought to add a new thought with its content, stage, score, and optional branch information; revise_thought to modify an existing thought and its relationships; retrieve_relevant_thoughts to fetch related thoughts by tags; get_thinking_summary to obtain a comprehensive summary of the thinking process; and clear_thinking_history to reset the memory. The server is built around enforcing metacognitive feedback by evaluating stages and quality scores to gently steer the thinking process toward productive alternatives or different stages when needed.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js (v14 or newer) and npm installed on your system
• Internet access to fetch the MCP package via npx

Installation steps:

1. Ensure Node.js and npm are installed:
   • macOS/Linux: curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash - && sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
   • Windows: install Node.js from https://nodejs.org/
2. Verify npm is available:
   • npm -v
3. Run the MCP server using the provided configuration via npx (no global install required):
   • npx -y structured-thinking
4. (Optional) In your MCP client, add the tool configuration exactly as shown in the README to ensure proper command & arguments are used: { "structured-thinking": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "structured-thinking"] } }
5. Test connectivity by issuing a simple capture_thought or get_thinking_summary through your MCP client to confirm the server responds correctly.

Tips and notes:

• The server stores thoughts in memory; there is currently no persistence by default. If you need persistence, plan to add a database or file-based storage later.
• Quality scores (0.0 to 1.0) influence metacognitive feedback. Higher scores generally promote more favorable steering toward the current stage, while lower scores may trigger recommendations to switch stages or adjust thinking strategies.
• Branches allow parallel exploration of ideas; use branch_from_thought and branch_id judiciously to keep the graph organized.
• If you encounter issues with npx resolution, ensure your environment has access to the npm registry and that network policies permit package fetches.
• If you want to customize environment behavior (e.g., logging or persistence), consider extending the MCP server or wrapping it with a client that injects additional metadata into thoughts.