GrowthBook MCP Thin
A thin MCP server for GrowthBook with four tools:
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
growthbook_list_skills | List top-level skill entry points (name + description) |
growthbook_read_skill | Return a listed skill or qualified child workflow (feature-flags or feature-flags/references/flag-create) |
growthbook_api_read | Authenticated GET passthrough to the GrowthBook API |
growthbook_api_write | Authenticated POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE passthrough |
Competence lives in the skills repo and is bundled at build time. Capability is split into read vs write API tools (no per-endpoint formatters) so clients can honor readOnlyHint / destructiveHint correctly.
Tools are prefixed with growthbook_ so they stay unambiguous when a client has multiple MCP servers loaded.
Install / run
npm install
npm run buildPoint your MCP client at the compiled entrypoint:
{
"mcpServers": {
"growthbook": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/absolute/path/to/growthbook-mcp/server/index.js"],
"env": {
"GB_API_KEY": "your_api_key_or_pat",
"GB_API_URL": "https://api.growthbook.io"
}
}
}
}Or run the published package:
npx @growthbook/mcpEnvironment variables
| Variable | Required | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
GB_API_KEY | Yes for stdio; optional for HTTP OAuth | — | GrowthBook API key or personal access token |
GB_API_URL | No | https://api.growthbook.io | API base URL (self-hosted) and default OAuth AS issuer |
GB_MCP_TRANSPORT | No | stdio | stdio or http |
GB_MCP_PORT | No | 3333 | HTTP listen port (when transport=http) |
GB_MCP_HOST | No | 127.0.0.1 | HTTP bind host |
GB_MCP_URL | Yes for HTTP | — | Public MCP base URL stamped into OAuth resource metadata (server refuses to start in HTTP mode without it) |
GB_OAUTH_ISSUER | No | GB_API_URL | GrowthBook OAuth AS issuer URL |
GB_HTTP_HEADER_* | No | — | Extra request headers (e.g. GB_HTTP_HEADER_CF_ACCESS_TOKEN) |
GB_SKILLS_ENABLED | No | true | Set to false / 0 to disable skill tools |
HTTP + OAuth mode
OAUTH_AS_ENABLED=1 # on the GrowthBook API
GB_MCP_TRANSPORT=http GB_API_URL=http://localhost:3100 GB_MCP_PORT=3333 npm startClients connect to:
http://127.0.0.1:3333/mcp— full (skills + API read/write)http://127.0.0.1:3333/mcp/api— capability-only (growthbook_api_read+growthbook_api_write)
Unauthenticated requests receive 401 with WWW-Authenticate pointing at /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource, which advertises the GrowthBook Authorization Server.
Before handling MCP, the server probes GrowthBook REST (GET /api/v1/) with the bearer. A 401 from that probe (or later from an API tool) yields HTTP 401 with error="invalid_token" so the MCP client can refresh — instead of surfacing "This API key has expired" as a tool error. A 403 is treated as an accepted bearer (permission denied ≠ invalid token) so clients are not forced into a refresh loop.
Capability-only mode
HTTP (recommended for remote): point the client at /mcp/api instead of /mcp:
{
"mcpServers": {
"growthbook": {
"url": "http://127.0.0.1:3333/mcp/api"
}
}
}| Path | Tools |
|---|---|
/mcp | growthbook_list_skills, growthbook_read_skill, growthbook_api_read, growthbook_api_write (unless GB_SKILLS_ENABLED=false) |
/mcp/api | growthbook_api_read, growthbook_api_write only |
stdio / process-wide: set env so skills are never registered:
"env": {
"GB_API_KEY": "...",
"GB_SKILLS_ENABLED": "false"
}When skills are disabled, only the API read/write tools are registered. growthbook_list_skills and growthbook_read_skill are not exposed.
How skills are bundled
npm run build # tsc && bundle-skillsscripts/bundle-skills.mjs copies the top-level skill tree from the canonical skills checkout, preserving structure:
skills/<skill>/SKILL.md → server/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md
skills/<skill>/references/<workflow>.md → server/skills/<skill>/references/<workflow>.mdPer-skill scripts/ directories (the gb-call helper) are not copied — MCP uses the API tools instead.
Source path resolution:
SKILLS_SRCenv var (path to the skills repo root), or../skills(sibling directory)
The skills repo stays the source of truth — this package never forks skill content. At bundle time, in-skill `references/foo.md` links are rewritten to qualified paths (`feature-flags/references/foo`) so the on-disk MCP artifact is ready to serve.
Using skills with the API tools
Bundled skills still show workflows as:
gb-call GET /api/v1/projects
gb-call POST /api/v2/features ./payload.jsonThis MCP server does not shell out to gb-call. Map GET → growthbook_api_read and POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE → growthbook_api_write with the same path and optional JSON body string. Server instructions and growthbook_read_skill output include this bridge note.
Tools detail
growthbook_api_read / growthbook_api_write
{ "path": "/api/v1/projects" }
{ "method": "POST", "path": "/api/v2/features", "body": "{\"id\":\"my-flag\",...}" }- Read: GET only (
readOnlyHint: true) - Write:
POST|PUT|PATCH|DELETE(destructiveHint: true) - Returns raw response body on 2xx
- On non-2xx, returns an actionable error (
isError: true) covering auth failures, self-hosted 404 hints, and rate limits - Freeform paths target the GrowthBook REST API
growthbook_list_skills / growthbook_read_skill
Only registered when GB_SKILLS_ENABLED is not disabled.
growthbook_list_skillsreturns top-level skill entry points. An entry may contain a complete workflow or route to child workflows.growthbook_read_skillaccepts a listed top-level name or a qualified child path named by a loaded skill (feature-flags/references/flag-create) and returns the full markdown (workflow + guardrails).
Development
# Requires a sibling checkout at ../skills (or SKILLS_SRC)
npm install
npm run build
npm startStandalone HTTP mode
By default the server runs over stdio. Set GB_MCP_TRANSPORT=http to run it as a standalone HTTP server that exposes MCP at /mcp (skills + API tools) and /mcp/api (capability-only), behind an OAuth 2.0 protected-resource surface (RFC 9728 metadata + RFC 6750 WWW-Authenticate).
GB_MCP_URL(required in HTTP mode) — the server's public base URL. It is stamped into the OAuth resource (audience) and the protected-resource metadata, so it is never derived from request headers. The server refuses to start without it.GB_MCP_PORT(default3333) andGB_MCP_HOST(default127.0.0.1).- Incoming bearers are validated by probing the GrowthBook REST API; a rejected token gets HTTP
401+WWW-Authenticateso the client can refresh.
Run it on a trusted network or bound to loopback. For a multi-tenant or public deployment, front it with your own gateway/auth.
Releases
Cutting a release is deliberate: bump the version in package.json, then push a matching v* tag:
git tag v2.0.0
git push origin v2.0.0That tagged commit (with skills frozen at cut time) publishes:
@growthbook/mcpto npm — prereleases (versions with a-, e.g.2.0.0-beta.1) go under thebetadist-tag; stable versions becomelatest- a multi-arch (
amd64+arm64) image toghcr.io/growthbook/growthbook-mcp(:<version>, plus:<major>,:<major>.<minor>, and:latestfor stable releases) - an entry in the MCP registry
- a GitHub Release
Install a release with npx @growthbook/mcp@<version> or pull ghcr.io/growthbook/growthbook-mcp:<version>.