# Aura MCP — the Model Context Protocol server for git-native version control

Aura ships a 29-tool MCP server that lets Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP client read AST graphs, log signed intent, snapshot files, and prove behaviour against your Git repo.

**Aura MCP** is the [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) server that ships inside the `aura` CLI. It exposes 29 tools that any MCP client — Claude Code, Cursor, Zed, Continue, custom agents — can call to interrogate, mutate, and verify a Git-native semantic graph of your repository.

## How to install

```
# 1. Install the Aura CLI (macOS / Linux)
curl -fsSL https://auravcs.com/install.sh | bash

# 2. Add Aura to your MCP client config
#    Claude Desktop: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aura": {
      "command": "aura",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

# 3. Restart the client. Tools appear under aura_*.
```

## The 29 tools, grouped

- **State & planning** — `aura_status`, `aura_plan_discover`, `aura_plan_lock`, `aura_plan_next`, `aura_prove`.
- **Intent & provenance** — `aura_log_intent`, `aura_attest_verify`, `aura_attest_list`, `aura_handover`.
- **Safety & recovery** — `aura_snapshot`, `aura_snapshot_list`, `aura_rewind`, `aura_pr_review`, `aura_suggest_edit`, `aura_doctor`.
- **Live collaboration** — `aura_live_impacts`, `aura_live_resolve`, `aura_live_sync_push`, `aura_live_sync_pull`, `aura_live_sync_status`.
- **Multi-agent + sentinel** — `aura_msg_send`, `aura_msg_list`, `aura_sentinel_inbox`, `aura_sentinel_send`, `aura_sentinel_status`, `aura_sentinel_agents`, `aura_sentinel_release`, `aura_orchestrate_status`.
- **Memory & session** — `aura_memory_read`, `aura_memory_write`, `aura_memory_compact`, `aura_memory_forget`, `aura_session_resume`, `aura_session_summarize`.

## Why MCP and not a custom protocol

MCP is the agent-side equivalent of LSP for editors. By speaking it natively, Aura works with every current and future MCP-aware client without bespoke integrations. The agent doesn't need to know your repo is Aura-instrumented — it just calls `aura_log_intent` the same way it would call any other tool, and gets a signed block + sigstore receipt back.

## Token-Oriented Object Notation (TOON)

MCP tool responses are encoded in TOON — Aura's compact serialisation format that uses 30–60% fewer tokens than equivalent JSON for structured data. That matters when an agent calls `aura_pr_review` on a 200-file diff and needs the response to fit inside a single context window.