@briefgate/mcp

Stop your coding agent stalling on client logos, copy and credentials.

BriefGate demo: an intake being defined, the client filling the portal, results coming back

Watch as MP4 (47 s)

BriefGate is the first client intake tool built for AI agents. Your agent declares what it needs (define_intake), BriefGate generates a branded portal and chases the client automatically with email reminders, and your agent retrieves fully typed assets (get_intake_results) and keeps building.

Agent: define_intake(items=[logo, copy, wp_admin])
BriefGate: → sends invite email → chases client every few days
Client:    fills in the portal (mobile-friendly, no login required)
Agent: get_intake_results() → { logo: "https://signed-url/logo.svg", wp_admin: "s3cr3t" }
Agent: keeps building the website ✅

Quickstart — Claude Code

Option 1 — sign in, nothing to copy:

claude mcp add briefgate -- npx -y @briefgate/mcp
npx -y @briefgate/mcp login

login prints a short code and a URL, tries to open your browser to it, and waits (up to 10 minutes) for you to click Allow. On success it prints Signed in as <account> and exits; the key lands in ~/.briefgate/credentials.json (mode 0600) and the server picks it up automatically — no restart, nothing to paste into config. npx -y @briefgate/mcp logout removes it again and best-effort revokes it on the server too.

Prefer to sign in from inside the agent instead of a terminal? Skip the login command above and just ask Claude Code to "call the briefgate login tool" instead — same flow, one call at a time. See Sign in without an API key.

Prefer connecting straight to the hosted endpoint instead of running the package locally? claude mcp add --transport http briefgate https://mcp.briefgate.dev/mcp walks you through OAuth in the browser — see Hosted endpoint + OAuth below.

Option 2 — paste an API key (for CI, scripts, or if you'd rather manage the key yourself). Get one at briefgate.dev (free tier available, no card required):

claude mcp add briefgate \
  -e BRIEFGATE_API_KEY=bg_live_... \
  -- npx -y @briefgate/mcp

Or add manually to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "briefgate": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@briefgate/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "BRIEFGATE_API_KEY": "bg_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

BRIEFGATE_API_KEY (or --api-key on the command line), if set, always takes precedence over a key login stored locally — running login while one is configured just says so instead of doing anything.

Verify it loaded — run /mcp in Claude Code and look for briefgate with 15 tools.

Quickstart — Cursor / Codex / other MCP clients

login / logout work the same way for any client that runs the package locally: register it with no key at all, then either run npx -y @briefgate/mcp login yourself or ask the agent to call the login tool.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "briefgate": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@briefgate/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Or paste an API key instead, add to your MCP config (usually .cursor/mcp.json or similar):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "briefgate": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@briefgate/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "BRIEFGATE_API_KEY": "bg_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Sign in without an API key

Two ways to get a key onto this machine without pasting one — both run the same device-authorization flow (RFC 8628) against the same credential file, so pick whichever fits how you're using the package.

From a terminal — the login / logout subcommands:

npx -y @briefgate/mcp login     # prints a code + URL, waits for approval, saves the key
npx -y @briefgate/mcp logout    # removes the local key, best-effort revokes it remotely

login blocks until you approve it (or it times out at 10 minutes), then prints Signed in as <account_name> and exits 0 — or prints why it didn't work (denied, expired, an error) and exits 1. logout always removes the local copy; it also sends DELETE /v1/keys/current using that same key to revoke it server-side, and if that call fails (no network, API unreachable) it says so and points at the BriefGate dashboard instead of leaving you unsure whether the key is still live.

From an agent — the login / logout tools (see Tools):

Same flow, for a client that can't block a terminal on your click. login is two-phase because a tool call can't sit open for minutes:

1. The first call starts the flow and returns immediately with the code and URL. A browser is opened automatically where possible.
2. Call login again — any time, or once you've approved it — to check progress. While it's still waiting, it says so; once approved, that same call reports success and the key is saved. No restart needed: the very next tool call is signed in.

logout as a tool does exactly what the subcommand does, including the best-effort remote revoke.

Either way, the key lands in ~/.briefgate/credentials.json (directory mode 0700, file mode 0600; override the path with BRIEFGATE_CREDENTIALS_FILE), keyed by which BriefGate server it's for so a staging BRIEFGATE_BASE_URL and production never collide. An explicit key always wins over a stored one — --api-key, then BRIEFGATE_API_KEY, then whatever login last saved — and login says so instead of running the flow when one of those is already set. Neither the subcommands nor the tools apply to the shared hosted endpoint (mcp.briefgate.dev) — see Hosted endpoint + OAuth, where connecting a client triggers real OAuth instead.

Environment variables

--api-key bg_live_... is also accepted on the command line, ahead of BRIEFGATE_API_KEY in priority. login and logout are also accepted as the first command-line argument (npx @briefgate/mcp login), instead of --http/no flag.

HTTP (Streamable HTTP) mode

For remote or multi-session deployments, start the server in HTTP mode:

BRIEFGATE_API_KEY=bg_live_... npx @briefgate/mcp --http --port 3000

The server binds to 127.0.0.1 only and includes DNS-rebinding protection. Behind a reverse proxy, terminate TLS there and forward to the local port — do not expose the port directly.

Hosted endpoint + OAuth

Set BRIEFGATE_MCP_PUBLIC_HOST to the hostname the server is published under and it becomes a shared, multi-customer endpoint: each caller sends its own key as Authorization: Bearer bg_live_... (an OAuth access token, for this API, is that same key — see below), and the server speaks to the BriefGate API as that caller. The public instance is https://mcp.briefgate.dev/mcp.

BRIEFGATE_MCP_PUBLIC_HOST=mcp.example.com npx @briefgate/mcp --http --port 3000

Several things change, on purpose:

• the listener binds 0.0.0.0 and the Host guard accepts that name, because a server behind a reverse proxy is reached by its public name;
• the BRIEFGATE_API_KEY fallback and the local login credential are both switched off. Leaving either on would let an anonymous caller spend the operator's key, or read whatever the machine's own login last stored;
• login/logout, tools and subcommands alike, are unavailable — connecting a client triggers real OAuth instead, described below;
• the server becomes an OAuth 2.1 resource server, per the MCP authorization spec, so an OAuth-aware client can add it with nothing but the URL. This package never runs the authorization flow itself — it only advertises where to find it and enforces that a request carries a token:
  • it serves GET /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource (RFC 9728), and the same content again under /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp (the resource-scoped path the MCP spec also has clients try), both with open CORS and naming the BriefGate API as the authorization server — see BRIEFGATE_MCP_AUTH_SERVER above;
  • every MCP request now needs a Bearer token — including initialize and tools/list, which used to work without one so a registry could introspect the tool list. One with no token gets HTTP 401 and a WWW-Authenticate: Bearer resource_metadata="https://<host>/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource" header, which is the signal an OAuth client uses to start signing in;
  • if a tool call's key turns out to be expired or revoked (the API answers 401), the response is rewritten into a real HTTP 401 with the same header plus error="invalid_token", rather than an ordinary tool error — so the client knows to refresh rather than just reporting the call failed.

What a connecting client actually does, against the authorization server named in that metadata: standard OAuth 2.1 discovery (GET /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server), dynamic client registration (POST /v1/oauth/register), then an authorization-code exchange with PKCE (S256) at POST /v1/oauth/token — no client secret, since MCP clients are public clients — and POST /v1/oauth/revoke to end a session. None of that is this package's concern; it only has to be a correct resource server pointing at it. The access token that comes out the other end is a bg_live_... key like any other, with a one-hour expiry the API enforces.

None of this applies without BRIEFGATE_MCP_PUBLIC_HOST: a local --http run keeps behaving exactly as before, including an absent key reaching initialize/tools/list and a plain Authorization: Bearer ... header working with no OAuth involved.

Tools

define_intake

Create a new client intake — a branded portal where the client submits the assets you need. BriefGate sends the invite email and chases the client automatically until everything is collected.

project_name: "Website for John Finance"
client: { email: "john@example.com", name: "John", language: "cs" }
// also_notify: [{ email: "jane@example.com", name: "Jane" }]
//   Others at the client who get the same link and the same reminders — either of
//   them can supply the material. Each gets their own email; nobody sees the rest.
due_date: "2026-08-15"
branding: { accent_color: "#1B2A4A", sender_name: "Radim" }
chase_schedule: "default"   // default | gentle | aggressive | custom | off
// chase_interval: 5, chase_interval_unit: "minutes"   // only with "custom"; omit for every 3 days
// respect_quiet_hours: false, max_reminders: 12       // for a deliberately rapid cadence
items:
  - { key: "logo",       type: "image",    label: "Company logo",
      constraints: { formats: ["svg","png"], min_width: 512 } }
  - { key: "hero_copy",  type: "longtext", label: "Homepage headline",
      constraints: { max_chars: 400 } }
  - { key: "brand_colors", type: "color_list", label: "Brand colors", required: false }
  - { key: "ga4_id",    type: "text",     label: "Google Analytics ID",
      pattern: "^G-[A-Z0-9]+$", required: false }
  - { key: "wp_admin",  type: "secret",   label: "WordPress admin credentials" }
  - { key: "photos",    type: "file_list", label: "Photos (5–10 images)",
      constraints: { formats: ["jpg","png","heic"], min_count: 5, max_count: 15 } }
  - { key: "opening_hours", type: "structured", label: "Opening hours",
      schema: { type: "object", properties: { mon_fri: { type: "string" }, sat: { type: "string" } } } }
  - { key: "has_existing_site", type: "boolean", label: "Does the client have an existing website?" }
  - { key: "website_url", type: "url", label: "Current website URL", required: false }
  - { key: "service_tier", type: "select", label: "Service package",
      options: [{ value: "basic", label: "Basic" }, { value: "pro", label: "Pro" }] }
// folder_id: "fld_1"
//   Put the intake straight into an existing folder from list_folders instead
//   of leaving it unfiled.
// client_brief: "Here's the offer we agreed on, plus a few notes on scope..."
//   Free text shown to the client above the requested items — information from
//   you to them, not another thing you're asking them for. Up to 5000 characters.
//   Documents go through POST /v1/intakes/:id/brief/files (dashboard or REST,
//   not through MCP).

Item key rules: must be snake_case (e.g. logo, hero_copy, ga4_id). Keys become property names in get_intake_results — no uppercase, no spaces, no hyphens.

Returns { intake_id, portal_url, status }. Save intake_id for all follow-up calls.

get_intake_status

Check which items are submitted, pending, or need revision. Includes the history of automated chase emails and when the client last opened the portal.

intake_id: "in_8f3k"

Returns per-item status and a full chase history.

get_intake_results

Retrieve typed submitted values. Files are signed URLs (valid 24 hours). Secrets are one-time — decrypted and returned on the first call only; store them before moving on.

intake_id: "in_8f3k"
only_new: true          // only items new since last call
include_pending: false  // omit unsubmitted items

Returns { results: { logo: "https://signed...", hero_copy: "text...", wp_admin: "s3cr3t" }, meta: { ... } }.

request_revision

Ask the client to resubmit an item with a note explaining what is wrong.

intake_id: "in_8f3k"
item_key: "logo"
note: "Logo is blurry — we need at least 512 px wide in SVG or PNG with a transparent background"

Returns { status: "revision_requested", item_key }.

send_chase

Send a manual reminder outside the automatic schedule. Use when a deadline is approaching or email attempts have failed.

intake_id: "in_8f3k"

Returns { sent: true }.

list_intakes

List all intakes across projects, optionally filtered by status, client email, folder, or a text search.

status: "in_progress"   // draft | sent | in_progress | completed | archived
client_email: "john@example.com"
folder_id: "fld_1"      // or "none" for intakes not in any folder
q: "Finance"             // substring match on project name, client name, or client email
limit: 20
offset: 0

Returns { intakes: [...], total }.

add_items

Add new items to an already-sent intake — for example a favicon you forgot, or additional credentials needed mid-project.

intake_id: "in_8f3k"
items:
  - { key: "favicon", type: "image", label: "Favicon (32×32 PNG or ICO)" }

Returns the updated intake.

update_item

Change an item's definition after the intake was sent — the type, label, help text or constraints. Use this when you asked for the wrong thing, e.g. you requested an image but the client has a PDF.

intake_id: "in_8f3k"
item_key: "logo"
type: "file"                        // was "image"
constraints: { formats: ["pdf","ai","svg"] }
discard_submitted_value: false      // true is required if the change invalidates what the client already sent

Returns the updated item. If the client already submitted a value that the new definition would reject, the call fails with item_answer_would_be_discarded until you pass discard_submitted_value: true.

update_intake

Change settings on an already-sent intake — project name, due date, reminder cadence, quiet hours, the client brief, or the client's name, phone, language, and timezone. Use this instead of deleting and recreating the intake, which would re-send the invite.

intake_id: "in_8f3k"
due_date: "2026-12-01"
chase_schedule: "gentle"            // was "default"
max_reminders: "unlimited"          // reactivates a stalled intake if it had hit its cap
// folder_id: "fld_1"                // move it into a folder; null removes it from any folder
// client_brief: "Updated offer..."  // replaces the brief shown above the items; null clears it

If any chase-related field changes (chase_schedule, chase_interval, chase_interval_unit, chase_at_time, max_reminders, respect_quiet_hours, due_date, client.timezone) on a sent intake, every pending reminder is cancelled and re-planned from now — reminders already sent still count toward max_reminders. folder_id never touches the chase schedule.

The client's e-mail address cannot be changed here — the portal link and login are bound to it. Use manage_recipients for that. Fails if the intake is archived. Returns the full, updated intake object.

manage_recipients

Add, remove, or reinstate a person who receives an intake's invite and reminders, alongside or instead of the primary client.

intake_id: "in_8f3k"
action: "reinstate"                 // add | remove | reinstate
email: "extra@example.com"
name: "Petr"                        // only used with action="add"

action="add" invites another address the same way also_notify does at define_intake time. action="remove" stops future reminders to that address. action="reinstate" is for a bounce that was wrong — the person did get the e-mail — it clears the bounce flag so reminders resume, and re-plans the chase schedule from now if that address was the only one still being chased.

manage_webhook

Register, list or remove a webhook endpoint so events are pushed to your service instead of you polling.

action: "create"                    // create | list | delete
url: "https://your.service/hooks/briefgate"
events: ["intake.completed", "intake.overdue"]
format: "raw"                       // raw | slack | discord

action: "create" returns a secret once — store it, it verifies every delivery signature and cannot be retrieved again. Remove with action: "delete" and webhook_id.

Because an agent receives the secret in a tool result, it can come to rest wherever that conversation is stored. There is no rotation endpoint: if a transcript leaks, delete the endpoint and create a new one to get a fresh secret.

Only register an endpoint you can actually receive on. An agent running in a terminal has no public HTTPS address; for that case register nothing and check on a schedule instead (see below).

list_folders

List the folders in your account, used to group intakes by client or project. Takes no arguments.

Call this before create_folder or before setting folder_id on define_intake, update_intake, or list_intakes — reuse an existing folder for a returning client instead of creating a duplicate.

Returns { folders: [{ id, name, sort_order, intake_count, created_at }] }.

create_folder

Create a new folder to group intakes, e.g. one per client.

name: "Acme Inc"

Call list_folders first and reuse a matching folder — only create one when none of the existing folders fits. Fails with folder_exists if a folder with this name already exists. Returns the created folder.

login

Sign in without an API key — see Sign in without an API key. Takes no arguments.

Call it whenever another tool reports "Not signed in" or that the stored key was revoked or expired. The first call starts a device-authorization flow and returns a URL and a short code immediately; call it again (any time) to check whether it's been approved yet. Has no effect — it says so instead — if --api-key or BRIEFGATE_API_KEY already supplies a key. Not available on the hosted endpoint. Same flow as running npx @briefgate/mcp login from a terminal (which blocks until approved instead of needing a second call) — see Sign in without an API key.

logout

Removes the API key login stored locally for this BriefGate server, and best-effort revokes it on the server too. Takes no arguments.

If the revoke call fails — no network, the API unreachable — the local copy is still removed; the response says so and points at the BriefGate dashboard to revoke it there instead. Not available on the hosted endpoint. Same effect as running npx @briefgate/mcp logout from a terminal — see Sign in without an API key.

Decisions — questions for the developer

An agent building something hits things only the account holder can settle: does the discounted plan cost $19 or $29? Stopping to wait wastes the run; picking silently buries the assumption. A decision is the third option — pose the question, record the answer you are proceeding on, keep building.

{ "key": "discount_price", "type": "select", "assignee": "owner",
  "label": "What does the discounted subscription cost?",
  "options": [ { "value": "19", "label": "$19/month" },
               { "value": "29", "label": "$29/month" } ],
  "proposed": { "value": "19", "rationale": "matches the competitor we benchmarked" } }

type: "multiselect" takes several answers, bounded by constraints.min_count / max_count.

The proposal is stored apart from the real answer, so it can never be mistaken for one the developer gave — and it survives being overruled, which is the point: in three months you can still see that $19 was assumed, not agreed. Read it back from get_intake_results:

"results": { "discount_price": "19" },
"meta": { "discount_price": { "decided_by": "agent_proposal", "proposed_value": "19" } }

decided_by is "owner" once a person has settled it and "agent_proposal" while it is still your own pick. A proposed decision comes back even without include_pending — you need the assumption you are building on. It does not bump revision, so an only_new read surfaces exactly the decisions someone has since answered.

You cannot answer your own question. The answer endpoint takes a dashboard session, not an API key: if the agent could confirm its own proposal and have it recorded as the developer's, the distinction would be worth nothing. Decisions are answered in the BriefGate dashboard.

Owner items never reach the client portal, never appear in a reminder, and never hold up completion — the intake is finished when the client is finished.

Knowing when the client is done

Nothing pushes to an MCP client on its own — MCP is request/response, so the server cannot wake your agent when the client finishes. define_intake therefore returns a follow_up block naming the mechanism that fits your setup:

"follow_up": {
  "recommended": "schedule",        // or "webhook" when an endpoint already exists
  "webhook": { "active_endpoints": 0, "events": ["intake.completed", "item.submitted"],
               "register_with": "manage_webhook" },
  "schedule": { "check_with": "get_intake_status", "every_hours": 24,
                "until": "2026-10-01T08:00:00.000Z" }
}

• You run a service → register a webhook with manage_webhook and act on intake.completed.
• You are an agent in a terminal → set up a recurring check that calls get_intake_status every every_hours hours until until. A cron entry, a systemd timer, or your agent host's own scheduler all work.

Events worth acting on: intake.completed (everything is in) and intake.overdue (the deadline passed with required items missing — the project is blocked and the client needs a human, not another reminder).

The cadence tightens near the deadline (24h normally, 12h inside a week, 6h inside two days) and is not tied to the reminder schedule: a client can submit everything at 2am having never opened a reminder.

End-to-end example

# System prompt excerpt
You are a web development agent. When you need client assets:

1. Call define_intake with all assets needed for this project.
   Use type=secret for passwords/credentials.
   The chase engine runs automatically — do not poll more often than once per day.

2. Read follow_up in the response and set up how you will hear back:
   register a webhook with manage_webhook if you have an HTTPS endpoint,
   otherwise schedule a get_intake_status check at follow_up.schedule.every_hours.

3. When intake.completed arrives (or the scheduled check reports "completed"),
   call get_intake_results. Download file URLs within 24 hours.
   Store secrets immediately — they are one-time.

4. If a submitted asset does not meet requirements (blurry logo, broken URL),
   call request_revision with a clear note for the client.
   If the client has the asset in another form, call update_item to change the type.

5. If the client is still unresponsive after 9 days, call send_chase for an
   extra nudge outside the automatic schedule, or tell the developer the intake
   is stuck and let them pick up the phone.

Verifying webhooks

BriefGate signs every webhook with HMAC-SHA256 to prevent forgery and replay attacks. The @briefgate/mcp package exports a ready-made helper:

import { verifyWebhookSignature, parseWebhookEvent } from "@briefgate/mcp/webhook";

The signature lives in the X-BriefGate-Signature header as t=<unix>,v1=<hex>:

Fastify (recommended)

import Fastify from "fastify";
import { verifyWebhookSignature, parseWebhookEvent } from "@briefgate/mcp/webhook";

const app = Fastify();

// Parse body as raw string — JSON-parsing before verification breaks the HMAC.
app.addContentTypeParser("application/json", { parseAs: "string" }, (req, body, done) => {
  done(null, body);
});

app.post("/briefgate/webhook", (request, reply) => {
  const rawBody = request.body as string;

  const ok = verifyWebhookSignature(
    process.env.BRIEFGATE_WEBHOOK_SECRET!,
    request.headers["x-briefgate-signature"] as string,
    rawBody,
    // { toleranceSec: 300 }  ← default; increase for slow networks
  );

  if (!ok) {
    return reply.status(401).send({ error: "Invalid signature" });
  }

  const event = parseWebhookEvent(rawBody);
  console.log("BriefGate event:", event.event, event.intake_id);
  reply.send({ ok: true });
});

Express

import express from "express";
import { verifyWebhookSignature, parseWebhookEvent } from "@briefgate/mcp/webhook";

const app = express();

// raw body parser — must come before express.json()
app.post(
  "/briefgate/webhook",
  express.raw({ type: "application/json" }),
  (req, res) => {
    const rawBody = Buffer.isBuffer(req.body)
      ? req.body.toString("utf8")
      : String(req.body);

    const ok = verifyWebhookSignature(
      process.env.BRIEFGATE_WEBHOOK_SECRET!,
      req.headers["x-briefgate-signature"] as string,
      rawBody,
    );

    if (!ok) return res.status(401).json({ error: "Invalid signature" });

    const event = parseWebhookEvent(rawBody);
    console.log("BriefGate event:", event.event, event.intake_id);
    res.sendStatus(200);
  },
);

Webhook events

Pricing

Launch offer: code LAUNCH20 gives 20% off Solo and Agency for the lifetime of the subscription, valid until 4 October 2026 (new customers, plans only).

Full pricing at GET https://api.briefgate.dev/pricing.json (no auth required — agents can read it directly).

Data residency

BriefGate is hosted in the EU: application servers at netcup GmbH in Nuremberg, Germany; files in Cloudflare R2 under EU jurisdiction. See the GDPR notes and the DPA.

Privacy Policy

This package is a thin client: it holds no data of its own and sends nothing anywhere except to the BriefGate API at api.briefgate.dev, using the API key you configure. It writes no telemetry and no analytics.

What BriefGate itself collects, how long it keeps it, who it is shared with and how to have it deleted is covered in full here:

• Privacy Policy — https://briefgate.dev/docs/privacy
• Security — https://briefgate.dev/docs/security
• Data Processing Agreement — https://briefgate.dev/docs/dpa

Contact for privacy requests: privacy@briefgate.dev

Contributing

This repository is the BriefGate MCP client only — a thin wrapper over the public BriefGate REST API. The BriefGate service itself is closed source.

npm install
npm run typecheck   # TypeScript check
npm run lint        # ESLint
npm run test        # Vitest
npm run check       # all three
npm run build       # compile to dist/

License

MIT — use freely in commercial projects.

Made by Radim Sekera. Related project: impri.dev — human-in-the-loop approval inbox for AI agents.