EM Kit MCP

emkit mcp starts a local stdio MCP server backed by the running EM Kit desktop app.

This is the recommended setup if you want AI tools to fetch EM Kit data on demand instead of pasting a large prompt snapshot.

Requirements

Before configuring MCP:

1. Install the EM Kit CLI from Settings → Command Line Tool.
2. Make sure emkit is available in your terminal PATH.
3. Keep the EM Kit desktop app installed locally.

You can sanity-check the MCP entrypoint directly:

emkit mcp

It will wait for an MCP client on standard input/output. You normally do not run this by hand for day-to-day use — your AI tool launches it automatically.

Claude Code setup

Claude Code supports local stdio MCP servers.

Add EM Kit as a user-scoped MCP server:

claude mcp add emkit --scope user -- emkit mcp

Verify:

claude mcp list
claude mcp get emkit

If you want the server only in the current project, use:

claude mcp add emkit --scope project -- emkit mcp

Reference: Claude Code MCP documentation

Cursor setup

Cursor supports MCP servers through mcp.json.

On macOS and Linux, add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "emkit": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "emkit",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor after saving the file.

If your EM Kit CLI is not on PATH, use the full executable path:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "emkit": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/Users/your-name/.emkit/emkit",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Reference: Cursor MCP documentation

Codex setup

Codex supports MCP configuration in both the CLI and the IDE extension.

Add the EM Kit MCP server with the Codex CLI:

codex mcp add emkit --command emkit --args mcp

Verify:

codex mcp list

You can also configure it directly in ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.emkit]
command = "emkit"
args = ["mcp"]

If emkit is not on PATH, replace command = "emkit" with the full executable path.

Reference: Codex MCP documentation

Tool reference

Read-write tools are annotated so MCP clients can prompt for confirmation before executing them. Tools marked destructive remove data and should always be confirmed.

System

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_doctor	Show EM Kit app and database runtime status.	Read

Workspaces

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_list_workspaces	List EM Kit workspaces.	Read
emkit_get_workspace	Get a single workspace by ID.	Read
emkit_get_workspace_summary	Return a compact read-only summary of a workspace for AI analysis (counts + latest review period).	Read
emkit_create_workspace	Create a new workspace with the given name.	Write
emkit_update_workspace	Update an existing workspace name.	Write
emkit_delete_workspace	Delete a workspace by ID.	Destructive

Team members

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_list_members	List team members for a workspace.	Read
emkit_list_team_members	List team members for a workspace (AI-friendly with limit).	Read
emkit_get_member	Get a single team member by ID.	Read
emkit_create_member	Create a new team member (requires workspace_id, name, email).	Write
emkit_update_member	Update an existing team member.	Write
emkit_delete_member	Delete a team member by ID.	Destructive

Work log

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_list_work_log_entries	List work log entries with filters for category, contributor, and date range.	Read
emkit_list_work_log	List workspace work log entries, optionally filtered by recency or category.	Read
emkit_get_work_log_entry	Get a single work log entry by ID.	Read
emkit_create_work_log_entry	Create a new work log entry. Accepts links and contributors arrays.	Write
emkit_update_work_log_entry	Update an existing work log entry.	Write
emkit_delete_work_log_entry	Delete a work log entry by ID.	Destructive

Issues and comments

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_list_issues	List issues for a workspace, optionally filtered by status, priority, or assignee.	Read
emkit_get_issue	Get a single issue by ID.	Read
emkit_create_issue	Create a new issue. Supports status, priority, assignee, due date, parent issue.	Write
emkit_update_issue	Update an existing issue.	Write
emkit_list_issue_comments	List all comments for a specific issue.	Read
emkit_create_issue_comment	Create a new comment on an issue (supports `author_type: user	copilot`).
emkit_update_issue_comment	Update the content of an existing issue comment.	Write
emkit_delete_issue_comment	Delete an issue comment by ID.	Write

Notes

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_list_notes	List notes for a workspace with filters for note type, member, date range, or recent days.	Read
emkit_get_note	Get a single note by ID, including note type, member, and tags.	Read
emkit_create_note	Create a new note (markdown content, optional note type / member / tags).	Write
emkit_update_note	Update an existing note. note_type_id and member_id are immutable once set.	Write
emkit_delete_note	Delete a note by ID.	Write
emkit_list_note_types	List all note types (Daily, Meeting, 1:1, …) in a workspace.	Read
emkit_get_note_type	Get one note type by ID.	Read
emkit_create_note_type	Create a new note type for a workspace.	Write
emkit_update_note_type	Update a note type. System note types cannot be modified.	Write
emkit_delete_note_type	Delete a note type. Fails if notes reference it or it is system-defined.	Destructive

Feedback

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_list_feedback	List continuous feedback entries for a workspace.	Read
emkit_create_feedback	Create a continuous feedback entry (recognition or improvement).	Write

Objectives

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_list_objectives	List objectives with key results for a team member.	Read
emkit_get_objective	Get a single objective with its key results.	Read
emkit_create_objective	Create a new objective, optionally with initial key results.	Write
emkit_update_objective	Update an existing objective.	Write

One-on-ones

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_list_one_on_ones	List one-on-one meetings for a team member (date, mood, notes, agenda).	Read
emkit_get_one_on_one	Get a single one-on-one meeting by ID.	Read

Review periods and performance reviews

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_get_latest_review_period	Return the latest performance review period and its summaries.	Read
emkit_create_review_period	Create a new performance review period for a workspace.	Write
emkit_list_performance_reviews	List performance reviews for a team member.	Read
emkit_get_performance_review	Get a performance review with its peer feedbacks.	Read
emkit_create_performance_review	Create a new performance review for a member in a period.	Write
emkit_update_performance_review	Update a performance review (status, rating, notes).	Write
emkit_list_peer_feedbacks	List peer feedbacks for a performance review.	Read
emkit_get_peer_feedback	Get a single peer feedback by ID.	Read
emkit_list_pips	List performance improvement plans for a team member.	Read
emkit_get_pip	Get a PIP with its check-ins and outcome assessments.	Read

Career path

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_list_career_path_levels	List all job levels defined in the career path.	Read
emkit_update_career_path_level	Update a job level (name, identifier, seniority, description, skill expectations).	Write
emkit_list_career_path_skills	List all skills defined in the career path.	Read
emkit_get_career_path_skill	Get a single career path skill, including proficiency levels.	Read
emkit_create_career_path_skill	Create a new skill with optional proficiency levels.	Write
emkit_update_career_path_skill	Update an existing career path skill.	Write
emkit_get_team_career_positioning	Compare team member skill assessments to level expectations.	Read
emkit_upsert_member_skill_assessment	Create or update a member’s skill assessment.	Write

Reports

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_list_reports	List stored report snapshots for a workspace.	Read
emkit_get_report	Get a single stored report snapshot by ID.	Read
emkit_delete_report	Delete a stored report snapshot by ID.	Destructive

Inbox

Tool	Description	Type
emkit_create_inbox_item	Create an inbox item for the engineering manager to review (suggestion, action, or info). Supports dedup_key to avoid duplicates.	Write

Example prompts

Once connected, ask the agent to use EM Kit tools explicitly:

Use the EM Kit MCP tools to summarize workspace 1 and identify the top follow-up actions.

Use emkit_list_issues on workspace 1 (status todo,in_progress) and draft a standup update.

Use emkit_get_latest_review_period on workspace 1 and flag any member whose review is still in preparation.

Troubleshooting

MCP client cannot find emkit

1. Run which emkit to confirm the CLI is on PATH.
2. If needed, use the full executable path in your MCP configuration.
3. Re-run emkit help manually to verify the CLI itself is working.

MCP server starts but no EM Kit data is returned

The MCP server relies on the local EM Kit desktop app runtime.

1. Open EM Kit manually once.
2. Run emkit doctor and confirm the expected data directory and workspace count.
3. Retry the MCP-enabled prompt from your AI tool.