VEX MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for VEX Robotics Competition data using the RobotEvents API. This server enables Claude Desktop (and other MCP clients) to access comprehensive VEX competition data including teams, events, rankings, and skills scores.

Features

• search-teams: Search for VEX teams by number, name, organization, or location
• get-team-info: Get detailed information about a specific team
• get-team-awards: Get all awards won by a specific team throughout their competitive history
• search-events: Search for VEX events by name, date, season, or program level
• get-event-details: Get detailed information about a specific event
• get-event-awards: Get award information for VEX events including winners and details
• get-team-rankings: Get team rankings and performance at events
• get-skills-scores: Get robot skills scores for teams
• search-forum: Search the VEX Forum for topics and posts
• get-forum-topic: Get detailed information about a forum topic with posts
• get-forum-post: Retrieve a single forum post by ID
• get-forum-user: Get user profile information from the forum
• list-forum-categories: List all available forum categories
• get-latest-forum-topics: Get the latest topics from the forum
• analyze-match-opponents: Analyze teammates and opponents for all matches at an event, showing their recent award history

🚀 Quick Start (1-Minute Setup!)

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18.0.0 or higher
• A RobotEvents API token (free registration required)

⚡ Method 1: NPM Installation (Recommended)

One-line installation:

npm install -g vex-mcp-server

Get your RobotEvents API token:

1. Visit https://www.robotevents.com/api/v2
2. Click "Request API Access" and fill out the form
3. Once approved, copy your JWT token

That's it! 🎉 You can now use vex-mcp-server directly in Claude Desktop.

🛠️ Method 2: Development Installation

For developers who want to modify the code:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yangjack8192/vex-mcp-server.git
   cd vex-mcp-server
   

2. Install and build:

   npm install
   npm run build
   

Usage with Claude Desktop

🎯 Super Simple Configuration (NPM Installation)

Location of config file:

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

Configuration (NPM version):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vex-robotics": {
      "command": "vex-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "ROBOTEVENTS_TOKEN": "your-actual-jwt-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

🛠️ Development Configuration

Configuration (Development version):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vex-robotics": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/vex-mcp-server/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "ROBOTEVENTS_TOKEN": "your-actual-jwt-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

📝 Setup Notes:

• Replace your-actual-jwt-token-here with your real RobotEvents API token
• Restart Claude Desktop after making configuration changes
• NPM installation = No paths needed! 🎉

Using the Server

Once configured, you can ask Claude questions like:

• "Find VEX teams in California"
• "Search for robotics events in Texas this season"
• "Get rankings for team 12345 at their last event"
• "Show me the skills scores for teams at the World Championship"
• "Analyze all my matches at event 12345 to see who my opponents are"
• "Help me scout my upcoming matches - show me opponent awards for team 10085A at event RE-VRC-24-1234"

Supported Programs

• VRC: VEX Robotics Competition (High School)
• VIQC: VEX IQ Challenge (Elementary/Middle School)
• VEXU: VEX U (College)

⚠️ Breaking Changes in v2.0.0

Important: If you're upgrading from v1.x, please note these breaking changes:

• Removed region parameter from search-events tool (due to format inconsistencies)
• Removed program parameter from search-events tool (not supported by API)

Migration: Update your queries to use alternative parameters like name, level, or season for event filtering.

API Tools Reference

Tool	Description	Parameters
search-teams	Find teams by number, name, or organization	number, name, organization, program, grade, country
get-team-info	Get detailed team information	team_id or team_number (required)
get-team-awards	Get all awards won by a team	team_id or team_number (required), season, event
search-events	Find events by name, date, or level	name, start, end, season, level, eventTypes
get-event-details	Get detailed event information	event_id (required)
get-event-awards	Get award information for events	event_id (required), team, winner
get-team-rankings	Get team rankings at events	team_id, event_id, season
get-skills-scores	Get robot skills scores	team_id, event_id, season
search-forum	Search VEX Forum for topics and posts	query, category, user, order, before, after, max_results
get-forum-topic	Get a forum topic with posts	topic_id, max_posts, include_raw
get-forum-post	Get a single forum post	post_id
get-forum-user	Get forum user profile	username
list-forum-categories	List all forum categories	None
get-latest-forum-topics	Get latest forum topics	category_slug, category_id, page, max_results
analyze-match-opponents	Analyze match opponents and teammates with their award history	team_id or team_number, event_id or event_sku

Match Analysis Tool Details

The analyze-match-opponents tool helps you scout and prepare for competition matches by showing you the award history of your teammates and opponents.

Use Case

Perfect for pre-competition preparation:

1. Look up all your scheduled matches at an upcoming event
2. See which teams you'll be paired with and against
3. Review each team's recent award history
4. Plan strategy based on opponent competitive background

Parameters

• team_id or team_number: Your team (either ID like 123456 or number like "10085A")
• event_id or event_sku: The event to analyze (either ID like 54321 or SKU like "RE-VRC-24-1234")

What You Get

For each match, the tool shows:

• Match information: Name and scheduled time
• Your Alliance: Your teammate teams and their recent awards
• Opponent Alliance: Opposing teams and their recent awards

Awards are displayed with event context (e.g., "Excellence Award (World Championship, VRC 2024-2025)") to give you a complete picture of each team's competitive history.

Example Usage

User: "Analyze my matches for team 10085A at event 54321"

Returns:
- List of all matches
- For each match:
  - Teammate teams with their recent awards
  - Opponent teams with their recent awards
  - Award details including event name and season

Example Output

## Match Q1
Time: 2024-03-15 10:30:00

### Your Alliance (10085A)
**Teammates**:
- 12345B Team Rocket
  - Recent awards: Excellence Award (State Championship, VRC 2024-2025); Tournament Champions (Regional Qualifier, VRC 2024-2025)

### Opponent Alliance
- 99999C Blue Devils
  - Recent awards: Design Award (Signature Event, VRC 2024-2025); Robot Skills Champion (State Championship, VRC 2023-2024)
- 88888D Green Machine
  - No recent awards found

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Error: Cannot find module" or "Command failed"

• Ensure you've run npm run build after installation
• Check that the path in Claude Desktop config points to the correct build/index.js file

"Authentication failed" or "Invalid token"

• Verify your RobotEvents API token is correct and active
• Make sure the token is properly set in environment variables or .env file
• Check that your API access has been approved by RobotEvents

"No events found" or "Search failed"

• The server uses a hybrid search approach (web search + API)
• Some searches may take a few seconds to complete
• Try different search terms or be more specific

Claude Desktop not recognizing the server

• Restart Claude Desktop after configuration changes
• Check the JSON syntax in your configuration file
• Ensure the file path uses forward slashes, even on Windows

Debug Mode

To see detailed debug logs:

node build/index.js 2>&1 | grep DEBUG

Support

• NPM Package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/vex-mcp-server
• Issues: Report bugs at GitHub Issues
• VEX Community: Discuss at VEX Forum
• RobotEvents API: Documentation at https://www.robotevents.com/api/v2

Updates

NPM users (recommended):

npm update -g vex-mcp-server

Development users:

git pull origin main
npm run build

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Test your changes thoroughly
4. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.