mcp-server-make

MCP Server for GNU Make - providing controlled and secure access to Make systems from LLMs.

Features

Resources

• make://current/makefile - Access current Makefile content securely
• make://targets - List available Make targets with documentation

Tools

• list-targets: List available Make targets
  • Returns target names and documentation
  • Optional pattern filtering for searching targets
• run-target: Execute Make targets safely
  • Required: target name
  • Optional: timeout (1-3600 seconds, default 300)

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.12+
• GNU Make
• pip or uv package manager

Installation

Using uv (recommended):

uvx mcp-server-make

Using pip:

pip install mcp-server-make

Claude Desktop Integration

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration:

MacOS:

nano ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows:

notepad %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-make": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory", 
        "/path/to/server",
        "run",
        "mcp-server-make", 
        "--makefile-dir", "/path/to/project"
      ]
    }
  }
}

• --directory: Path to the installed mcp-server-make package
• --makefile-dir: Directory containing the Makefile to manage

Restart Claude Desktop to activate the Make server.

Usage Examples

List Available Targets

I see you have a Makefile. Can you list the available targets?

View Target Documentation

What does the 'build' target do?

Run Tests

Please run the test target with a 2 minute timeout.

View Makefile

Show me the current Makefile content.

Development

Local Development Setup

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/mcp-server-make
cd mcp-server-make

# Create virtual environment
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # Unix/MacOS
.venv\Scripts\activate     # Windows

# Install dependencies
make dev-setup

# Run tests and checks
make check

Testing with MCP Inspector

Test the server using the MCP Inspector:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv --directory /path/to/mcp-server-make run mcp-server-make --makefile-dir /path/to/project

Security Features

Version 0.1.0 implements several security controls:

• Path validation and directory boundary enforcement
• Target name sanitization and command validation
• Resource and timeout limits for command execution
• Restricted environment access and cleanup
• Error isolation and safe propagation

Behavior Details

Resource Access

• Makefile content is read-only and validated
• Target listing includes names and documentation
• Full path validation prevents traversal attacks
• Resources require proper make:// URIs

Tool Execution

• Targets are sanitized and validated
• Execution occurs in controlled environment
• Timeouts prevent infinite execution
• Clear error messages for failures
• Resource cleanup after execution

Error Handling

• Type-safe error propagation
• Context-aware error messages
• Clean error isolation
• No error leakage

Known Limitations

Version 0.1.0 has the following scope limitations:

• Read-only Makefile access
• Single Makefile per working directory
• No support for include directives
• Basic target pattern matching only
• No variable expansion in documentation

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Add tests for new features
4. Ensure all checks pass (make check)
5. Submit a pull request

License

MIT - See LICENSE file for details.

Support

• GitHub Issues: Bug reports and feature requests
• GitHub Discussions: Questions and community help

Version History

0.1.0

• Initial stable release
• Basic Makefile access and target execution
• Core security controls
• Claude Desktop integration
• Configurable Makefile directory