PatternStack

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