🪸 @patternstack/mcp

PatternStack MCP Server - Crowdsourced package intelligence for AI coding assistants. Like Waze, but for your dependencies.

Features

🔮 Automatic Insights - Zero prompting required. Insights surface as you code.
🔍 Framework Detection - Scans package files to detect your tech stack
🛤️ Crowdsourced Data - See what real projects use together
🔒 Security Alerts - CVE warnings via Dependabot/GitHub Advisory Database
⚡ Always Current - 30-day half-life ensures fresh, relevant data

Quick Start

npx -y @patternstack/mcp patternstack-v4

Setup

1. Get Your API Key

Visit patternstack.ai/dashboard/keys and generate an API key.

2. Add to Your MCP Config

Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patternstack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@patternstack/mcp", "patternstack-v4"],
      "env": {
        "PATTERNSTACK_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Workspace API keys: add your user ID so PatternStack can verify workspace membership on each request:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patternstack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@patternstack/mcp", "patternstack-v4"],
      "env": {
        "PATTERNSTACK_API_KEY": "ps_ws_...",
        "PATTERNSTACK_CLERK_USER_ID": "user_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code (~/.claude/settings.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patternstack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@patternstack/mcp", "patternstack-v4"],
      "env": {
        "PATTERNSTACK_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Run init

After restarting your AI assistant, type:

init

This verifies your API key, detects your tech stack, and confirms everything is working.

API Key Configuration

The MCP client looks for API keys in this order (first found wins):

Priority	Source	Description
1	Environment Variable	`PATTERNSTACK_API_KEY` in MCP config
2	`.patternstack` file	JSON file in project root: `{ "apiKey": "..." }`
3	`.env` file	`PATTERNSTACK_API_KEY=...` in project `.env`
4	Global config	`~/.patternstackrc` with `{ "apiKey": "..." }`

Free includes full MCP access: Free accounts get full MCP access with 500 requests/day. Workspace (1,000/day) and Premium (5,000/day) tiers offer higher limits for teams.

Workspace keys require a user ID: set PATTERNSTACK_CLERK_USER_ID (or PATTERNSTACK_USER_ID) in your MCP config env so PatternStack can verify you’re still an active workspace member.

Best Practice: Use environment variable in MCP config for security. Never commit API keys to version control.

MCP Tools

Tool	Description	Tier
`init`	Initialize PatternStack, validate API key, auto-discover config	Workspace+
`scan_project`	Full scan with framework detection, security, and recommendations	Workspace+
`patternstack_analyze`	Quick local analysis without persisting	Workspace+
`patternstack_alternatives`	Find alternatives to a package with adoption stats	Workspace+
`patternstack_security`	Check for security vulnerabilities	Workspace+
`patternstack_trends`	Get trending packages in an ecosystem	Workspace+
`patternstack_insights`	Get suggestions Claude should offer you (collaborative)	Workspace+
`search_packages`	Search packages by name or category with trend/health data	Workspace+
`compare_packages`	Compare multiple packages with scores and recommendations	Workspace+
`migration_guide`	Get migration guidance for deprecated/declining packages	Premium
`ai_insight`	AI-powered package explanations and recommendations	Premium

Note: Framework parameters only accept Tier 1 application frameworks (Next.js, Django, Rails, etc.), not UI libraries (React, Vue). For React projects, use next, remix, or gatsby as the framework.

How It Works

Real Projects → Package Files → Co-occurrence Counts → Temporal Weighting → Recommendations
              (Empirical)       (Crowdsourced)         (Time-decay)         (Data-driven)

No AI/ML - Pure statistics from real project data:

PackageCooccurrence table stores actual counts from real projects
30-day half-life decay weights recent data more heavily
Adoption rates are real: count / totalProjectsWithA

Supported Ecosystems

JavaScript/TypeScript (npm)
Python (PyPI)
Go (go.mod)
Rust (Cargo)
Ruby (Bundler)
PHP (Composer)
Elixir (Hex)
Java/Kotlin (Maven)
C#/.NET (NuGet)
Dart/Flutter (Pub)
Swift (SwiftPM)

Development

cd packages/mcp-server
npm install
npm run build
npm run dev

License

MIT

PatternStack