StarUML Controller MCP Server — Data Flow Diagram (DFD)

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server specialized for Data Flow Diagrams. Enables AI assistants like Claude to programmatically create and manage data flow diagrams — external entities, processes, data stores, and data flows in StarUML.

<p align="center"> <img src="images/main.jpg" alt="AI-generated Food Delivery System DFD in StarUML via MCP" width="800"> <br> <em>AI creating a complete Food Delivery System DFD through MCP tools</em> </p>

Architecture

<p align="center"> <img src="images/architecture.svg" alt="Architecture: Claude ↔ MCP (stdio) ↔ staruml-controller-dfd-mcp ↔ HTTP REST API ↔ StarUML" width="800"> </p>

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• StarUML with the staruml-controller extension installed and running

Setup

1. Clone and build the core package

git clone https://github.com/pontasan/staruml-controller-mcp-core.git
cd staruml-controller-mcp-core
npm install && npm run build
cd ..

2. Clone and build this package

git clone https://github.com/pontasan/staruml-controller-dfd-mcp.git
cd staruml-controller-dfd-mcp
npm install && npm run build

3. Start the StarUML Controller Server

1. Launch StarUML and open a project (or create a new one)
2. From the menu bar, select Tools > StarUML Controller > Start Server...
3. Enter a port (default: 12345) and click OK
4. The HTTP server starts — all Data Flow Diagram (DFD) tools become available via MCP

4. Configure your AI assistant

Claude Code — add to your project's .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "staruml-dfd": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/staruml-controller-dfd-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Or via CLI:

claude mcp add staruml-dfd node /absolute/path/to/staruml-controller-dfd-mcp/dist/index.js

Claude Desktop — add to your config file:

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "staruml-dfd": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/staruml-controller-dfd-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

5. Restart your AI assistant.

Available Tools

All tools accept optional host (default: localhost) and port (default: 12345) parameters.

Data Flow Diagram (DFD) Tools

The core of this server — full CRUD for every Data Flow Diagram (DFD) resource.

Resource	Tools
Diagrams	dfd_list_diagrams, dfd_create_diagram, dfd_get_diagram, dfd_update_diagram, dfd_delete_diagram
External Entities	dfd_list_external_entities, dfd_create_external_entity, dfd_get_external_entity, dfd_update_external_entity, dfd_delete_external_entity
Processes	dfd_list_processes, dfd_create_process, dfd_get_process, dfd_update_process, dfd_delete_process
Data Stores	dfd_list_data_stores, dfd_create_data_store, dfd_get_data_store, dfd_update_data_store, dfd_delete_data_store
Data Flows	dfd_list_data_flows, dfd_create_data_flow, dfd_get_data_flow, dfd_update_data_flow, dfd_delete_data_flow

Common Tools

Shared infrastructure tools available across all StarUML Controller MCP servers.

<details> <summary><strong>General</strong> — status, elements, tags, project I/O</summary>

Tool	Description
get_status	Get server status, version, and endpoint list
get_element	Get any element by ID
list_element_tags	List tags on an element
create_element_tag	Create a tag on an element
get_tag	Get tag details
update_tag	Update a tag
delete_tag	Delete a tag
save_project	Save project to a .mdj file
open_project	Open a .mdj project file

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Project</strong> — new, close, import, export</summary>

Tool	Description
project_new	Create a new empty project
project_close	Close the current project
project_import	Import a .mdj fragment into the project
project_export	Export a model fragment to a .mdj file
project_export_all	Export all diagrams as images (PNG/SVG/JPEG/PDF)
project_export_doc	Export project documentation (HTML/Markdown)

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Utility</strong> — undo, redo, search, validate, mermaid, generate</summary>

Tool	Description
undo	Undo the last action
redo	Redo the last undone action
search	Search elements by keyword with optional type filter
validate	Run model validation
mermaid_import	Import a Mermaid diagram definition
generate_diagram	Generate a diagram from natural language (requires AI extension)

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Diagrams</strong> — CRUD, export, layout, zoom</summary>

Tool	Description
diagram_list	List all diagrams (optionally filter by type)
diagram_create	Create a new diagram of any type
diagram_get	Get diagram details by ID
diagram_update	Update diagram name
diagram_delete	Delete a diagram
diagram_list_elements	List all elements on a diagram
diagram_list_views	List all views on a diagram
diagram_create_element	Create a node element on a diagram
diagram_create_relation	Create a relation between elements
diagram_export	Export diagram as image (PNG/SVG/JPEG/PDF)
diagram_layout	Auto-layout diagram with configurable direction
diagram_open	Open/activate a diagram in the editor
diagram_zoom	Set diagram zoom level
diagram_create_view_of	Create a view of an existing model on a diagram
diagram_link_object	Create a UMLLinkObject on an object diagram

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Notes & Shapes</strong> — notes, note links, free lines, shapes</summary>

Tool	Description
note_list	List all notes on a diagram
note_create	Create a note with text and position
note_get	Get note details
note_update	Update note text
note_delete	Delete a note
note_link_list	List all note links on a diagram
note_link_create	Create a link between a note and an element
note_link_delete	Delete a note link
free_line_list	List all free lines on a diagram
free_line_create	Create a free line on a diagram
free_line_delete	Delete a free line
shape_list	List all shapes on a diagram
shape_create	Create a shape (Text, TextBox, Rect, RoundRect, Ellipse, Hyperlink, Image)
shape_get	Get shape details
shape_update	Update shape text
shape_delete	Delete a shape

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Views & Elements</strong> — positioning, styling, element management</summary>

Tool	Description
view_update	Move/resize a view (left, top, width, height)
view_update_style	Update visual style (fillColor, lineColor, fontColor, fontSize, etc.)
view_reconnect	Reconnect an edge to different source/target
view_align	Align/distribute multiple views
element_update	Update any element's name and documentation
element_delete	Delete any element by ID
element_list_relationships	List all relationships of an element
element_list_views	List all views of an element across diagrams
element_relocate	Move element to a different parent
element_create_child	Create a child element (attribute, operation, etc.)
element_reorder	Reorder element within parent (up/down)

</details>

Related Projects

This server is part of the StarUML Controller MCP family:

Server	Diagram Type
staruml-controller-erd-mcp	Entity-Relationship Diagram
staruml-controller-seq-mcp	Sequence Diagram
staruml-controller-class-mcp	Class / Package Diagram
staruml-controller-usecase-mcp	Use Case Diagram
staruml-controller-activity-mcp	Activity Diagram
staruml-controller-bpmn-mcp	BPMN Diagram
staruml-controller-sysml-mcp	SysML Diagram
and 18 more...

All servers share common tools and add diagram-specific tools on top. Install only what you need.

License

MIT