GistPad MCP

How to use

You connect to the server from an MCP client by configuring an MCP server entry that runs the GistPad MCP CLI locally. Once connected, you can list, create, update, delete, and organize gists, read and manage gist files, and work with daily notes, starred/archived items, and reusable prompts depending on which features you enable. Your client can also subscribe to gist resources to receive updates when gists change.

How to install

Prerequisites: ensure you have a modern Node.js runtime installed. You will also need a GitHub access token with at least the gist scope for operations that require authentication.

Install and run the MCP-enabled CLI for GistPad as described below. You can run it locally via npx to start interacting with your gists through MCP.

Configuration and usage notes

The following configuration snippet shows how to add GistPad as an MCP server using a local, stdio-based setup. This runs the GistPad MCP handler via npx and passes your GitHub token securely at runtime.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gistpad": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "gistpad-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "<YOUR_PAT>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Security considerations

Keep your GitHub token secure. Use environment variable placeholders in examples and avoid exposing credentials in shared configurations. If you expose your token, revoke it and generate a new one with the minimum required scopes.

Troubleshooting and tips

If you don’t see changes reflected in your MCP client, trigger a refresh of gists from the client or re-run the refresh_gists operation to ensure the local cache is up to date.

Notes

The server exposes gists as resources via the gist:/// URI scheme, enabling read access to gist data without executing commands. You can opt into additional resource views like archived, starred, and daily notes by enabling corresponding flags.

Additional sections

For convenience, you can enable optional tool groups such as daily notes, starred items, archived items, and prompts by passing the respective flags when launching the MCP server. When enabled, those tools become available alongside the core gist management features.

list_gists

List all gists for the authenticated user, excluding daily notes and archived items.

get_gist

Retrieve the contents of a gist by its ID.

create_gist

Create a new gist with a description and initial file contents.

delete_gist

Delete a gist by its ID.

update_gist_description

Update the description of a gist by ID.

duplicate_gist

Create a copy of an existing gist with all its files.

refresh_gists

Reload your gist lists, ignoring cached data.

update_gist_file

Update the contents of a specific file within a gist.

add_gist_file

Add a new file to an existing gist.

delete_gist_file

Delete a file from a gist.

rename_gist_file

Rename an existing file within a gist.

edit_gist_file

Perform targeted find-and-replace edits within a gist file.

list_gist_comments

List all comments for a specified gist.

add_gist_comment

Add a new comment to a gist.

edit_gist_comment

Update the content of an existing gist comment.

delete_gist_comment

Delete a comment from a gist.

get_todays_note

Get or create today's daily note (optional).

update_todays_note

Update the content of today’s daily note (optional).

list_daily_notes

List all daily notes (optional).

get_daily_note

Get the contents of a specific daily note by date (optional).

delete_daily_note

Delete a specific daily note by date (optional).

list_starred_gists

List all gists you have starred (optional).

star_gist

Star a specific gist by ID (optional).

unstar_gist

Unstar a starred gist by ID (optional).

list_archived_gists

List all archived gists (optional).

archive_gist

Archive one of your gists (optional).

unarchive_gist

Unarchive an archived gist (optional).

list_gist_prompts

List the prompts in your prompts collection (optional).

add_gist_prompt

Add a new prompt to your prompts collection (optional).

delete_gist_prompt

Delete a prompt from your collection (optional).