changex-mcp 0.1.14

ChangeX MCP server: edit a .docx through an MCP client and get native Word revisions plus a portable .changex provenance journal.

changex-mcp

The ChangeX MCP server: an MCP client (Claude Code/Desktop, OpenAI, Gemini CLI, …) opens a .docx, makes small intent-named edits, and gets back

1. a Word file with native accept/reject revisions authored by the model, and
2. a portable, hash-chained .changex provenance journal recording what changed, where, and (where known) why and by whom.

It is a thin FastMCP (stdio) wrapper around the changex-core spine. The server holds in-process, single-session-per-handle state; the journal is flushed to disk on every edit, and the edit sequence number is server-assigned so concurrent tool calls in one turn stay ordered and race-free.

Install / run

# zero-clone (recommended for end users):
uvx changex-mcp

# from this monorepo (dev): installs core from the workspace
uv sync
uv run changex-mcp

# or with pip:
pip install changex-mcp        # pulls in changex-core
python -m changex_mcp          # identical to the `changex-mcp` script

All three forms start the same stdio server. Setup is under 10 minutes: install, drop one of the config blocks below into your client, restart the client.

Remote HTTP transport (connector-URL clients)

Some clients don't spawn a local process — they connect to an MCP server over a URL. claude.ai custom connectors and ChatGPT app connectors are both URL-based. For those, run the same server over Streamable HTTP instead of stdio:

# loopback only (default host 127.0.0.1, port 9000, path /mcp) — no token needed
changex-mcp --http
# → serves http://127.0.0.1:9000/mcp

# pick host / port / path
changex-mcp --http --host 127.0.0.1 --port 9000 --path /mcp

Everything is also configurable by environment variable (CLI flags win over env):

Env var	Meaning	Default
CHANGEX_MCP_TRANSPORT	stdio | http | sse	stdio
CHANGEX_MCP_HOST	HTTP bind host	127.0.0.1
CHANGEX_MCP_PORT	HTTP bind port	9000
CHANGEX_MCP_PATH	HTTP endpoint path	/mcp
CHANGEX_MCP_TOKEN	Bearer token (see security)	(none)
CHANGEX_MCP_PUBLIC	1 to acknowledge a non-loopback bind	(off)

The HTTP deps (starlette + uvicorn) ship with the SDK's cli extra; if you installed a minimal wheel, add them with pip install "changex-mcp[http]".

Connector URL shape

http://<host>:<port><path>          e.g.  http://127.0.0.1:9000/mcp

That URL is exactly what you paste into a claude.ai custom connector or a ChatGPT app connector. Authenticate with an Authorization: Bearer <CHANGEX_MCP_TOKEN> header (required for any non-loopback bind; optional but recommended on loopback).

Security: this server edits local files

Because the tools write .docx/.changex files on the host, the bind policy is fail-closed:

• Default is loopback (127.0.0.1). A loopback bind needs no token.

• Binding to a non-loopback host or 0.0.0.0 is refused unless you supply both:

  1. the explicit --public flag (or CHANGEX_MCP_PUBLIC=1), and
  2. a bearer token in CHANGEX_MCP_TOKEN.

  A public bind without a token aborts with a clear warning rather than silently exposing file-editing tools to the network:

  CHANGEX_MCP_TOKEN=$(openssl rand -hex 32) changex-mcp --http --host 0.0.0.0 --public
  

To reach a loopback HTTP server from a cloud client, put it behind a TLS reverse proxy / tunnel and keep the bearer token on — never expose the raw port.

Tools

Tool	Purpose
open_tracked(path, agent_context?, author?)	Open a .docx; returns {handle, summary, baseline_sha256, session_id}. Pass agent_context={"model","vendor"} so revisions are authored by your model.
get_outline(handle, cursor?, limit?)	Bounded, paginated paragraph list → discover node_ids. Returns {nodes:[{node_id,kind,preview,style}], next_cursor, total}.
edit(handle, op, node_id, …)	One small tracked edit. op ∈ replace_text / insert_text_after / delete_text / set_paragraph_style. Returns {op_id, seq, node_id, provenance_source}.
reject(handle, op_id)	Reject a change by op_id: the op is non-destructively reverted (the rejection itself is audited) and excluded from the next save_tracked, so its revision is genuinely absent from the saved .docx. Returns {op_id, status, reverted, active_ops, verified}.
accept(handle, op_id)	Accept (un-reject) a previously rejected op_id so its revision is kept and reappears on the next save_tracked. Returns {op_id, status, reverted, active_ops, verified}.
save_tracked(handle, out)	Write the native-revisions .docx as a pure projection of the journal's non-reverted events; returns {tracked_path, changex_path, ops, verified} (ops = active op count).
get_changes(handle)	The structured provenance journal: {session_id, events:[…], count, verified}.
render_review(handle, fmt?)	Human-readable redline; fmt ∈ html / markdown. Returns {format, report}.

The edit contract (boundary-enforced, not just prompted)

edit is intent-dispatched on op; supply only that intent's fields:

replace_text        → node_id, before (exact current text), after
insert_text_after   → node_id, anchor (exact text to insert after), text
delete_text         → node_id, before (exact text to delete)
set_paragraph_style → node_id, style (new), before (current style name)

The server refuses:

• before_mismatch — before/anchor must match the node's current text exactly. This kills blind full-node overwrites.
• split_required — an op rewriting >50% of a paragraph is rejected with a structured message instructing the model to split it into smaller replace_text edits. The error is the prompt.

Errors are returned as {"error": "<code>", "detail": "<message>"}.

Provenance: observed vs declared (honest)

MCP tool calls do not carry the user's prompt, conversation turn, model id, or vendor. So ChangeX splits provenance and labels each event with provenance_source:

• observed (server-captured, not trusted from the agent): ts, session_id, tool_call_id (transport request id), and client_name / client_version from the MCP clientInfo handshake.
• declared (agent-supplied, optional, may be null): agent (model id) and vendor — captured once at open_tracked via agent_context; plus optional per-edit rationale, prompt (hashed to prompt_sha256, never stored verbatim), and turn_id.

MCP client configuration (copy-paste)

These use uvx changex-mcp. If you installed with pip, replace the command with python and args with ["-m", "changex_mcp"].

Claude Code

claude mcp add changex -- uvx changex-mcp

…or add to ~/.claude.json (or the project .mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "changex": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["changex-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) / %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "changex": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["changex-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

OpenAI (Agents SDK / MCPServerStdio)

from agents.mcp import MCPServerStdio

changex = MCPServerStdio(
    params={
        "command": "uvx",
        "args": ["changex-mcp"],
    },
    cache_tools_list=True,
)
# then attach `changex` to your Agent(..., mcp_servers=[changex])

For the OpenAI Responses API hosted-MCP shape, point a stdio bridge at uvx changex-mcp.

Gemini CLI

~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "changex": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["changex-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

claude.ai custom connector (remote, URL-based)

Custom connectors dial a URL, so run the HTTP transport first:

export CHANGEX_MCP_TOKEN=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
changex-mcp --http            # → http://127.0.0.1:9000/mcp

Then in claude.ai → Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector:

• URL: http://127.0.0.1:9000/mcp (or your TLS-tunneled public URL)
• Authentication: header Authorization: Bearer <CHANGEX_MCP_TOKEN>

A cloud client can't reach 127.0.0.1 on your laptop directly — front the loopback server with a TLS tunnel/reverse proxy and use that HTTPS URL, keeping the bearer token on. Any non-loopback bind requires --public + the token.

ChatGPT app connector (remote, URL-based)

Same server, same URL shape. Start it:

export CHANGEX_MCP_TOKEN=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
changex-mcp --http --host 127.0.0.1 --port 9000 --path /mcp

In ChatGPT → Settings → Connectors / Apps → Add (developer mode for a custom MCP app):

• MCP server URL: https://<your-tunnel-host>/mcp (point your tunnel at the loopback http://127.0.0.1:9000/mcp)
• Auth: bearer token = CHANGEX_MCP_TOKEN

End-to-end example (what the model calls)

// 1. open
open_tracked({ "path": "/abs/report.docx",
               "agent_context": { "model": "claude-opus-4-8", "vendor": "anthropic" } })
// → { "handle": "ab12…", "summary": {…}, "baseline_sha256": "…", "session_id": "…" }

// 2. discover node_ids
get_outline({ "handle": "ab12…" })
// → { "nodes": [ { "node_id": "p:00000002", "preview": "The quick brown fox…" } ], … }

// 3. smallest edits
edit({ "handle": "ab12…", "op": "replace_text",
       "node_id": "p:00000002", "before": "quick", "after": "swift",
       "rationale": "tighter wording" })
edit({ "handle": "ab12…", "op": "set_paragraph_style",
       "node_id": "p:00000001", "before": "Normal", "style": "Heading 1" })

// 4. review: reject (drop) or accept (restore) individual changes by op_id
reject({ "handle": "ab12…", "op_id": "…op-id-of-edit-2…" })
// → { "op_id": "…", "status": "rejected", "reverted": true, "active_ops": 1, "verified": true }
accept({ "handle": "ab12…", "op_id": "…op-id-of-edit-2…" })
// → { "op_id": "…", "status": "accepted", "reverted": false, "active_ops": 2, "verified": true }

// 5. save → native Word revisions + .changex (only non-reverted ops are rendered)
save_tracked({ "handle": "ab12…", "out": "/abs/report.tracked.docx" })
// → { "tracked_path": "…", "changex_path": "…/report.changex", "ops": 2, "verified": true }

// 6. review / audit
render_review({ "handle": "ab12…", "fmt": "markdown" })
get_changes({ "handle": "ab12…" })

Notes / limits

• docx only — the MCP server opens .docx files. Within docx the full op set is available: text insert/delete/replace, paragraph insert/delete, style change, and (since v0.1.1) format.run (run-property revision) and node.move (paragraph move). The other formats (xlsx/csv/pptx/md) are tracked via the changex track CLI rather than this server.
• Single-session per document. Opening the same file twice in one server is refused rather than left undefined.
• The hash chain is tamper-evidence for accidental corruption / naive tampering, not adversarial integrity — signing is a later milestone.