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counsel-mcp

Strategic reasoning, multi-perspective debate analysis and interactive advisory sessions via the Counsel API.

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About this tool

Counsel MCP Server is an open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server used to connect AI agents to the Counsel API, thereby gaining strategic reasoning and multi-perspective analysis capabilities. It is aimed at use cases that need to examine complex problems with the help of structured debate and multiple perspectives.

  1. Main capabilities According to official information, the server provides the following features:
  • Hosted and self-hosted: you can immediately use the hosted server, or run your own instance.
  • Strategic reasoning: access Counsel's debate and multi-perspective reasoning engine.
  • Advisor sessions: run interactive intake and profile tuning sessions.
  • Native OAuth 2.0: standard MCP authentication is handled automatically by the MCP client.
  • Dual transport: STDIO for local clients, HTTP for web clients and shared servers.
  1. Available tools
  • start_consultation: start a new strategic consultation (debate) to analyze complex problems from multiple perspectives.
  • get_consultation_status: check the status of an ongoing consultation.
  • get_consultation_report: obtain the final synthesis report of a completed consultation.
  • list_consultations: list past consultations.
  • sharpen_question: before starting a consultation, optimize and improve the strategic question.
  • consult_advisor: start an interactive advisor session for brainstorming or scoping the problem.

  1. How to use

  2. Quick start (hosted) You can directly connect to the hosted Counsel MCP server without installation. For MCP clients that support HTTP transport, simply add the configuration, and OAuth authentication is handled automatically by the MCP client.

  3. Self-hosted installation Requires Node.js 18+, as well as a Counsel account at counsel.getmason.dev. Supports configuration in the following clients: Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json), Claude Code (CLI), Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json or global settings), Windsurf MCP configuration, VS Code with Copilot (settings.json), and other MCP clients.

  4. Transport modes

  • STDIO: the transport mode used by most MCP clients, authenticated through the COUNSEL_API_KEY environment variable.
  • HTTP: for clients that support HTTP transport and OAuth 2.0. The run command is npx -y counsel-mcp-server http, and after startup it provides the MCP endpoint http://localhost:3000/mcp and the OAuth discovery endpoint http://localhost:3000/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server。
  1. Authentication Modes
  • STDIO mode (default): set the COUNSEL_API_KEY environment variable (the API key comes from counsel.getmason.dev); it can also be written into the MCP client configuration.
  • HTTP mode (OAuth 2.0): when the Counsel tool is used for the first time, the MCP client will prompt for authentication and redirect to sign in to a Counsel account; after authorization the token is managed automatically, with no manual API key required. The server exposes standard OAuth 2.0 endpoints.

IV. Applicable Scenarios The scenarios explicitly mentioned in the material include: Strategic Decision Making, Question Refinement, and Checking Consultation Progress.

V. Limitations and Troubleshooting The material lists the following troubleshooting items:

  • "Tool not found" error: confirm that the MCP server has been correctly configured in the client, and restart the client after adding the configuration.
  • Authentication issues: check whether you have a valid Counsel account; try removing and re-adding the MCP server configuration; if available, clear the client's MCP cache.
  • Connection refused: in HTTP mode, make sure the server is running (npx counsel-mcp-server start), the port is not blocked by a firewall, and no other process is occupying the same port.
  • Server fails to start: check the MCP client logs, or run the server directly in the terminal to see the output; verbose logging is supported.

VI. Security and Project Information The project includes automated secret detection: a pre-commit hook scans staged files before each commit, and CI integration runs security checks on all pull requests, capable of detecting patterns such as AWS keys, GitHub tokens, API keys, private keys, and more. The project uses the MIT license. Contributions are welcome, and the process is: Fork the repository, create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/your-feature), make changes and add tests, run npm test to ensure the tests pass, and submit a pull request.

VII. Fees and Pricing The material does not provide information about fees, pricing, or charging models, so none is available at this time.

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