mcp-surface-hygiene

name	mcp-surface-hygiene
description	Use this skill when reviewing, provisioning, or documenting MCP membrane tools for external clients such as Perplexity, Claude, or Codex. It keeps Muninn capture, LifeGraph tools, and raw graph/runtime tools separated.
catalog	{"skill_name":"mcp.surface_hygiene","implied_tools":["mcp.status","mcp.provision","mcp.revoke"],"validation_state":"proposed","skill_markers":["governed","membrane","boundary_hygiene"],"field_sources":{"required_fields":["endpoint_id","intended_client","advertised_tools"],"optional_fields":["exposure","preapproval_rules","owner_agent"],"repo_skill_path":"skills/mcp-surface-hygiene/SKILL.md","workflow":"mcp.status -> surface audit -> mcp.provision/mcp.revoke if needed -> smoke external call"}}

MCP Surface Hygiene

Use this skill before exposing, changing, or documenting an MCP membrane endpoint.

Purpose

The MCP membrane is an external protocol boundary. Its job is to expose a small, deliberate tool surface to external clients without making the philote cognitive loop, raw graph operations, or LifeGraph truth writes the default hot path.

Ownership Split

• context.capture is a Perplexity-to-Muninn continuity route.
• life.recall retrieves governed LifeGraph context packets.
• life.observe proposes LifeGraph evidence; it does not confirm durable truth by itself.
• life.commit, life.resolve, and raw graph writes require explicit governance or operator approval.
• mcp.provision configures the membrane; it is not the backend for the advertised tools.

Surface Rules

Keep each MCP endpoint boring and explicit:

1. Name tools for the storage surface they touch.
2. State whether the tool writes to Muninn, proposes LifeGraph evidence, or only reads.
3. Do not advertise context.capture as a general knowledge-system write. It writes Muninn continuity memory.
4. Do not route context.capture into LifeGraph.
5. Do not expose raw graph/database mutation tools to external clients unless the endpoint is explicitly an admin endpoint with operator-approved preapproval rules.
6. Prefer separate endpoints for different authority levels, such as perplexity-memory and lifegraph-readonly.

Recommended External Client Surface

For Perplexity:

• context.capture: write to Muninn continuity memory.
• Optional life.recall: read-only LifeGraph context, if the endpoint and bearer scope explicitly allow it.
• Optional life.patch.propose: propose governed improvements, not apply them.

For Claude or Codex outside the hotel runtime:

• Prefer life.recall and life.observe through a governed endpoint.
• Keep life.commit and life.resolve unavailable or approval-gated.
• Use native projected tools when already running inside Philotic.

Review Checklist

Before calling an MCP surface clean, verify:

• tools/list descriptions name the destination surface.
• bearer scopes match the advertised authority.
• preapproval rules are narrower than the tool list.
• each write path has a validation state in the description.
• the endpoint exposure tier matches the actual network path.
• one external smoke call proves the route lands on the intended backend.

Anti-Patterns

• A tool called save_memory that might write Muninn, LifeGraph, Obsidian, or raw graph depending on mood.
• Routing external MCP calls through a model turn when a deterministic runner owns the operation.
• Letting life.observe sound like confirmed truth.
• Reusing a Perplexity bearer token for higher-agency LifeGraph or admin tools.