Vibe Check MCP server for AI agents

Vibe Check is a metacognitive layer designed to improve AI coding agents by enforcing moments of reflection. It keeps AI agents honest by pausing them at key moments, challenging shaky assumptions, and recording successes and failures to make future interactions smarter.

Key Features

vibe_check – pattern interrupt tool using the learnlm-2.0-flash-experimental model (with automatic fallback to gemini-2.5-flash and gemini-2.0-flash) for up to a 1M token context window
vibe_learn – records mistakes, preferences and successes to build a learning history
Large context awareness – includes summarized learning logs in prompts to help the model recognize patterns and reinforce successful approaches

Installation

Standard Installation

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/PV-Bhat/vibe-check-mcp-server.git
cd vibe-check-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

Create a .env file with your API key:

GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key

Start the server:

npm start

Docker Installation

To run the server in a container:

docker build -t vibe-check-mcp .
docker run -e GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key -p 3000:3000 vibe-check-mcp

Claude Desktop Integration

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

"vibe-check": {
  "command": "node",
  "args": ["/path/to/vibe-check-mcp/build/index.js"],
  "env": { "GEMINI_API_KEY": "YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY" }
}

Usage

Agent Prompting Essentials

When incorporating Vibe Check into your AI agent's system prompt, make it clear that vibe_check is a mandatory pattern interrupt. Always include:

The full user request
The current phase (planning, implementation, or review)
Log corrected mistakes with vibe_learn for future reference

Example prompt snippet:

As an autonomous agent you will:
1. Call vibe_check after planning and before major actions.
2. Provide the full user request and your current plan.
3. Record resolved issues with vibe_learn so future checks get smarter.

When to Use Each Tool

Tool	Purpose
🛑 vibe_check	Challenge assumptions and prevent tunnel vision
🔄 vibe_learn	Capture mistakes, preferences and successes

The tools work in tandem - vibe_check interrupts questionable plans, vibe_learn captures the lesson, and this growing knowledge informs future vibe_check calls through the model's large context window.

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "vibe-check" '{"command":"node","args":["/path/to/vibe-check-mcp/build/index.js"],"env":{"GEMINI_API_KEY":"YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "vibe-check": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/vibe-check-mcp/build/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GEMINI_API_KEY": "YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "vibe-check": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/vibe-check-mcp/build/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GEMINI_API_KEY": "YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect