TrueNorth-MCP

TrueNorth-MCP is an active, protocol-first MCP execution runtime for spec-driven engineering discipline. The runtime is a Rust binary. A thin Node.js wrapper distributes it. An agent connects over stdio, calls a tool to advance a lifecycle phase, verify a gate, or read the project cockpit, and reads state through a resource.

This Wiki is the usage manual. The landing page presents the project. This manual explains how to run it.

Credit. TrueNorth-MCP began as a fork of bigpowers by danielvm-git, under the MIT license. The inherited work is the skill set in skills/. The Rust runtime is a clean-room reimplementation and shares no code with the upstream server. TrueNorth-MCP is a hard fork and does not track or merge upstream commits; see the project README for the relationship to upstream. Thank you to the bigpowers author.

What it is

The runtime delivers engineering discipline through typed MCP tools and resources, not through a large instruction file dumped into a context window. It advances lifecycle state, runs quality gates through a bounded executor, and drives a Red-Green-Refactor loop. The governed project can be any language.

The two-layer model

The repository has two layers.

• The machine-facing layer is .agent/. The runtime reads, watches, and writes only under .agent/. A single write guard rejects any write outside .agent/.
• The human-facing layer is specs/, which holds human-authored narrative such as Architecture Decision Records. The runtime reads a file under specs/, but never writes there.

A reading path

Read the pages in this order for a first run.

1. Install and connect: install the wrapper and connect a client.
2. The .agent workspace: the layout contract the runtime validates.
3. Methodology profiles: the workflow shape for your project.
4. The lifecycle: a worked Discover-to-Integrate run.
5. Resources: the live truenorth:// resources.
6. The ontology feature: the optional ontology surface.
7. Troubleshooting: repo-root resolution and a broken layout contract.
8. Compatibility: the v1 workspace, migration, MCP, and upgrade policy.

The skill reference

The runtime serves 71 skills across the lifecycle. For the full reference:

• The skill workflow: how the skills chain from one to the next.
• Skill index: every skill, alphabetical, with its phase page.
• Phase pages: Discover, Design, Plan, Build, Verify, Release, Sustain, and Utility.

Design references

The design lives in the repository, not this Wiki. The Architecture Decision Records under specs/adr/ record the load-bearing decisions. This manual links them rather than restating them.