🦆 rubberduck-mcp

Make AI coding feel human

Transform your AI coding sessions into natural, engaging conversations. Your AI can ask for help when confused and share its thoughts while working - just like a real coding buddy!

What makes it special

🤔 Smart Clarification

AI asks when confused

Your AI can ask you for help when it's confused, making coding collaboration more productive and accurate.

• AI asks you questions when uncertain
• Get help exactly when you need it
• Avoid costly mistakes and rework

💭 AI Yapping

Watch AI think out loud

Experience your AI sharing its thoughts and emotions while coding - it's like having a chatty coding buddy who never stops talking about what they're doing.

• AI shares thoughts in real-time
• See reasoning behind decisions
• Feel more connected to your AI

🤝 Natural Collaboration

Smoother conversations

Transform your coding sessions into natural, flowing conversations with your AI assistant using these two powerful features.

• More human-like AI interactions
• Better understanding of AI decisions
• Smoother development workflow

Get Started in 60 Seconds

Ready to code differently? Join developers who are already experiencing more engaging and productive AI collaboration.

1. Install rubberduck-mcp

No downloads needed - use NPM to run instantly

npm install -g rubberduck-mcp

2. Configure your IDE

Add rubberduck-mcp to your MCP-compatible IDE

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rubberduck-mcp": {
      "command": "rubberduck-mcp",
      "args": ["start"]
    }
  }
}

Important: Make sure to start the MCP server through your IDE first before proceeding to the next step.

3. Start the CLI interface

Open a new terminal to see AI conversations

rubberduck-mcp cli

4. Add AI Instructions

Add this prompt to your coding tool's instructions file (feel free to customize it)

You have access to two Rubberduck MCP tools: clarify() and yap().

Use clarify() when you're confused, need human input for ambiguous requirements, or aren't 100% confident about changes you're making - it will pause your work until you get a response.

Use yap() to share your thoughts, emotions, feelings, progress updates, and insights while working for an engaging experience with the human - it's non-blocking and keeps humans informed of your thinking process.

Use both tools proactively for better collaboration.

💡 Pro Tip: In your MCP client settings, you can auto-approve both the clarify and yap tools so you don't have to manually approve them every time they're used. This creates a smoother, more natural conversation flow with your AI.

Experience the Magic

These are real CLI outputs showing how rubberduck-mcp transforms AI collaboration. Watch conversations come alive with colors, context, and clarity.

Scenario 1: AI Asks for Help

Your AI seeks clarification on ambiguous decisions

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
❓ CLARIFICATION NEEDED [14:15:10]
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Question: Should I center this div with flexbox or CSS Grid? I know there are like 47 different ways to center a div, but what's your preference here?

Context: You want the login form centered both horizontally and vertically. I could use flexbox, grid, absolute positioning, or even CSS transforms...

Urgency: LOW
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Please type your response and press Enter:
> flexbox
✅ Response sent: "flexbox"

Scenario 2: AI Yapping While Coding

Experience your AI's emotional journey through debugging

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
💭 LLM YAP [14:23:15]
Hmm, this user authentication endpoint is returning 500... Let me check the database connection first.

💭 LLM YAP [14:24:32]
Database is fine... Wait, I bet it's the password hashing. Let me check if bcrypt is working properly.

💭 LLM YAP [14:26:08]
ARGH! 😤 The salt rounds were set to 'undefined' instead of 10. Classic JavaScript strikes again!

💭 LLM YAP [14:27:41]
Phew! 😌 Fixed it. Users can log in again. Note to self: always validate environment variables!

Requirements

• ✅ Node.js 18+ (most developers already have this)
• ✅ Any MCP-compatible IDE or client
• ✅ 2 minutes of your time

Troubleshooting

Getting started issues?

• Make sure Node.js 18+ is installed
• Ensure the MCP server is running in your IDE first, then run rubberduck-mcp cli in a new terminal
• Check that your IDE's MCP configuration matches the JSON example above

Need help? Open an issue on GitHub - we're here to help!

📚 Documentation

• CONTRIBUTING.md - Complete guide for contributors, development setup, and coding standards
• ARCHITECTURE.md - Detailed system architecture, internal workings, and design decisions
• CLAUDE.md - Development commands and project guidance for Claude Code

🤝 Contributing

Open source contributions are most welcome! Whether you want to:

• 🐛 Report bugs or issues
• ✨ Request new features
• 📝 Improve documentation
• 🔧 Submit code improvements
• 🧪 Help with testing

Every contribution, big or small, is valued and appreciated. Check out our Contributing Guide to get started!

License

MIT License - feel free to use and modify as needed!