CSS MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides up-to-date CSS documentation from MDN and comprehensive CSS code analysis.

Features

Documentation & Compatibility:

• Official MDN Docs - Fetches documentation directly from MDN's API
• Browser Compatibility - Includes browser support data from MDN's BCD
• Simple API - Just pass CSS property names like "grid", "flexbox", or ":has"
• Markdown Conversion - Converts HTML documentation to clean, readable markdown
• Auto-normalization - Supports both simple slugs ("grid") and full paths ("Web/CSS/grid")
• Smart Caching - SQLite-based cache with 7-day TTL for blazing-fast responses

CSS Analysis:

• 150+ Metrics - Comprehensive analysis of stylesheet quality and complexity
• Design Patterns - Detect color palettes, font sizes, spacing patterns
• Code Quality - Selector complexity, specificity analysis, property usage
• Performance Insights - Identify overly complex selectors and redundant code

Installation

For Claude Code

Install via the Claude Code CLI:

claude mcp add css -- npx -y css-mcp

For VS Code

One click install:

Install via VS Code CLI:

code --add-mcp '{\"name\":\"css\",\"command\":\"npx\",\"args\":[\"-y\",\"css-mcp\"],\"env\":{}}'

For MCP Clients (Claude Desktop, etc.)

Add to your MCP settings configuration:

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

For Development

npm install -g css-mcp

Or use with npx:

npx css-mcp --self-test

Requirements

• Node.js 20+
• Build tools for native modules (usually pre-installed on most systems)

Usage

Available Tools

get_docs

Fetch CSS documentation for any property, selector, function, or concept.

Parameters:

• slug (string) - CSS feature name or MDN path

Examples:

// Simple slugs (auto-normalized)
get_docs({ slug: "grid" });
get_docs({ slug: ":has" });
get_docs({ slug: "flexbox" });
get_docs({ slug: "@media" });
get_docs({ slug: "::before" });

// Full MDN paths also work
get_docs({ slug: "Web/CSS/grid" });
get_docs({ slug: "en-US/docs/Web/CSS/border-radius" });

Returns:

{
  "source": "mdn-doc",
  "slug": "/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/grid",
  "url": "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/grid/index.json",
  "title": "grid",
  "mdn_url": "/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/grid",
  "summary": "The grid CSS property is a shorthand...",
  "body": [
    {
      "type": "prose",
      "title": "Syntax",
      "content": "The **`grid`** property is a shorthand..."
    }
  ]
}

get_browser_compatibility

Fetch browser compatibility data for CSS features.

Parameters:

• bcd_id (string) - Browser Compat Data ID (e.g., "css.properties.grid")

Example:

get_browser_compatibility({ bcd_id: "css.properties.grid" });
get_browser_compatibility({ bcd_id: "css.selectors.has" });

analyze_css

Analyze CSS code for quality, complexity, and design patterns. Returns curated summary by default (lightweight, ~1-2k tokens). Use summaryOnly: false for complete 150+ metrics (uses ~10k+ tokens).

Parameters:

• css (string, required) - CSS code to analyze
• summaryOnly (boolean, optional) - Return summary instead of full analysis. Default: true

Examples:

// Summary mode (default, lightweight)
analyze_css({
  css: `
    .container {
      display: grid;
      color: #3b82f6;
    }
  `
});

// Full analysis with all 150+ metrics
analyze_css({
  css: "...",
  summaryOnly: false
});

Returns (default summary):

{
  "analysis": {
    "stylesheet": {
      "sourceLinesOfCode": 5,
      "size": 72
    },
    "rules": { "total": 1 },
    "selectors": {
      "total": 1,
      "averageComplexity": 1.0,
      "maxComplexity": 1
    },
    "colors": {
      "unique": 1,
      "uniqueColors": ["#3b82f6"]
    }
  },
  "note": "Summary metrics only. Use summaryOnly: false for complete 150+ metrics."
}

analyze_project_css

Analyze all CSS files in a project. Finds CSS files recursively, combines them, and provides project-wide analysis. Framework-agnostic - works with built CSS from any framework (SvelteKit, React, Vue, etc.).

Returns curated summary metrics by default (lightweight, ~1-2k tokens). Use includeFullAnalysis: true for complete data (uses ~10k+ tokens).

Automatically excludes:

• **/node_modules/**
• **/*.min.css

Parameters:

• path (string, required) - File path, directory, or glob pattern
• includeFullAnalysis (boolean, optional) - Return full 150+ metrics instead of summary. Default: false
• exclude (array of strings, optional) - Additional glob patterns to exclude

Examples:

// Analyze all CSS in a directory (summary - default, lightweight)
analyze_project_css({ path: "dist" });

// Full analysis with all 150+ metrics (uses more tokens)
analyze_project_css({
  path: "dist",
  includeFullAnalysis: true
});

// Exclude additional patterns
analyze_project_css({
  path: "dist",
  exclude: ["**/vendor/**", "**/*.legacy.css"]
});

// Analyze specific file
analyze_project_css({ path: "public/styles.css" });

// Use glob patterns
analyze_project_css({ path: "dist/**/*.css" });

Returns (default summary):

{
  "files": {
    "total": 5,
    "analyzed": 5,
    "errors": 0,
    "list": [
      { "path": "/path/to/style.css", "size": 2048 },
      { "path": "/path/to/theme.css", "size": 1024 }
    ]
  },
  "summary": {
    "stylesheet": {
      "sourceLinesOfCode": 450,
      "size": 12800
    },
    "rules": { "total": 85 },
    "selectors": {
      "total": 120,
      "averageComplexity": 1.4,
      "maxComplexity": 5
    },
    "colors": {
      "unique": 12,
      "uniqueColors": ["#3b82f6", "#10b981", ...]
    },
    "fontSizes": {
      "unique": 8,
      "uniqueSizes": ["1rem", "1.5rem", ...]
    }
  },
  "note": "Summary metrics only. Use includeFullAnalysis: true for complete data."
}

Cache Management

The server automatically:

• Creates cache at ~/.cache/css-mcp/cache.db
• Cleans up expired entries on startup
• Tracks hit counts for each cached entry
• Uses WAL mode for better concurrent performance

To clear the cache:

rm -rf ~/.cache/css-mcp/

Self-Test

Verify the server is working correctly:

npm test
# or
css-mcp --self-test
# or
npx css-mcp --self-test

Expected output:

docs ok (simple slug): { input: 'grid', slug: '/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/grid', ... }
docs ok (pseudo-selector + markdown): { input: ':has', ... }
bcd ok: { bcd_id: 'css.properties.grid', has_compat: true, ... }

Example: Using with Claude Code

Once configured, you can ask Claude Code:

Documentation & Compatibility:

"Use the CSS MCP to get documentation for flexbox"

"What browser support does :has selector have?"

"Explain how CSS grid works"

CSS Analysis:

"Analyze this CSS and tell me what could be improved"

"What colors are used in my stylesheet?"

"Check the complexity of my selectors"

Project Analysis:

"Analyze all CSS in my dist folder"

"What's the total complexity of my project's CSS?"

"Show me all colors used across my entire project"

Claude will automatically use the MCP to fetch the latest MDN documentation and analyze CSS code.

Development

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/stolinski/css-mcp.git
cd css-mcp

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Link for local development
npm link

# Run tests
npm test

Performance & Limits

Caching:

• First fetch: ~400-500ms (network + cache write)
• Cached fetch: ~100ms (~5x faster)
• Cache size: ~390KB for typical usage

Input Limits:

• Max file size: 10MB per CSS file
• Max total size: 50MB combined
• Max files: 500 CSS files per analysis
• Network timeout: 10 seconds for MDN API calls

Troubleshooting

"Module did not self-register"

This usually means native modules need rebuilding:

npm rebuild better-sqlite3

Cache not working

Check cache directory permissions:

ls -la ~/.cache/css-mcp/

Should show cache.db, cache.db-shm, and cache.db-wal files.

Contributing

This is an experimental MCP server for CSS documentation tooling, let's work on tools that make AI better at CSS