Aura MCP — the Model Context Protocol server for git-native version control

Aura MCP is the Model Context Protocol server that ships inside the aura CLI. It exposes 29 tools that any MCP client (Claude Code, Cursor, Zed, Continue, custom agents) can call to interrogate, mutate, and verify a Git-native semantic graph of your repository.

How to install

# 1. Install the Aura CLI (macOS / Linux)
curl -fsSL https://auravcs.com/install.sh | bash

# 2. Add Aura to your MCP client config
#    Claude Desktop: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aura": {
      "command": "aura",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

# 3. Restart the client. Tools appear under aura_*.

The 29 tools, grouped

• State & planning · aura_status, aura_plan_discover, aura_plan_lock, aura_plan_next, aura_prove.
• Intent & provenance · aura_log_intent, aura_attest_verify, aura_attest_list, aura_handover.
• Safety & recovery · aura_snapshot, aura_snapshot_list, aura_rewind, aura_pr_review, aura_suggest_edit, aura_doctor.
• Live collaboration · aura_live_impacts, aura_live_resolve, aura_live_sync_push, aura_live_sync_pull, aura_live_sync_status.
• Multi-agent + sentinel · aura_msg_send, aura_msg_list, aura_sentinel_inbox, aura_sentinel_send, aura_sentinel_status, aura_sentinel_agents, aura_sentinel_release, aura_orchestrate_status.
• Memory & session · aura_memory_read, aura_memory_write, aura_memory_compact, aura_memory_forget, aura_session_resume, aura_session_summarize.

Why MCP and not a custom protocol

MCP is the agent-side equivalent of LSP for editors. By speaking it natively, Aura works with every current and future MCP-aware client without bespoke integrations. The agent doesn't need to know your repo is Aura-instrumented. It just calls aura_log_intent the same way it would call any other tool, and gets a signed block + sigstore receipt back.

Token-Oriented Object Notation (TOON)

MCP tool responses are encoded in TOON: Aura's compact serialisation format that uses 30–60% fewer tokens than equivalent JSON for structured data. That matters when an agent calls aura_pr_review on a 200-file diff and needs the response to fit inside a single context window.