Pretorin

MCP server for compliance framework data. NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, CMMC, and more.

An MCP server and CLI that gives AI assistants direct access to authoritative compliance data. Stop hallucinating control requirements — query the real thing. Access enriched framework data, control families, control details, and document requirements from NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, FedRAMP, CMMC, and more.

Quick Start

Get your API key from platform.pretorin.com, then:

uv tool install pretorin
pretorin login

That's it. Now add Pretorin to your AI tool below.

Add to Your AI Tool

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport stdio pretorin -- pretorin mcp-serve

This registers the server for your current project. To make it available across all your projects, add --scope user.

Team setup — add a .mcp.json file to your project root so every team member gets the server automatically:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pretorin": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "pretorin",
      "args": ["mcp-serve"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pretorin": {
      "command": "pretorin",
      "args": ["mcp-serve"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pretorin": {
      "command": "pretorin",
      "args": ["mcp-serve"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor after saving.

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pretorin": {
      "command": "pretorin",
      "args": ["mcp-serve"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Windsurf after saving.

OpenAI Codex CLI

Add to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.pretorin]
command = "pretorin"
args = ["mcp-serve"]

Available Tools

Tool	Description
`pretorin_list_frameworks`	List all compliance frameworks
`pretorin_get_framework`	Get framework metadata
`pretorin_list_control_families`	List control families for a framework
`pretorin_list_controls`	List controls (with optional family filter)
`pretorin_get_control`	Get detailed control information
`pretorin_get_control_references`	Get control guidance and references
`pretorin_get_document_requirements`	Get document requirements for a framework

Resources

Resource URI	Description
`analysis://schema`	Compliance artifact JSON schema
`analysis://guide/{framework_id}`	Framework analysis guide
`analysis://control/{control_id}`	Control analysis guidance

Example Prompts

Try asking your AI assistant:

"What compliance frameworks are available for government systems?"
"What are the Account Management requirements for FedRAMP Moderate?"
"What documents do I need for NIST 800-171 compliance?"
"Show me all Audit controls in NIST 800-53"

For comprehensive MCP documentation, see docs/MCP.md.

Supported Frameworks

The initial public release includes these Government Core frameworks:

NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5
NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2
FedRAMP (Low, Moderate, High)
CMMC Level 1, 2, and 3

Additional frameworks are available on the platform. See platform.pretorin.com/api/docs for the full list.

CLI Reference

Pretorin also includes a full CLI for working with compliance data directly in the terminal. For comprehensive documentation with real terminal output examples, see docs/CLI.md.

Quick Examples

# List all frameworks
pretorin frameworks list

# Get framework details
pretorin frameworks get fedramp-moderate

# List control families (IDs are slugs like "access-control", not "ac")
pretorin frameworks families nist-800-53-r5

# List controls filtered by family
pretorin frameworks controls nist-800-53-r5 --family access-control --limit 10

# Get control details (IDs are zero-padded: "ac-01", not "ac-1")
pretorin frameworks control nist-800-53-r5 ac-02

# Get full control details with statement, guidance, and related controls
pretorin frameworks control nist-800-53-r5 ac-02 --references

All Commands

Command	Description
`pretorin login`	Authenticate with the Pretorin API
`pretorin logout`	Clear stored credentials
`pretorin whoami`	Display current authentication status
`pretorin frameworks list`	List all compliance frameworks
`pretorin frameworks get <id>`	Get framework details
`pretorin frameworks families <id>`	List control families
`pretorin frameworks controls <id>`	List controls (`--family`, `--limit`)
`pretorin frameworks control <framework> <control>`	Get control details (`--references`)
`pretorin frameworks documents <id>`	Get document requirements
`pretorin config list`	List all configuration
`pretorin config get <key>`	Get a config value
`pretorin config set <key> <value>`	Set a config value
`pretorin config path`	Show config file path
`pretorin version`	Show CLI version
`pretorin update`	Update to latest version
`pretorin mcp-serve`	Start the MCP server

Installation

Stable (PyPI)

We recommend using uv or pipx for isolated installation:

uv tool install pretorin

pipx install pretorin

Or with pip:

pip install pretorin

Latest (GitHub)

Install the latest development version directly from GitHub:

uv tool install git+https://github.com/pretorin-ai/pretorin-cli.git

Updating

pretorin update

Configuration

Credentials are stored in ~/.pretorin/config.json.

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
`PRETORIN_API_KEY`	API key (overrides stored config)
`PRETORIN_API_BASE_URL`	Custom API URL (default: https://platform.pretorin.com/api/v1)

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/pretorin-ai/pretorin-cli.git
cd pretorin-cli
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

Or with pip:

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Running Tests

pytest

With coverage:

pytest --cov=pretorin --cov-report=term-missing

Docker Testing

# Run all tests
docker-compose run --rm test

# Run linter
docker-compose run --rm lint

# Run type checker
docker-compose run --rm typecheck

# Or use the convenience script
./scripts/docker-test.sh all

Type Checking

mypy src/pretorin

Linting

ruff check src/pretorin
ruff format --check src/pretorin

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see our Contributing Guide for details.

MCP Registry

This server is listed on the official MCP Registry.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Pretorin Compliance

Quick Install