MCPHub & local-agent

Bob exposes six typed MCP tools for repository orientation, validation, planning, convergence, recipe discovery, and aggregate local usage. None of them mutate anything. Repository mutation stays exactly where it belongs: the agent runtime's normal approved shell path, with a human or a policy watching.

Tools

Tool	Purpose	Effect
bob_inspect	Return Bob state and offline availability of selected binaries.	Read-only; never runs specialist probes.
bob_plan	Return a bounded deterministic plan and digest.	Repository-read-only; omits desired-content previews.
bob_check	Return convergence, conflict, and lock-drift state.	Repository-read-only; shares the complete-plan digest.
bob_validate_manifest	Strictly validate workspace or bounded inline YAML.	Repository-read-only; never writes a manifest.
bob_recipe_describe	Describe the embedded recipe contract.	Read-only; does not require a workspace.
bob_stats	Return aggregate opt-in local usage.	Reads XDG state; never returns individual events.

Use bob apply <workspace> through an explicitly approved shell call after reviewing a conflict-free plan.

Install from a checkout

task install
BOB_BIN="$(go env GOBIN)"
[ -n "$BOB_BIN" ] || BOB_BIN="$(go env GOPATH)/bin"

Choose workspace authority

The server starts in exact-allowlist mode. Its canonical startup workspace is allowed; other workspaces are refused even when the Bob process could read them. For one repository, register that exact default:

mcphub add bob "$BOB_BIN/bob" \
  --description "Deterministic agent-ready repository builder" \
  --tag builder --tag code -- \
  mcp serve --workspace /absolute/path/to/repository

Add other exact existing repositories with a repeatable flag after the -- separator:

mcphub add bob "$BOB_BIN/bob" --force \
  --description "Deterministic agent-ready repository builder" \
  --tag builder --tag code -- \
  mcp serve \
    --workspace /absolute/path/to/default \
    --allow-workspace /absolute/path/to/second

For a trusted, machine-local MCPHub that intentionally serves arbitrary local repositories, choose the broad mode explicitly:

mcphub add bob "$BOB_BIN/bob" --force \
  --description "Deterministic agent-ready repository builder" \
  --tag builder --tag code -- \
  mcp serve --allow-any-workspace

--allow-any-workspace is read authority, not an OS sandbox. It allows tools to read any existing workspace accessible to the Bob process. MCPHub and the calling agent still own policy and approval.

Pin and probe

mcphub pin bob__bob_inspect bob__bob_plan bob__bob_check \
  bob__bob_validate_manifest bob__bob_recipe_describe bob__bob_stats
mcphub doctor --server bob --probe

Pinning keeps the tools directly advertised when MCPHub uses lazy exposure. It does not name, authorize, or execute them.

Scope local-agent

If local-agent has an explicit MCPHub server allowlist, add bob to it:

agents:
  local-agent:
    type: local-agent
    mode: gateway
    path: ~/.config/local-agent/config.yaml
    servers:
      - bob
      - cortex
      - obsidian

Then reconcile the generated harness configuration:

mcphub sync local-agent
# Run only if the dry run reports a diff:
mcphub sync local-agent --write

Restart an already running local-agent process after changing gateway scope or pins.

Approval behavior

With the current gateway integration, local-agent sees the pinned names as:

mcphub__bob__bob_inspect
mcphub__bob__bob_plan
mcphub__bob__bob_check
mcphub__bob__bob_validate_manifest
mcphub__bob__bob_recipe_describe
mcphub__bob__bob_stats

It conservatively classifies MCP calls as unknown-effect and prompts under the default Ask policy. Avoid a persistent allow for mcphub__mcphub_call_tool: that generic proxy can dispatch many downstream tools. PLAN mode blocks MCP; use NORMAL or AUTO with the intended permission policy.

MCPHub servers and pins are global unless an agent has an explicit allowlist. Scope other configured gateways if Bob should not be advertised to them.

Local telemetry remains local

MCP uses the same disabled-by-default settings as the CLI. If telemetry is enabled, inspect, plan, check, manifest validation, and recipe description may append one privacy-bounded event to Bob's XDG state. bob_stats does not record itself. No event is sent through MCPHub or over a telemetry network, and the stats tool returns aggregates rather than individual events.

Use bob config show to inspect the effective setting and bob stats --all --json to inspect the same aggregate outside MCP. See Configuration & local telemetry for the schema and retention boundary.

Integration probes remain CLI-only

Plain bob inspect and bob_inspect do not launch Codemap or Vecgrep. Use the CLI flag only when you explicitly authorize their public status commands:

bob inspect /path/to/project --probe-integrations

Bob normalizes readiness information; it never searches code, calculates impact, repairs an index, or treats status as verification evidence. Cortex remains the owner of evidence-guided Vecgrep-to-Codemap investigation.

New here as a coding agent

If an agent is reading this file to decide how to behave, start with Bob for coding agents instead. Run bob learn --json once, before touching MCP or the shell, for the full product brief in one read-only call.