PatternFly

You can expose PatternFly development rules and documentation to MCP clients through a dedicated MCP server built with Node.js and TypeScript. This server lets you fetch PatternFly content and component schemas on demand, enabling your AI assistants to access up-to-date design guidance and rules in a consistent, secure way.

How to use

You interact with the server using an MCP client. You can run the server locally in stdio mode or expose it over HTTP transport. When using stdio, you typically start the server and communicate via standard input/output. When using HTTP, you start the server with HTTP transport enabled and connect to it over a network URL. The server provides access to PatternFly documentation through built‑in tools, and you can invoke these tools from your client to fetch overview pages, specific documents, or component JSON schemas.

Key built‑in tools you can call from your client include: usePatternFlyDocs to obtain a high‑level index of docs from a content source, fetchDocs to retrieve specific documentation pages, and componentSchemas to fetch the JSON Schema for a given PatternFly component. Each tool accepts either a urlList or a componentName as input, depending on the tool you are using.

How to install

Prerequisites you need before installing and running the server:

• Node.js 20.0.0 or higher. If you plan to load Tool Plugins from an external source, Node.js must be 22 or higher at runtime. On Node.js versions older than 22, the server starts with built‑in tools only and will log a one‑time warning.

• NPM or another Node package manager.

Local development

npm install

npm run build

To run in development watch mode (TypeScript via tsx):

npm run start:dev

Use via npx (after publishing)

You can run the MCP server directly with npx or install locally in a project and run via npx.

npx @patternfly/patternfly-mcp

Alternate local install option

Install the package locally in a project and run with npx to start the MCP server.

npm install @patternfly/patternfly-mcp
npx @patternfly/patternfly-mcp

Client configuration examples

Here are MCP client configuration examples that demonstrate how to start the server in stdio (default) mode using a minimal setup.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patternfly-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@patternfly/patternfly-mcp@latest"],
      "description": "PatternFly React development rules and documentation"
    }
  }
}

HTTP transport mode

If you want to run the server in HTTP transport mode, supply the HTTP arguments shown below in the client config. Note that a specific URL is required to connect to a remote or exposed server.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patternfly-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@patternfly/patternfly-mcp@latest", "--http", "--port", "8080"],
      "description": "PatternFly docs (HTTP transport)"
    }
  }
}

Docs-host mode

In docs-host mode you can point to pre-curated local files. Example shows how to enable docs-host and load from a local llms.txt.

npx @patternfly/patternfly-mcp --docs-host

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patternfly-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@patternfly/patternfly-mcp@latest", "--docs-host"],
      "description": "PatternFly docs (docs-host mode)"
    }
  }
}

Custom local tool

You can extend the server with a local tool by providing a path to a local tool script.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "patternfly-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@patternfly/patternfly-mcp@latest",
        "--tool",
        "./mcp-tools/local-custom-tool.js"
      ],
      "description": "PatternFly MCP with a local custom tool"
    }
  }
}

Security and troubleshooting notes

The server includes DNS rebinding protection when running in HTTP mode. If you are behind a proxy or load balancer, ensure the client sends a correct Host header and configure --allowed-hosts accordingly.

Tool Plugins can extend capabilities but require a compatible Node.js version (22+) for external plugins. If you encounter startup warnings or missing tools, verify your Node version and enable logging to diagnose issues.

Development and maintenance notes

Development scripts include building, testing, and running in development mode. See the specific commands for building, testing, and running locally.

Environment variable notes: a timeout for HTTP fetches can be adjusted with DOC_MCP_FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS.

Available tools

usePatternFlyDocs

Fetches a high-level index of PatternFly documentation content and returns candidate URLs for the next fetch step.

fetchDocs

Fetches one or more specific documentation pages using a provided list of URLs.

componentSchemas

Retrieves the JSON Schema for a specific PatternFly component.