RT Server

Hosted MCP service for the Relational Tech Project — RTP methodology, neighborhood recipes, frameworks, and field references, accessible to any AI builder tool via URL.

"We are the river — carrying stories, tools, learning, and relationships across many local gardens, while honoring that each garden must be tended by those who live there."

Made in the Outer Sunset, for neighborhoods everywhere.

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What This Does

The RT MCP Server is the hosted gateway to the RTP global commons — a shared library of neighborhood practice and relational tech knowledge that any MCP-compatible AI tool can query.

When you connect your AI tool to this server, you get access to 275+ canonical items (and growing as Studios across the network contribute back):

• 8 RTP methodology docs — the foundational frameworks (core principles, three layers, builder spectrum, embedded design, measurement, playbooks, challenges, network)
• 7 frameworks — cross-practice patterns like the 10 Principles of Neighboring, 5 Cs of Community, Asset-Based Community Development
• 63 neighborhood recipes — actionable how-tos with ingredients, steps, variations, and stories (block parties, mutual aid pods, repair cafes, restorative circles, skillshares, and many more)
• 197 field references — practitioners' work, organizations, books, and research (Block Party USA, Priya Parker, Dean Spade, ABCD Institute, microsolidarity, and dozens more)

As of v0.2.0 the server queries the commons live — no hardcoded knowledge — so the catalog grows automatically as items are added.

The hosted endpoint is at https://mcp.relationaltechproject.org/mcp. For a local stdio version, set RTP_MCP_TRANSPORT=stdio when running the same code.

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For Builders: Connect Your AI Tool

Point your AI tool at the MCP endpoint. No API key, no signup.

Claude Code

Add to your .mcp.json (or run claude mcp add):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "relational-tech": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://mcp.relationaltechproject.org/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Settings → Developer → Edit Config, then add the same block above.

Cursor, Windsurf, Zed, anything else MCP-compatible

Point it at https://mcp.relationaltechproject.org/mcp using Streamable HTTP transport.

Once you're connected

Try invoking the practice-guide prompt first — it puts your AI into a Neighboring Commons practice-guide stance for the rest of the conversation: relationships-first, asset-based, citing practitioners by name, calibrating confidence honestly, inviting contribution.

Then ask things like:

• "Help me design a fix-it fair for my neighborhood"
• "I want to start a mutual aid pod on my block — where do I begin?"
• "What's microsolidarity, and how does it differ from mutual aid?"
• "How do I host a block party? What does Vanessa Elias do at Block Party USA?"
• "I'm feeling burned out from community organizing — what do practitioners recommend?"

The server will surface relevant recipes, frameworks, methodology, and practitioner references, with attribution and source URLs so you can read the full work.

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What's Inside

Resources (RTP methodology)

Nine RTP methodology docs are exposed as MCP resources at stable URIs. Content is fetched live from the commons on each request — update once in the commons, see it everywhere.

Resource URI	What It Contains
rtp://knowledge/core-principles	Technology accountable to people, the river metaphor, relationships first, asset-based approach, speed of trust
rtp://knowledge/relational-tech-practice	The four dimensions: purpose, process (embedded design), math (1:100), path (scale deep, spread horizontal)
rtp://knowledge/three-layers	Neighborhood infrastructure layers — relational, information, action — with the Outer Sunset as reference
rtp://knowledge/builder-spectrum	Five stages of a builder's journey: curious → experimenting → building → sustaining → scaling
rtp://knowledge/measurement	Measuring what matters: agency, belonging, and trust
rtp://knowledge/embedded-design	Complete guide to the embedded design methodology
rtp://knowledge/playbooks	Step-by-step playbooks: communication channels, gatherings, calendars, mutual aid, asset mapping
rtp://knowledge/challenges	Navigating trust, burnout, scale, access, language barriers, conflict, momentum
rtp://knowledge/network	RTP network, adjacent movements, connection patterns for builders

Tools (commons API)

Tool	What It Does
search-studio-library	Full-text ranked search across the commons (recipes, frameworks, methodology, references, tools, stories). Filterable by kind.
get-tool-details	Full body + community notes + linked items for one item by name match
find-patterns-by-context	Describe a builder's situation (with stage/need); returns matched commons items + stage-specific guidance
suggest-contribution	Guided framework for shaping a builder's experience into a commons contribution
get-network-updates	Recent activity across the relational tech network (from the Watcher feed)

Prompts (guided workflows)

Prompt	What It Does
practice-guide	Start here. Adopt the Neighboring Commons practice-guide stance for the conversation — relationships-first, asset-based, cite practitioners, calibrate confidence, invite contribution.
design-neighborhood-tool	Guided embedded design process for creating neighborhood-scale tools
assess-relational-soil	Assess agency, belonging, and trust in a neighborhood
create-builder-action-plan	Personalized action plan: this week, this month, this quarter
remix-existing-tool	Adapt an existing tool or recipe for a new neighborhood

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Endpoints

Path	Description
/	Landing page with connection instructions
/mcp	MCP Streamable HTTP endpoint (what AI tools connect to)
/health	Health check returning JSON status, version, and source

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Configuration

The server reads its commons connection from environment variables, all with sensible defaults so it works out of the box:

Env Var	Default	Purpose
RTP_COMMONS_URL	https://odowkowcinyoxejyzhwl.supabase.co	Commons Supabase project URL
RTP_COMMONS_ANON_KEY	(baked in — public anon key)	Read-only access (RLS enforces canonical-only)
PORT	3000	HTTP port (most hosts set automatically)
RTP_MCP_TRANSPORT	http	Set to stdio for local CLI mode

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Deploying

Standard Node 18+ HTTP server. npm install && npm start is all you need.

Railway

1. Connect this repo at railway.app
2. Auto-detects Node.js — deploy
3. Endpoint at https://your-app.up.railway.app/mcp

Render

1. New Web Service at render.com
2. Build: npm install && npm run build
3. Start: npm start

Anywhere Node 18+

Respects PORT. No other configuration required.

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How It Fits Together

                     ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
                     │  RTP COMMONS (Supabase)             │
                     │  275+ canonical items               │
                     │  commons_items + embeddings +       │
                     │  full-text search RPCs              │
                     └─────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                                   │ read (anon key, RLS)
                          ┌────────▼────────┐
                          │ rt-mcp-server   │
                          │ v0.2.0          │
                          │ (this repo)     │
                          │                 │
                          │ mcp.relational  │
                          │ techproject.org │
                          └────────┬────────┘
                                   │ Streamable HTTP
                                   │
                ┌──────────────────┼──────────────────┐
                │                  │                  │
          Claude Code           Cursor          Claude Desktop
                                                 + any MCP client

The commons also powers Sidekick in the Relational Tech Studio. Connect your AI to this server and you have access to the same library Sidekick draws from — plus the practice-guide prompt and the methodology resources at stable URIs.

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Contributing

This server is open source and part of the broader relational tech commons. PRs welcome.

The most useful contributions right now:

• Better commons content: contribute recipes, stories, or community notes via studio.relationaltechproject.org/library — the commons grows from there
• New MCP tools or prompts: if you've found a useful query pattern, propose it
• Bug reports: anything broken in how the server formats responses, handles errors, or surfaces items
• Civic commons integrations: connecting more knowledge sources beyond what's in the commons today

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License

MIT — use freely, remix generously, tend your garden.

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Made by the Relational Tech Project · Studio · [email protected]

Builder

Josh Nesbit – co-founder of Relational Tech Project, building with neighbors in the Outer Sunset in SF. Reach me by email: [email protected]