MCP (Model Context Protocol)

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI assistants use external tools. Placet ships an MCP server (@placet/mcp) that exposes all Placet capabilities — sending messages, requesting human reviews, rendering diagrams, and more — as MCP tools. This is the recommended connection type when your agent runs inside an AI-powered IDE or coding assistant like Claude Code, VS Code Copilot, Cursor, or Windsurf.

Transport Modes

The MCP server supports two transport modes:

Mode	Use Case	Auth
StreamableHTTP (default)	Remote/Docker deployment, multi-client	`x-api-key` header per request
stdio	Local development, single client	`PLACET_API_KEY` env var

Setup

Docker (recommended)

The MCP server is included in the default docker-compose.yml:

mcp-server:
  container_name: placet-mcp-server
  build:
    context: .
    dockerfile: packages/mcp-server/Dockerfile
  environment:
    PLACET_API_URL: http://backend:3001
    MCP_PORT: 3002
  ports:
    - '3002:3002'

Start it alongside the rest of Placet:

docker compose up -d

npx (local / stdio)

For local development or one-off usage:

PLACET_API_URL=http://localhost:3001 \
PLACET_API_KEY=hp_your-api-key \
npx @placet/mcp --stdio

Client Configuration

VS Code / GitHub Copilot

Create .vscode/mcp.json in your project:

{
  "servers": {
    "placet": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:3002/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "hp_your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add placet \
  --transport http \
  --url http://localhost:3002/mcp \
  --header "x-api-key: hp_your-api-key"

Or add to ~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "placet": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@placet/mcp", "--stdio"],
      "env": {
        "PLACET_API_URL": "http://localhost:3001",
        "PLACET_API_KEY": "hp_your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to Cursor settings (Settings > MCP Servers):

{
  "placet": {
    "url": "http://localhost:3002/mcp",
    "headers": {
      "x-api-key": "hp_your-api-key"
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "placet": {
      "serverUrl": "http://localhost:3002/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "hp_your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Any stdio-compatible client

For clients that support stdio transport:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "placet": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@placet/mcp", "--stdio"],
      "env": {
        "PLACET_API_URL": "http://localhost:3001",
        "PLACET_API_KEY": "hp_your-api-key",
        "PLACET_DEFAULT_CHANNEL": "your-channel-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Set PLACET_DEFAULT_CHANNEL to make the channelId parameter optional in all tools. This is useful when your agent only works with a single channel.

Available Tools

Channel Management

Tool	Description
`list_channels`	List all channels accessible by the API key
`create_channel`	Create a new channel with name, description, and optional webhook URL

Messages

Tool	Description
`send_message`	Send an informational message with markdown and optional status indicator (`info`, `success`, `warning`, `error`)
`get_messages`	List messages with pagination, search, and filtering
`get_message`	Get a single message including review status and attachments
`delete_message`	Delete (retract) a message

Reviews (Human-in-the-Loop)

Tool	Description
`send_review_message`	Send a message that requires human interaction (see review types below)
`wait_for_review`	Long-poll for a human response (default 5 min, retryable)
`get_pending_reviews`	List all pending reviews in a channel

Status

Tool	Description
`ping_status`	Report agent heartbeat — shown as online indicator in the dashboard

Plugins

Tool	Description
`list_plugins`	List all installed plugins and their capabilities

Plugin tools are registered dynamically at startup. The MCP server fetches all installed plugin manifests from the backend and creates a send_{plugin_name}_message tool for each plugin that has an inputSchema. See Dynamic Plugin Tools below.

Review Types

The send_review_message tool supports 5 review types. The AI agent sends the review, and a human responds in the Placet dashboard.

Approval

Show buttons for the human to approve or reject an action.

{
  "reviewType": "approval",
  "reviewPayload": {
    "options": [
      { "id": "approve", "label": "Approve", "style": "primary" },
      { "id": "reject", "label": "Reject", "style": "danger" }
    ],
    "allowComment": true
  }
}

Button styles: primary (green), danger (red), secondary (gray), ghost (outline) Response: { "selectedOption": "approve", "comment": "Looks good!" }

Selection

Let the human choose from a list of options.

{
  "reviewType": "selection",
  "reviewPayload": {
    "mode": "single",
    "items": [
      { "id": "opt-a", "label": "Option A", "description": "First choice" },
      { "id": "opt-b", "label": "Option B", "description": "Second choice" }
    ]
  }
}

Set mode to "multi" to allow selecting multiple items. Response: { "selectedIds": ["opt-a"] }

Form

Render a structured form with typed fields.

{
  "reviewType": "form",
  "reviewPayload": {
    "fields": [
      { "name": "serverName", "type": "text", "label": "Server Name", "required": true },
      {
        "name": "region",
        "type": "select",
        "label": "Region",
        "options": [
          { "value": "eu-west-1", "label": "EU West" },
          { "value": "us-east-1", "label": "US East" }
        ]
      },
      { "name": "instances", "type": "number", "label": "Instances", "min": 1, "max": 10 },
      { "name": "enableSSL", "type": "checkbox", "label": "Enable SSL", "defaultValue": true },
      { "name": "goLive", "type": "date", "label": "Go-Live Date" },
      { "name": "notes", "type": "textarea", "label": "Notes", "placeholder": "Any details..." }
    ],
    "submitLabel": "Deploy"
  }
}

Supported field types: text, number, email, url, textarea, select, checkbox, date, time, datetime, range, password Field options: required, placeholder, defaultValue, min, max, step, unit, options (for select) Response: { "serverName": "prod-api-02", "region": "eu-west-1", "instances": 3, "enableSSL": true, ... }

Text Input

Free text input, optionally with a markdown editor.

{
  "reviewType": "text-input",
  "reviewPayload": {
    "markdown": true,
    "placeholder": "Your response...",
    "prefill": "## Template\n\n",
    "minLength": 10,
    "maxLength": 5000
  }
}

Response: { "text": "The user's response text..." }

Freeform

Pass-through for custom plugin UIs. See Dynamic Plugin Tools.

Dynamic Plugin Tools

The MCP server discovers installed plugins at startup and registers a tool for each one. For example, the built-in plugins create these tools:

`send_kroki_diagram_message`

Render diagrams (Mermaid, PlantUML, D2, Graphviz, etc.) as SVG via a Kroki server.

{
  "pluginData": {
    "type": "mermaid",
    "source": "graph TD\n    A[Start] --> B[End]"
  }
}

Supported diagram types: mermaid, plantuml, d2, graphviz, ditaa, erd, nomnoml, svgbob, vega, vegalite, wavedrom, bytefield, excalidraw

`send_form_submit_message`

Render a pre-filled form and submit to a webhook.

{
  "pluginData": {
    "name": "John Doe",
    "email": "john@example.com",
    "message": "Access request for the staging environment"
  }
}

When you install additional plugins with an inputSchema, the MCP server automatically creates new send_{plugin}_message tools — no code changes required.

Workflow Pattern

The typical MCP workflow is fire → poll → continue: The wait_for_review tool holds the connection for up to 5 minutes (configurable via MCP_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_MS), polling the backend every 30 seconds. If the human hasn’t responded, it returns status: "timeout" — the agent can call wait_for_review again to keep waiting.

Some MCP clients (like VS Code) have their own HTTP timeouts that may be shorter than the configured wait time. If waitInline=true fails, use the two-step pattern: send_review_message followed by wait_for_review.

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
`PLACET_API_URL`	(required)	Placet backend URL (e.g. `http://localhost:3001`)
`PLACET_API_KEY`	—	API key (required for stdio mode, optional for HTTP mode)
`PLACET_DEFAULT_CHANNEL`	—	Default channel ID, makes `channelId` optional in all tools
`MCP_PORT`	`3002`	HTTP transport listen port
`MCP_PATH`	`/mcp`	HTTP transport endpoint path
`MCP_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_MS`	`300000`	Max time `wait_for_review` holds a connection (5 min)
`MCP_TRANSPORT`	—	Set to `stdio` as alternative to `--stdio` flag

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Connections

Examples

Plugins

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

Transport Modes

Setup

Docker (recommended)

npx (local / stdio)

Client Configuration

VS Code / GitHub Copilot

Claude Code

Cursor

Windsurf

Any stdio-compatible client

Available Tools

Channel Management

Messages

Reviews (Human-in-the-Loop)

Status

Plugins

Review Types

Approval

Selection

Form

Text Input

Freeform

Dynamic Plugin Tools

`send_kroki_diagram_message`

`send_form_submit_message`

Workflow Pattern

Environment Variables

​Transport Modes

​Setup

​Docker (recommended)

​npx (local / stdio)

​Client Configuration

​VS Code / GitHub Copilot

​Claude Code

​Cursor

​Windsurf

​Any stdio-compatible client

​Available Tools

​Channel Management

​Messages

​Reviews (Human-in-the-Loop)

​Status

​Plugins

​Review Types

​Approval

​Selection

​Form

​Text Input

​Freeform

​Dynamic Plugin Tools

​send_kroki_diagram_message

​send_form_submit_message

​Workflow Pattern

​Environment Variables

Transport Modes

Setup

Docker (recommended)

npx (local / stdio)

Client Configuration

VS Code / GitHub Copilot

Claude Code

Cursor

Windsurf

Any stdio-compatible client

Available Tools

Channel Management

Messages

Reviews (Human-in-the-Loop)

Status

Plugins

Review Types

Approval

Selection

Form

Text Input

Freeform

Dynamic Plugin Tools

`send_kroki_diagram_message`

`send_form_submit_message`

Workflow Pattern

Environment Variables