stata-code 0.6.1

Agent-native Stata bridge — one core, multiple frontends (MCP, Jupyter, VSCode)

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stata-code

Agent-native Stata bridge — one Python core, multiple frontends.

stata-code lets you drive Stata from modern environments: an LLM agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop), a Jupyter notebook, or a VS Code editor session. All frontends share one Python core and return a stable, structured, agent-friendly result schema.

                    ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
                    │     stata-code core (Python)           │
                    │                                        │
                    │   • pystata adapter (Stata 17+)        │
                    │   • v1.0 unified result schema         │
                    │   • token-economy defaults             │
                    │   • multi-session via Stata frames     │
                    │   • typed errors + suggestions         │
                    └────────────────────────────────────────┘
                       ↑              ↑              ↑
              ┌────────┴────┐  ┌──────┴─────┐  ┌────┴────────────┐
              │  Jupyter    │  │  MCP       │  │  VS Code        │
              │  kernel     │  │  server    │  │  extension      │
              └─────────────┘  └────────────┘  └─────────────────┘

Status: v0.6 (May 2026) — the core, MCP server, Jupyter kernel, and VS Code extension work end-to-end against Stata 18 MP. Current test suite: 310 passing tests across schema, runner, MCP, kernel, notebook, and run-index modules. License: MIT.

Two workflows v0.6 explicitly supports for end users:

• Run Stata code from a Jupyter notebook. pip install "stata-code[kernel]" + stata-code-kernel install --user registers a Stata kernel that the Jupyter Notebook UI, JupyterLab, and the VS Code Jupyter extension all pick up by name. Cells render Stata logs, graphs, and warnings inline (the kernel logo bundled since v0.5 makes it appear in VS Code's kernel picker too). See As a Jupyter Kernel.
• Optional agent "fix and rerun" loop. stata_run returns typed error.kind/line/context plus suggestions on every failure. By default Claude Code only reports diagnostics — but if you explicitly say "fix this and rerun until it passes", the agent uses the same fields to edit your .do file and re-call stata_run until the run is green. The repair loop is opt-in: failed runs are diagnostics first, not automatic rewrite permission. See Error Recovery in Agent Workflows.

---

Why this exists

The Stata AI / agent tooling landscape is fragmented; see References-tools.md:

• Existing MCP servers (SepineTam/stata-mcp, tmonk/mcp-stata) are AGPL-3.0, which is not a fit for closed-source or commercial integration.
• The popular VS Code AI extension (hanlulong/stata-mcp) is MIT, but it bundles the MCP server inside the extension, making standalone reuse awkward.
• Each tool wraps pystata with its own result shape, so agents have to special-case each integration.
• Many existing tools were designed for humans first and then bolted onto MCP; they often dump long logs and base64 graph blobs into every reply, burning tokens by default.

stata-code is designed to fill that gap:

1. MIT-licensed, with no copyleft contagion.
2. One shared result schema for every frontend: SCHEMA.md.
3. Agent-native by default: typed errors, structured r() / e(), log refs, graph refs, and suggestion seeds.
4. One core, multiple frontends: Jupyter kernel, MCP server, and VS Code extension.

For the project's clean-room policy around AGPL/GPL Stata projects, see LICENSE-POLICY.md.

---

Install

Requirements: Stata 17+ (with pystata shipped by Stata) and Python 3.10+.

# from PyPI
pip install stata-code

# with the MCP server and Jupyter kernel extras
pip install "stata-code[mcp,kernel]"

# or from source (editable install for development)
git clone https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/stata-code.git
cd stata-code
pip install -e ".[mcp,kernel]"

Naming note. The PyPI distribution is stata-code (hyphen), but the Python import is stata_code (underscore — Python identifiers can't contain hyphens). Same convention as scikit-learn → import sklearn. So: pip install stata-code, from stata_code import run.

Note: pystata is not on PyPI; it ships with Stata. stata-code auto-discovers it on macOS at /Applications/Stata/utilities/pystata and at equivalent Linux / Windows paths. If your install is elsewhere, add it to PYTHONPATH before importing.

---

Quick Start

See examples/ for end-to-end cookbook entries: basic regression, DiD, graphs, multi-session, and large matrices.

As a Python Library

from stata_code import run

r = run("sysuse auto, clear")
r = run("regress mpg weight")

if r.ok:
    print(r.results.e.scalars["r2"])           # 0.6515 (native float)
    print(r.results.e.macros["cmd"])           # "regress"
    b = r.results.e.matrices["b"]
    print(dict(zip(b.cols, b.values[0])))      # {"weight": -0.006, "_cons": 39.44}
else:
    print(r.error.kind, r.error.message)       # ErrorKind.VARNAME_NOT_FOUND, "..."
    for s in r.error.suggestions:
        print("hint:", s.action)               # "Did you mean `mpg`?"

As an MCP Server

After pip install "stata-code[mcp]", the stata-code-mcp binary is on your PATH. You can wire it into Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, or any other MCP-compatible client.

Claude Code via claude mcp add (recommended)

If you have not installed Claude Code yet, see anthropics/claude-code.

The fastest way is the claude mcp add CLI. Pick a scope based on how widely you want stata-code available:

# user scope — install once, available in every Claude Code workspace on this machine
claude mcp add stata-code --scope user -- stata-code-mcp

# local scope — only for the current workspace (your local Claude config, not committed)
claude mcp add stata-code --scope local -- stata-code-mcp

# project scope — written into ./.mcp.json so collaborators on this repo share it
claude mcp add stata-code --scope project -- stata-code-mcp

Then launch claude and type /mcp to confirm stata-code shows up with its 15 tools (stata_run, stata_info, get_log, get_graph, get_matrix, list_sessions, cancel_session, reset_session, notebook_outline, notebook_get_cell, notebook_locate, notebook_edit_cell, notebook_insert_cell, notebook_delete_cell, list_runs).

Error Recovery in Agent Workflows

stata_run does not rewrite the source .do file or change code on its own. It executes the submitted Stata code, so that code may still create logs, graphs, tables, or other outputs as usual. When Stata fails, stata_run returns typed diagnostics (error.kind, error.message, error.line, error.context) plus best-effort suggestions. That supports two distinct Claude Code workflows:

• For "run this do-file" or "verify this code", Claude can report the failure and suggested next steps without changing source files.
• For "fix this and rerun until it passes", Claude can use the same structured error fields to edit the .do file, call stata_run again, and iterate.

If you want the repair loop, say so explicitly. Otherwise, treat failed runs as diagnostics first, not as automatic permission to rewrite code.

uvx (no global pip install)

If you prefer not to pip install stata-code globally, run it ephemerally through uv:

claude mcp add stata-code --scope user -- uvx --from stata-code stata-code-mcp

uvx will resolve and cache stata-code on first launch. Note: pystata is not on PyPI, so it still has to be locatable on the host. The runner adds the standard Stata install path (e.g. /Applications/Stata/utilities/pystata on macOS) to sys.path automatically; if your Stata lives elsewhere, set PYTHONPATH in the env block.

Manual JSON config (Cursor / Claude Desktop / fallback)

For clients without a mcp add CLI, edit the config file directly (~/.claude/mcp.json, Cursor settings, Claude Desktop claude_desktop_config.json, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stata-code": {
      "command": "stata-code-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Or run it as a module if the binary is not on PATH:

python -m stata_code.mcp

The MCP server registers 15 tools:

Tool	Purpose
stata_run	Execute Stata code and return a v1.0 RunResult JSON
stata_info	Report Stata edition, version, and capabilities
get_log	Fetch the full log behind a log:// ref
get_graph	Fetch graph bytes behind a graph:// ref (ImageContent)
get_matrix	Fetch matrix payloads behind a matrix:// ref
list_sessions	Enumerate live sessions
cancel_session	Cooperatively cancel the next stata_run for a session
reset_session	Drop a session's data
notebook_outline	Compact per-cell index of a .ipynb (cell_id, type, preview)
notebook_get_cell	One cell's full source plus a token-economic outputs summary
notebook_locate	Find cells by snippet / regex / pasted error text
notebook_edit_cell	Atomically replace one cell's source (preserves id, clears outputs)
notebook_insert_cell	Insert a new cell with a fresh nbformat 4.5+ UUID
notebook_delete_cell	Remove a cell by id
list_runs	Query run-bundle manifests (filter by notebook / cell_id / session / since / ok)

For modern MCP clients, these tools now return structured results through structuredContent with outputSchema metadata, while still keeping the serialized JSON text block for older clients. The server also exposes MCP resources:

Resource	Purpose
stata://schema/run-result	JSON Schema for stata_run structured output
stata://server/capabilities	Server instructions, tools, and resource templates
stata://sessions	Current subprocess-backed Stata sessions
log://...	Full log text from a truncated stata_run result
graph://...	Captured graph image bytes
matrix://...	Deferred large matrix payloads

MCP prompts are available for common agent workflows: run_do_file_and_report, debug_stata_error, fix_and_rerun_until_passes, replication_audit, and summarize_estimation_results.

As a Jupyter Kernel

stata-code ships a Jupyter kernel as part of the Python package — there is no separate "Jupyter plugin" in the JupyterLab extension marketplace. Installation is two steps: pip install the package with the kernel extra, then register the kernelspec with Jupyter.

Prerequisites: Stata 17+ installed locally with a valid license (the kernel calls Stata via pystata), and Python 3.10+ with jupyter/jupyterlab already on the same environment.

# 1. Install stata-code with the kernel extra (pulls in ipykernel)
pip install "stata-code[kernel]"

# 2. Register the kernelspec into Jupyter's user data dir
stata-code-kernel install --user
# Or, equivalently:
# python -m stata_code.kernel install --user

Verify the kernel is registered:

jupyter kernelspec list
# should include an entry named `stata`

Then open Jupyter Notebook / JupyterLab (or a .ipynb in VS Code), pick Stata in the kernel selector, and run Stata commands in cells. Logs, graphs, and warnings render inline.

JupyterLab's Extension Manager only installs front-end JS extensions, so it cannot install a kernel — pip install plus the install --user step above is the only supported path.

As a VS Code Extension

The companion extension is on the Marketplace as brycewang-stanford.stata-code-vscode. It spawns stata-code-mcp as a child process and adds syntax highlighting, an Outline view for **# sections and program define blocks, code-lens "Run cell" and "Run section" actions on .do files, a sidebar (sessions / last result / run history / logs / graphs), status-bar indicators, completions, help lookup, conservative variable rename, and inline diagnostics from the v1.0 typed errors.

# from the VS Code CLI
code --install-extension brycewang-stanford.stata-code-vscode

Or open the Extensions sidebar in VS Code and search stata-code.

The extension still requires the MCP extra on your system Python (pip install "stata-code[mcp]"), so that stata-code-mcp resolves on PATH and can import the MCP SDK. Stata 17+ and a valid Stata license are required as for any other frontend.

---

Token-Economy Defaults

A typical stata_run response is about 10x smaller than servers that dump logs and images directly. Three design choices drive this:

1. Logs return head + tail + ref by default. Full logs are fetched on demand via get_log(ref). A Stata regression log can be about 6,000 tokens; stata-code returns about 600 by default.
2. Graphs return refs, not inline base64. A 30 KB PNG can become about 50,000 base64 tokens; returning a ref avoids that unless the agent actually needs the bytes.
3. Errors are typed. Agents can check err.kind == "varname_not_found" instead of regex-parsing English logs.

For example, a misspelled variable returns a structured error:

{
  "ok": false,
  "rc": 111,
  "error": {
    "kind": "varname_not_found",
    "varname": "mpgg",
    "line": 3,
    "context": {
      "before": ["use auto"],
      "failing": "summarize mpgg",
      "after": []
    },
    "suggestions": [
      {"action": "Did you mean `mpg`?", "command": "describe"}
    ]
  }
}

The full schema is in SCHEMA.md.

---

Architecture

stata_code/
├── core/
│   ├── _runtime.py    # process-singleton pystata wrapper
│   ├── _refs.py       # LRU ref store for log/graph/matrix payloads
│   ├── schema.py      # Pydantic v2 models for the v1.0 result schema
│   ├── errors.py      # rc → ErrorKind mapping + suggestion seeds
│   └── runner.py      # the one execute(); collects everything via sfi
├── mcp/
│   └── server.py      # MCP server (15 tools)
└── kernel/
    └── kernel.py      # Jupyter kernel

runner.py is the only place that touches Stata. The Jupyter kernel and MCP server both import from it and only translate results into their own transports.

---

Comparison

	stata-code	SepineTam/stata-mcp	hanlulong/stata-mcp	nbstata
License	MIT	AGPL-3.0	MIT	GPL-3.0
Standalone MCP	✓	✓	bundled with VS Code	—
Jupyter kernel	✓	—	—	✓
Unified result schema	✓ (SCHEMA.md)	per-tool	per-tool	per-tool
Token-economy defaults	✓ (log refs, graph refs)	—	—	—
Typed errors + suggestions	✓ (32 kinds)	—	—	—
Multi-session	✓ (Stata frames)	partial	—	—
Mature ecosystem	early	✓ (statamcp.com, cookbook)	✓ (11k installs)	✓

stata-code is the younger, MIT-licensed, agent-native alternative in this problem space. Among the AGPL options, SepineTam's stata-mcp is currently more mature; stata-code is aimed at cases where copyleft contagion is unacceptable and agents need structured results.

---

Roadmap

Done (through v0.6 — May 2026)

• v1.0 result schema (SCHEMA.md)
• pystata-based runner with native-typed r(), e(), and matrices
• Multi-session via Stata frames
• Per-line error attribution: line number, context, commands_executed
• Graph capture: png / svg / pdf with ref store
• Log truncation with ref store
• Warning extraction: 5 categories + generic notes
• 32-kind error taxonomy with canonical suggestions
• MCP server: 15 tools, including notebook navigation / search / atomic edits and the run-bundle index (list_runs)
• Jupyter kernel: rewired to the v1.0 pipeline, kernel logos bundled
• Matrix size cap + get_matrix(ref) for large matrices (>10k cells)
• Cooperative cancellation: cancel(session_id) / MCP cancel_session
• Per-cell repair loop on .ipynb via notebook_outline / notebook_get_cell / notebook_edit_cell with optimistic-concurrency expected_source guards and origin_cell_id echo on RunResult
• Persistent run bundles + list_runs query over manifest.json files (filter by cell / origin / session / since / ok)
• JSON Schema artifact auto-generated from schema.py: schema/run_result.schema.json
• VS Code extension published to the Marketplace as brycewang-stanford.stata-code-vscode: syntax highlighting, section outline/navigation, code-lens cell and section runners, sidebar (sessions / last result / run history / logs / graphs), status bar, completions, conservative variable rename, diagnostics, MCP child-process spawn
• Clean-room license policy (LICENSE-POLICY.md)

Next Up

• Console fallback for Stata 11–16, re-implemented against the v1.0 schema
• Hard timeout / mid-Stata interrupt; design and tradeoffs in docs/design/hard_timeout.md
• Extra VS Code polish (esbuild bundle, lighter VSIX, command palette UX)
• v1.0 — Stable schema, broader Stata edition coverage

See SCHEMA.md §7 for explicitly out-of-scope items.

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Testing

pip install -e ".[dev,mcp,kernel]"
pytest                              # full suite (310 tests)
pytest -m "not stata_required"      # CI subset; no Stata needed
pytest -m "stata_required" -v       # Stata-only integration tests

The stata_required marker tags the real-Stata integration tests. CI uses pytest -m "not stata_required" so it does not collect them. Locally without Stata, those tests skip cleanly with the "pystata / Stata 17+ not available" message.

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Contributing

• Read LICENSE-POLICY.md before opening a PR.
• Add a one-line acknowledgement to your first PR description; the template is in the policy file.
• Tests are required for any new schema field or runner behavior.

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License

The code is licensed under MIT. LICENSE-POLICY.md explains how this project relates to other Stata projects.

Trademark Notice

Stata is a registered trademark of StataCorp LLC. This project is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by StataCorp.

Acknowledgements

The Stata tooling landscape that this project builds on and learns from is surveyed in References-tools.md. All listed projects retain their own licenses and authorship; please consult each repository before reuse.