Trace MCP

Static analysis engine for detecting schema mismatches between data producers and consumers.

What It Does

Trace MCP finds mismatches between:

• Backend API responses and frontend expectations
• MCP tool outputs and client code that uses them
• Service A's events and Service B's handlers

Producer returns:    { characterClass: "Fighter", hitPoints: 45 }
Consumer expects:    { class: "Fighter", hp: 45 }
Result:               Mismatch detected before runtime

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Mnehmos/trace-mcp.git

# Navigate to the directory
cd trace-mcp

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

Configuration

Add to your MCP client configuration (e.g., claude_desktop_config.json or Roo-Code settings):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trace-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/trace-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Tools Reference

Trace MCP provides 11 tools organized into three categories:

Core Analysis Tools

Tool	Description
extract_schemas	Extract MCP tool definitions from server source code
extract_file	Extract schemas from a single file
trace_usage	Trace how client code uses MCP tools
trace_file	Trace tool usage in a single file
compare	Full pipeline: extract trace compare report

Code Generation Tools

Tool	Description
scaffold_consumer	Generate client code from producer schema
scaffold_producer	Generate server stub from client usage
comment_contract	Add cross-reference comments to validated pairs

Project Management Tools

Tool	Description
init_project	Initialize a trace project with .trace-mcp config
watch	Watch files for changes and auto-revalidate
get_project_status	Get project config, cache state, and validation results

---

Tool Details

extract_schemas

Extract MCP tool definitions (ProducerSchemas) from server source code. Scans for server.tool() calls and parses their Zod schemas.

Parameters:

• rootDir (required): Root directory of MCP server source code
• include: Glob patterns to include (default: **/*.ts)
• exclude: Glob patterns to exclude (default: node_modules, dist)

Example:

const result = await client.callTool("extract_schemas", {
  rootDir: "./backend/src",
});
// Returns: { success: true, count: 12, schemas: [...] }

---

extract_file

Extract MCP tool definitions from a single TypeScript file.

Parameters:

• filePath (required): Path to a TypeScript file

---

trace_usage

Trace how client code uses MCP tools. Finds callTool() invocations and tracks which properties are accessed on results.

Parameters:

• rootDir (required): Root directory of consumer source code
• include: Glob patterns to include
• exclude: Glob patterns to exclude

---

trace_file

Trace MCP tool usage in a single TypeScript file.

Parameters:

• filePath (required): Path to a TypeScript file

---

compare

Full analysis pipeline: extract producer schemas, trace consumer usage, and compare them to find mismatches.

Parameters:

• producerDir (required): Path to MCP server source directory
• consumerDir (required): Path to consumer/client source directory
• format: Output format (json, markdown, summary)
• strict: Strict mode - treat missing optional properties as warnings
• direction: Data flow direction (producer_to_consumer, consumer_to_producer, bidirectional)

Example Output (Markdown):

# Trace MCP Analysis Report

**Generated**: 2025-12-11T02:11:48.624Z

## Summary

| Metric      | Count |
| ----------- | ----- |
| Total Tools | 12    |
| Total Calls | 34    |
| Matches     | 31    |
| Mismatches  | 3     |

## Mismatches

### get_character

- **Type**: MISSING_PROPERTY
- **Description**: Consumer expects "characterClass" but producer has "class"
- **Consumer**: ./components/CharacterSheet.tsx:45
- **Producer**: ./tools/character.ts:23

---

scaffold_consumer

Generate consumer code from a producer schema. Creates TypeScript functions, React hooks, or Zustand actions that correctly call MCP tools.

Parameters:

• producerDir (required): Path to MCP server source directory
• toolName (required): Name of the tool to scaffold
• target: Output format (typescript, javascript, react-hook, zustand-action)
• includeErrorHandling: Include try/catch error handling (default: true)
• includeTypes: Include TypeScript type definitions (default: true)

Example Output:

/**
 * Get character data
 * @trace-contract CONSUMER
 * Producer: ./server/character-tools.ts:23
 */
export async function getCharacter(
  client: McpClient,
  args: GetCharacterArgs
): Promise<GetCharacterResult> {
  try {
    const result = await client.callTool("get_character", args);
    return JSON.parse(result.content[0].text);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Error calling get_character:", error);
    throw error;
  }
}

---

scaffold_producer

Generate producer schema stub from consumer usage. Creates MCP tool definition based on how client code calls it.

Parameters:

• consumerDir (required): Path to consumer source directory
• toolName (required): Name of the tool to scaffold
• includeHandler: Include handler stub (default: true)

Example Output:

import { z } from "zod";

// Tool: get_character
// Scaffolded from consumer at ./components/CharacterSheet.tsx:14
// @trace-contract PRODUCER (scaffolded)

server.tool(
  "get_character",
  "TODO: Add description",
  {
    characterId: z.string(),
  },
  async (args) => {
    // TODO: Implement handler
    // Consumer expects: name, race, level, stats, characterClass
    return {
      content: [
        {
          type: "text",
          text: JSON.stringify({
            name: null, // TODO
            race: null, // TODO
            level: null, // TODO
          }),
        },
      ],
    };
  }
);

---

comment_contract

Add cross-reference comments to validated producer/consumer pairs. Documents the contract relationship in both files.

Parameters:

• producerDir (required): Path to MCP server source directory
• consumerDir (required): Path to consumer source directory
• toolName (required): Name of the validated tool
• dryRun: Preview without writing (default: true)
• style: Comment style (jsdoc, inline, block)

Example Preview:

// Producer comment:
/*
 * @trace-contract PRODUCER
 * Tool: get_character
 * Consumer: ./components/CharacterSheet.tsx:14
 * Args: characterId
 * Validated: 2025-12-11
 */

// Consumer comment:
/*
 * @trace-contract CONSUMER
 * Tool: get_character
 * Producer: ./server/character-tools.ts:23
 * Required Args: characterId
 * Validated: 2025-12-11
 */

---

init_project

Initialize a trace project with .trace-mcp config directory for watch mode and caching.

Parameters:

• projectDir (required): Root directory for the trace project
• producerPath (required): Relative path to producer/server code
• consumerPath (required): Relative path to consumer/client code
• producerLanguage: Language (typescript, python, go, rust, json_schema)
• consumerLanguage: Language (typescript, python, go, rust, json_schema)

Example:

const result = await client.callTool("init_project", {
  projectDir: "./my-app",
  producerPath: "./backend/src",
  consumerPath: "./frontend/src",
});
// Creates: ./my-app/.trace-mcp/config.json

---

watch

Watch project files for changes and auto-revalidate contracts.

Parameters:

• projectDir (required): Root directory with .trace-mcp config
• action: start, stop, status, or poll

Actions:

• start: Begin watching for file changes
• stop: Stop watching
• status: Check current watcher state
• poll: Get pending events and last validation result

---

get_project_status

Get the status of a trace project including config, cache state, and last validation result.

Parameters:

• projectDir (required): Root directory with .trace-mcp config

Example Output:

{
  "success": true,
  "exists": true,
  "projectDir": "/path/to/project",
  "config": {
    "producer": { "path": "./server", "language": "typescript" },
    "consumer": { "path": "./client", "language": "typescript" }
  },
  "isWatching": true,
  "watcherStatus": { "running": true, "pendingChanges": 0 }
}

---

Typical Workflow

1. Quick One-Off Analysis

// Compare backend vs frontend, get markdown report
const result = await client.callTool("compare", {
  producerDir: "./backend/src",
  consumerDir: "./frontend/src",
  format: "markdown",
});

2. Continuous Validation (Watch Mode)

// Initialize project
await client.callTool("init_project", {
  projectDir: ".",
  producerPath: "./server",
  consumerPath: "./client",
});

// Start watching
await client.callTool("watch", {
  projectDir: ".",
  action: "start",
});

// Later: poll for results
const status = await client.callTool("watch", {
  projectDir: ".",
  action: "poll",
});

3. Generate Missing Code

// Generate client code from server schema
const consumer = await client.callTool("scaffold_consumer", {
  producerDir: "./server",
  toolName: "get_character",
  target: "react-hook",
});

// Or generate server stub from client usage
const producer = await client.callTool("scaffold_producer", {
  consumerDir: "./client",
  toolName: "save_settings",
});

---

Roadmap

• MCP tool schema extraction
• Consumer usage tracing
• Basic mismatch detection
• Code scaffolding (consumer & producer)
• Contract comments
• Watch mode with auto-revalidation
• Enhanced TypeScript interface extraction (beyond Zod)
• OpenAPI/GraphQL adapter support
• Python/Go/Rust language support (partial)

License

MIT