Steady MCP (local)

This is a local MCP server that submits Steady check-ins by driving Steady’s web form (there is no official Steady API).

It’s built for the workflow:

You tell the AI: team + check-in fields (previous / next / blockers) → AI calls the MCP tool → Steady check-in is submitted.

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What this supports

• Email + password login (two-step flow from /signin) via steady_login
• Cookie-based auth via steady_set_cookies (fallback for non-standard auth flows)
• Team discovery via steady_list_teams
• Submitting a check-in for one team via steady_submit_checkin

How it works (important)

Steady rotates the _sthr_session cookie when you load the daily edit page (/check-ins/YYYY-MM-DD/edit).
So this server uses a curl cookie jar (cookiejar.txt) to preserve the updated session cookie between the GET and POST.

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Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Cursor (or another MCP client) with support for running local MCP servers over stdio
• Access to Steady web app (https://app.steady.space)

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Install

cd tools/steady-mcp
npm install

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Configure Cursor (MCP)

Add a server entry to your Cursor MCP config.

Where is mcp.json?

Common locations:

• macOS / Linux: ~/.cursor/mcp.json
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\\.cursor\\mcp.json

If you don’t see it, use Cursor’s UI settings for MCP servers (recommended), or search for mcp.json on your machine.

Quickstart: macOS (recommended)

1. Install Node.js 18+

• If you use Homebrew:

brew install node
node -v

2. Install dependencies

cd <ABS_PATH_TO_REPO>/tools/steady-mcp
npm install

3. Add steady-mcp to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (example below)

4. Restart Cursor (quit + reopen)

5. In Cursor, run:

• steady_login
• steady_submit_checkin

Quickstart: Windows

1. Install Node.js 18+

• If you use winget:

winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS
node -v

2. Install dependencies

cd <ABS_PATH_TO_REPO>\tools\steady-mcp
npm install

3. Add steady-mcp to %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json

4. Restart Cursor (fully quit + reopen)

5. In Cursor, run:

• steady_login
• steady_submit_checkin

Example mcp.json snippet

Replace <ABS_PATH_TO_REPO> and your email.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "steady-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "<ABS_PATH_TO_REPO>/tools/steady-mcp/src/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "STEADY_BASE_URL": "https://app.steady.space",
        "STEADY_EMAIL": "you@company.com",
        "STEADY_PASSWORD": "<YOUR_PASSWORD>",
        "STEADY_MCP_DEBUG": "0"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windows path tip (important)

In JSON, Windows backslashes require escaping. Easiest option: use forward slashes in the args path:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "steady-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "C:/Users/<YOU>/path/to/repo/tools/steady-mcp/src/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "STEADY_BASE_URL": "https://app.steady.space",
        "STEADY_EMAIL": "you@company.com",
        "STEADY_PASSWORD": "<YOUR_PASSWORD>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Security note

• STEADY_PASSWORD in mcp.json is the simplest setup, but it’s not ideal for security.
• Prefer STEADY_PASSWORD_COMMAND (password retrieved at runtime) whenever possible.

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Credentials / Secrets (cross-platform)

The server reads credentials from environment variables provided by your MCP client.

Option A (simple): plaintext env password

• STEADY_EMAIL
• STEADY_PASSWORD

Option B (recommended): password command

• STEADY_EMAIL
• STEADY_PASSWORD_COMMAND — command that prints the password to stdout (no prompts)

Examples:

• macOS Keychain (recommended on macOS)
  1. Store once:

security add-generic-password -a "you@company.com" -s "steady-mcp" -w "<YOUR_PASSWORD>" -U

2. In MCP env:
   • STEADY_PASSWORD_COMMAND=security find-generic-password -w -s steady-mcp -a you@company.com

• Windows: use a password manager CLI (e.g. 1Password CLI / Bitwarden CLI) or a small local script that prints the password.
• Any OS: use your password manager’s CLI, or a small script you keep outside git.

Option C (macOS-only fallback): Keychain lookup without a command

If you have a Keychain entry, the server can read it automatically on macOS:

• STEADY_EMAIL=you@company.com
• optionally STEADY_KEYCHAIN_SERVICE=steady-mcp
• optionally STEADY_KEYCHAIN_ACCOUNT=you@company.com

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Authentication options

1) Login automation (email → password)

Use:

• steady_login

This will log in and write:

• cookies.txt (Cookie header string)
• cookiejar.txt (curl jar; used internally to handle session rotation)

2) Cookie-based auth (fallback)

If login automation doesn’t work for your Steady account, you can set cookies from your browser:

1. In Steady (browser): DevTools → Application/Storage → Cookies → https://app.steady.space
2. Copy these cookies:
   • _sthr_session
   • remember_user_token (if present)
3. Build a Cookie header string:

_sthr_session=...; remember_user_token=...

4. Call:

• steady_set_cookies with { "cookies": "_sthr_session=...; remember_user_token=..." }

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File locations (where cookies are stored)

Defaults (can be overridden via env):

• macOS
  • cookies: ~/Library/Application Support/steady-mcp/cookies.txt
  • jar: ~/Library/Application Support/steady-mcp/cookiejar.txt
• Windows
  • cookies: %APPDATA%\\steady-mcp\\cookies.txt
  • jar: %APPDATA%\\steady-mcp\\cookiejar.txt
• Linux
  • cookies: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/steady-mcp/cookies.txt (or ~/.config/steady-mcp/cookies.txt)
  • jar: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/steady-mcp/cookiejar.txt (or ~/.config/steady-mcp/cookiejar.txt)

Overrides:

• STEADY_COOKIES_PATH
• STEADY_COOKIE_JAR_PATH

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Usage (day-to-day)

Step 0: Restart Cursor

After adding/updating MCP config, fully restart Cursor (quit + reopen).

Step 1: Login (refresh cookies)

Call:

• steady_login

Then verify:

• steady_ping → should return { "ok": true }

Step 2: List team names (optional)

Call:

• steady_list_teams

Step 3: Submit today’s check-in for one team

Call:

• steady_submit_checkin

Example:

{
  "team": "Everest AI",
  "previous": "Wrapped up CI fixes and reviewed PRs.",
  "text": "Next: finalize the MCP schema changes and update docs.",
  "blockers": "No blockers.",
  "mood": "calm"
}

Success is typically:

• status_code: 302

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Tools (API surface)

• steady_login: log in and save cookies locally
• steady_set_cookies: save browser cookies manually
• steady_ping: validate auth
• steady_list_teams: list team names/ids from the daily edit page
• steady_submit_checkin: submit for one team

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Troubleshooting

Start here: docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md

Common issues:

• Tool not found in Cursor

  • fully restart Cursor
  • verify the mcp.json entry path is correct and absolute
  • verify npm install was run in tools/steady-mcp

• HTTP 422

  • usually means the submission was rejected (already checked in / stale session / insufficient permission)
  • run steady_login again and retry
  • confirm the team is actually pending on Steady’s daily page

• Need debug

  • set STEADY_MCP_DEBUG=1 (warning: debug output may include sensitive cookies)