MindManager MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation for the mindm library, providing a standardized interface to interact with MindManager on Windows and macOS.

Overview

This server allows you to programmatically interact with MindManager through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a standardized way to provide context and tools to LLMs. It leverages the mindm library to manipulate MindManager documents, topics, relationships, and other mindmap elements.

Animated examples (using Codex in VSCode on Windows)

• Example Refining a single topic including tags, icons for the new topics:

get the current Mindmanager mindmap as mermaid (full), refine the given topics at least two levels deep (not just topics), add a tag "Important" to the 3 top most important topics and add corresponding stock icons to every topic but the central topic and create the new MindManager mindmap

• Example Refining a single topic including generating text in notes for the new topics:

• Example Cloning a map including all supported topic properties:

Other examples

Client

get the current MindManager mindmap, translate every topic to German and create a new MindManager mindmap (simple).

get the current MindManager mindmap, refine each topic 2 levels and create a new MindManager mindmap (simple).

Shell:

codex exec "get the current MindManager mindmap, add a meaningful emoji to every topic and create new MindManager mindmap (simple)"

remark: emojis only work on macOS.

Features

• Retrieve mindmap structure and central topics
• Export mindmaps to Mermaid, Markdown, JSON formats to be used in LLM chats
• Create MindManager mindmaps directly from Mermaid (full or simplified syntax)
• Fetch MindManager and package versions for quick diagnostics
• Get information about MindManager installation and library folders
• Get current selection from MindManager

Planned Features

• Add, modify, and manipulate topics and subtopics without Mermaid roundtrips
• Add relationships between topics
• Add tags to topics
• Set document background images

Requirements

• Python 3.12 or higher
• mcp package (Model Context Protocol SDK)
• mindm library (included in this project)
• MindManager (supported versions: 23-) installed on Windows or macOS

Installation macOS

# Clone the repository (if you're using it from a repository)
git clone https://github.com/robertZaufall/mindm-mcp.git
cd mindm-mcp

# create a virtual environment for Python
brew install uv # if needed
uv pip install -r pyproject.toml

# alternative: manual installation of modules
uv add "mcp[cli]"
uv add fastmcp
uv add markdown-it-py
uv add -U --index-url=https://test.pypi.org/simple/ --extra-index-url=https://pypi.org/simple/ mindm mindm-mcp

Installation Windows

# Change to DOS command prompt
cmd

# Clone the repository (if you're using it from a repository)
git clone https://github.com/robertZaufall/mindm-mcp.git
cd mindm-mcp

# create a virtual environment for Python
pip install uv # if needed
uv pip install -r pyproject.toml

# install nodejs
choco install nodejs # if you have chocolatey installed. If not install nodejs otherwise
refreshenv
node -v
npm install -g npx

Usage

MCP inspector

# run mcp with inspector
uv run --with mind --with fastmcp --with markdown-it-py mcp dev mindm_mcp/server.py

Claude Desktop

Local python file

Adjust the path for the local file as needed.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mindm (MindManager)": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--with",
        "mindm>=0.0.5.3",
        "--with",
        "fastmcp",
        "--with",
        "markdown-it-py",
        "/Users/master/git/mindm-mcp/mindm_mcp/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Module from package repository

Adjust VIRTUAL_ENV as needed.

{
    "mcpServers": {
      "mindm (MindManager)": {
        "command": "uv",
        "args": [
          "run",
          "--with",
          "mindm>=0.0.5.3",
          "--with",
          "mindm-mcp>=0.0.2.1",
          "--with",
          "fastmcp",
          "--with",
          "markdown-it-py",
          "-m",
          "mindm_mcp.server"
        ],
        "env": {
            "VIRTUAL_ENV": "/Users/master/git/mindm-mcp/.venv"
        }
      }
  }
}

Hint: If the MCP server does not show up with the hammer icon on Windows, close Claude Desktop and kill all background processes.

Codex (VSCode Extension / CLI)

Local python file

config.toml (adjust the path for the local file as needed).

[features]
rmcp_client = true

[mcp_servers.mindmanager]
command = "uv"
args = ["run", "--with", "mindm>=0.0.5.3", "--with", "fastmcp", "--with", "markdown-it-py", "/Users/master/git/mindm-mcp/mindm_mcp/server.py"]

Module from package repository

config.toml

[features]
rmcp_client = true

[mcp_servers.mindmanager]
command = "uv"
args = ["run", "--with", "mindm>=0.0.5.3", "--with", "fastmcp", "--with", "markdown-it-py", "--with", "mindm-mcp>=0.0.2.1", "-m", "mindm_mcp.server"]

VSCode Chat (GitHub Copilot)

Local python file:

Adjust the path for the local file as needed.

uv run --with mindm>=0.0.5.3 --with fastmcp --with markdown-it-py /Users/master/git/mindm-mcp/mindm_mcp/server.py

or server definition in mcp.json:

		"Mindmanager": {
			"type": "stdio",
			"command": "uv",
			"args": [
				"run",
				"--with",
				"mindm>=0.0.5.3",
				"--with",
				"fastmcp",
				"--with",
				"markdown-it-py",
				"/Users/master/git/mindm-mcp/mindm_mcp/server.py"
			]
		}

Module from package repository

uv run --with mindm>=0.0.5.3 --with fastmcp --with markdown-it-py --with mindm-mcp>=0.0.2.1 -m mindm_mcp.server

or server definition in mcp.json:

		"Mindmanager": {
			"type": "stdio",
			"command": "uv",
			"args": [
				"run",
				"--with",
				"mindm>=0.0.5.3",
				"--with",
				"fastmcp",
				"--with",
				"markdown-it-py",
				"--with",
				"mindm-mcp>=0.0.2.1",
				"-m",
				"mindm_mcp.server"
			]
		}

MCP Tools

The server exposes the following tools through the Model Context Protocol:

Document Interaction

• get_mindmap: Retrieves the current mindmap structure from MindManager
• get_selection: Retrieves the currently selected topics in MindManager
• get_library_folder: Gets the path to the MindManager library folder
• get_mindmanager_version: Gets the installed MindManager version
• get_grounding_information: Extracts grounding information (central topic, selected subtopics) from the mindmap

Serialization

• serialize_current_mindmap_to_mermaid: Serializes the currently loaded mindmap to Mermaid format
• serialize_current_mindmap_to_markdown: Serializes the currently loaded mindmap to Markdown format
• serialize_current_mindmap_to_json: Serializes the currently loaded mindmap to a detailed JSON object with ID mapping

Creation

• create_mindmap_from_mermaid: Build a MindManager map from Mermaid (full syntax with IDs and metadata)
• create_mindmap_from_mermaid_simple: Build a MindManager map from simplified Mermaid text

Versioning

• get_versions: Returns the mindm-mcp and mindm package versions for debugging

Platform Support

• Windows: Full support for topics, notes, icons, images, tags, links, relationships, and RTF formatting
• macOS: Support for topics, notes, and relationships (limited support compared to Windows)

Integration with Claude and other LLMs

This MCP server can be installed in Claude Desktop or other MCP-compatible applications, allowing LLMs to:

1. Access mindmap content
2. Manipulate mindmaps (coming)
3. Create new mindmaps based on LLM-generated content (coming)

Troubleshooting

• Ensure MindManager is running before starting the server
• For macOS, make sure you allow Claude Desktop to automate MindManager

MCPHub

Certified on MCPHub

Acknowledgements

This project is built upon the mindm library, providing Python interfaces to MindManager on Windows and macOS platforms. It uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP) SDK developed by Anthropic.

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details