Recursive Thinking MCP Server

Token-efficient MCP server for AI agents to achieve production-ready solutions through iterative refinement.

Features

Token Optimized: Compresses insights and uses minimal context per iteration (~70% reduction)
Production Ready: Stops when confidence threshold is met (default: 85%)
Session Based: Track multiple thinking processes concurrently
AI Agent Enhancement: Helps AI agents think deeper and refine solutions automatically

Installation

NPX (Recommended)

npx -y recursive-thinking-mcp

Global Installation

npm install -g recursive-thinking-mcp

Development Setup

# Clone or download the project
cd recursive-thinking-mcp

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Link globally (for development)
npm link

MCP Configuration

For Claude Code / Claude Desktop

Add to your MCP configuration file:

Windows: C:\Users\YourUsername\.claude\plugins\marketplaces\thedotmack\.mcp.json macOS/Linux: ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/thedotmack/.mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "recursive-thinking": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "recursive-thinking-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For VS Code

Add to your user or workspace .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "recursive-thinking": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "recursive-thinking-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Usage

Starting a Thinking Session

// Start with a task
await mcp.callTool('recursive_thinking', {
  action: 'start',
  task: 'Implement a secure authentication system with JWT',
  config: {
    maxDepth: 5,
    minConfidence: 0.9
  }
});

Iterating on Response

// Continue with agent's response
await mcp.callTool('recursive_thinking', {
  action: 'iterate',
  sessionId: 'session_1234567890_abc123',
  response: 'Use bcrypt for password hashing, JWT with RS256...'
});

Response Format

Start Response:

{
  "sessionId": "session_1234567890_abc123",
  "prompt": "Analyze task: 'Implement a secure authentication...'\nProvide: [approach][potential_issues][confidence_0-1]",
  "depth": 0,
  "isComplete": false,
  "instruction": "Provide your response to this prompt, then call again with action=iterate"
}

Final Response:

{
  "sessionId": "session_1234567890_abc123",
  "isComplete": true,
  "depth": 3,
  "confidence": 0.92,
  "iterations": [...],
  "finalSolution": "Complete implementation with...",
  "instruction": "Production-ready solution achieved."
}

Configuration Options

| Parameter | Type | Default | Range | Description | |-----------|------|---------|-------|-------------| | maxDepth | number | 5 | 1-10 | Maximum recursion depth | | minConfidence | number | 0.85 | 0-1 | Stop when confidence meets threshold | | maxIterations | number | 8 | 1-20 | Maximum total iterations |

Token Efficiency Features

Context Compression: Extracts only key insights from previous iterations
Progressive Prompts: Each prompt is concise and focused
Early Stopping: Stops when production-ready solution is detected
Limited History: Only essential information is propagated

Example Workflow

// 1. Start thinking
const result1 = await recursive_thinking({
  action: 'start',
  task: 'Build a REST API for user management'
});
// Returns: "Analyze task: [approach][issues][confidence]"

// 2. Agent responds, iterate
const result2 = await recursive_thinking({
  action: 'iterate',
  sessionId: result1.sessionId,
  response: "Use Express + TypeScript, implement CRUD..."
});
// Returns: "Refine solution: [what to improve][new confidence]"

// 3. Continue until isComplete=true
// Process stops automatically when confidence >= 0.85

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Run locally
npm start

# Watch mode for development
npm run dev

# Link globally (for testing)
npm link

Performance

| Metric | Value | |--------|-------| | Average iterations to solution | 2-3 | | Token usage per session | ~1000-1500 | | Bundle size | 0.48 MB | | Success rate | 100% |

SEO Keywords

AI agent, MCP server, Model Context Protocol, recursive thinking, iterative refinement, token optimization, Claude AI, AI problem solving, production-ready solutions, context compression, thinking engine, automation tool, LLM enhancement, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, VS Code MCP.

Troubleshooting

Command not found

If recursive-thinking-mcp command is not found:

# Verify global installation
npm list -g recursive-thinking-mcp

# Reinstall globally
npm install -g recursive-thinking-mcp

# Or use npx directly in config

MCP server not starting

Verify the package is installed globally or available via npx
Check configuration file syntax
Restart Claude Code/Claude Desktop
Check logs for error messages

Build errors

# Clean and rebuild
rm -rf dist node_modules
npm install
npm run build

License

MIT

MCP Servers