The MCP server

Prevail can run as a Model Context Protocol server over stdio, exposing your vault and council to other agents — the same protocol Claude Code and other MCP clients speak.

Run it

prevail mcp

This starts Prevail as a stdio MCP server. Point any MCP client at it the way you’d add any other MCP server. The tools panel in the cockpit (▸ tools) shows the exact snippet to paste into your client’s config.

Authentication

The MCP server is guarded two ways:

• Bearer token. Clients must present Authorization: prevail-<token>, where the token is auto-generated and stored in ~/.prevail/mcp.json. Without it, requests are refused.
• Parent-process check. By default the server refuses to run if it’s launched from a non-TTY context or an unrecognized parent process — a guard against something spawning it behind your back.

If you’re intentionally running it headless (e.g. from a launcher that isn’t a TTY), bypass the parent check explicitly:

prevail mcp --unsafe-detach

The flag name is a warning: only use it when you understand why the guard is firing.

This is a powerful door

The MCP server gives a connected agent access to your vault and the council. Expose it only to clients you trust on a machine you control. Read the threat model before wiring it to anything beyond your own laptop, and never commit ~/.prevail/mcp.json — the bearer token is a credential.

What it exposes

Through MCP, a client can reach Prevail’s vault and convene the council programmatically — letting another agent ask your council a question and read the synthesized verdict as part of its own reasoning. It’s the bridge that lets Prevail be a component in a larger agent setup, not just a standalone cockpit.

When to use it

• You’re building a larger agent workflow and want it to consult your council as one of its tools.
• You want another MCP-speaking app to read context from your vault.

For everyday personal use you don’t need the MCP server at all — the cockpit and the Telegram bridge cover it. The MCP server is the integration seam for when Prevail needs to talk to other software.