polish-docs-meta

name	polish-docs-meta
description	Finalize documentation and project metadata for a ship-ready MCP server. Use after implementation is complete, tests pass, and devcheck is clean. Safe to run at any stage — each step checks current state and only acts on what still needs work.
metadata	{"author":"cyanheads","version":"2.11","audience":"external","type":"workflow"}

When to Use

• Server implementation is functionally complete (tools, resources, prompts, services all working)
• bun run devcheck passes, tests pass
• You're preparing for first commit, first release, or making the repo public
• User says "polish", "polish docs", "finalize", "make it ship-ready", "clean up docs", or similar
• Re-running after adding/removing tools, resources, or other surface area changes

Prefer running after implementation is complete, but safe to re-run at any point — steps are idempotent.

Companion: pair with security-pass for a full pre-ship review — this skill polishes docs and metadata; security-pass audits handlers for MCP-specific security gaps.

Prerequisites

• All tools/resources/prompts implemented and registered
• bun run devcheck passes
• Tests pass (bun run test)

If these aren't met, address them first.

Steps

1. Audit the Surface Area

Read all tool, resource, and prompt definitions. Build a mental model of what the server actually does — names, descriptions, input/output shapes, auth scopes. This inventory drives every document below.

Read:

• src/index.ts (what's registered in createApp())
• All files in src/mcp-server/tools/definitions/
• All files in src/mcp-server/resources/definitions/
• All files in src/mcp-server/prompts/definitions/
• All files in src/services/ (if any)
• src/config/server-config.ts (if any)

Capture: tool count, resource count, prompt count, service count, required env vars.

2. README.md

Read references/readme.md for structure and conventions. If README.md doesn't exist, create it from scratch. If it exists, diff the current content against the audit — update tool/resource/prompt tables, env var lists, and descriptions to match the actual surface area. Don't rewrite sections that are already accurate.

The bold header tagline (the <b> text inside the first <p>) must match the package.json description. The surface count is a nested <div> inside the same <p>, separated by •.

3. Agent Protocol (CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md)

Update the project's agent protocol file to reflect the actual server. Scope is the project-root CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md only — do not edit skills/*/SKILL.md or their references/ files. Those are external skill files synced from @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core and get overwritten on the next maintenance refresh.

Read references/agent-protocol.md for the full update checklist, then review the current file and address what's stale or missing:

• If a "First Session" onboarding block is still present and onboarding is complete, it can go
• If example patterns still use generic/template names (e.g., searchItems, itemData), replace with real definitions from this server
• If server-specific skills were added, update the skills table
• Verify the structure diagram matches the actual directory layout
• If custom scripts were added to package.json, update the commands table

4. .env.example

Compare .env.example against the server config Zod schema. Add any missing server-specific vars with a comment and default (if any). Remove vars for features that no longer exist. Group by category. Preserve existing framework vars that are still relevant.

5. package.json Metadata

Check for empty or placeholder metadata fields. Read references/package-meta.md for which fields matter and why. Fill in anything still missing — skip fields that are already correct.

Key fields: name, description, repository, author, homepage, bugs, keywords.

name must communicate the server's domain at a glance. See references/package-meta.md for the naming convention — ambiguous abbreviations and acronym-only names fail the scannability test for humans and agents alike.

name and title in createApp() / createWorkerHandler() must match the unscoped package.json name — display identity is the machine name on every surface; lint:packaging (run by devcheck) enforces the match and warns when the pair is partial. description is never duplicated into the entrypoint — package.json is the canonical source (the framework derives the served description from it). Adopting the pair also seeds OTEL_SERVICE_NAME when unset, so telemetry's service.name switches to the machine name on first boot — expect a one-time series split in backends keyed on the old scoped label.

description is the canonical source. Every other surface (README header, server.json, Dockerfile OCI label, GitHub repo description) derives from it. Write it here first, then propagate.

6. server.json

Read references/server-json.md for the official MCP server manifest schema. If server.json doesn't exist, create it from the surface area audit. If it exists, diff against current state and update stale fields.

Key sync points:

• $schema set to https://static.modelcontextprotocol.io/schemas/2025-12-11/server.schema.json
• name matches mcpName from package.json (reverse-domain: io.github.{owner}/{repo})
• version matches package.json version (in all three places: top-level + each package entry)
• description matches package.json description
• environmentVariables reflect the server config Zod schema — server-specific required vars in both entries, transport vars only in HTTP entry
• Two package entries: one for stdio, one for HTTP (if both transports supported)

7. GitHub Repository Metadata

Sync the GitHub repo with package.json using the gh CLI. Skip if the repo isn't hosted on GitHub or gh isn't available.

Description:

gh repo edit <owner>/<repo> --description "<package.json description>"

Topics ↔ Keywords:

Compare GitHub topics (gh repo view --json repositoryTopics) against package.json keywords. They should be the union — add any that exist in one but not the other:

• Missing from GitHub → gh repo edit --add-topic <topic>
• Missing from package.json → add to keywords array

Common keywords shared across MCP servers (e.g., mcp, mcp-server, model-context-protocol, typescript) should appear in both. Domain-specific keywords should also be present in both.

8. bunfig.toml

Verify a bunfig.toml exists at the project root. If not, create one:

[install]
auto = "fallback"
frozenLockfile = false

[run]
bun = true

9. Changelog

Two patterns are supported — pick one and stay consistent.

Pattern	Best for
Directory-based (template default)	Published libraries, or servers whose consumers run the maintenance skill against them — per-version files ship inside node_modules/<pkg>/changelog/<minor>.x/<version>.md for direct agent inspection.
Monolithic CHANGELOG.md	Runtime-only consumer servers where nobody imports types and nobody runs maintenance against the package — skips the build step and devcheck drift gate.

Both are acceptable. The template scaffolds the directory-based structure by default; collapse to monolithic only if the rollup tooling is pure ceremony for this project.

Directory-based — per-version files live at changelog/<major.minor>.x/<version>.md (e.g. changelog/0.1.x/0.1.0.md), and CHANGELOG.md is a rollup regenerated by bun run changelog:build. Devcheck's Changelog Sync step enforces drift protection. changelog/template.md is a pristine format reference — never edited, never moved, never renamed. Read it to remember the frontmatter + section layout when scaffolding a new per-version file.

If the structure doesn't exist yet:

1. Make the changelog/ directory
2. Create changelog/template.md once from the template (frontmatter stub + H1 # <version> — YYYY-MM-DD placeholder + empty Added/Changed/Fixed sections) — this file is a format reference only and stays as-is after creation
3. If the server already has a shipped version (e.g. 0.1.0), create the series directory and initial entry: changelog/0.1.x/0.1.0.md with H1 # 0.1.0 — YYYY-MM-DD, concrete version and date — do not rename or move template.md to create the version file; author the per-version file directly
4. Run bun run changelog:build to generate CHANGELOG.md

Per-version file format:

---
summary: One-line headline for the rollup index — ≤350 chars, no markdown
breaking: false
---

# 0.1.0 — YYYY-MM-DD

Optional narrative intro (1-3 sentences).

## Added

- [list tools, resources, prompts, key capabilities]

Frontmatter: summary is required (powers the CHANGELOG.md index), breaking is optional and defaults to false (set true for releases requiring consumer code changes).

Never hand-edit CHANGELOG.md when using this pattern — it's a build artifact. Never edit changelog/template.md — it's the format reference. Never use [Unreleased] as a version header in a released file.

Monolithic — maintain CHANGELOG.md directly in Keep a Changelog format. To collapse from the template default: delete the changelog/ directory, remove changelog:build and changelog:check from package.json scripts (and from devcheck.config.json if referenced), and drop "changelog/" from the files array. The release skill's directory-specific steps then don't apply — just edit CHANGELOG.md and bump version at release time.

10. Plugin Metadata (Codex / Claude Code)

lint:packaging (run by devcheck) now enforces the high-value subset automatically when these manifests are present: non-empty descriptions, and identity/install correctness — display fields (name, server key, interface.displayName) must be the unscoped machine name, while the npx -y install arg must be the full package.json name (scoped if scoped). Opt out per project with "packaging": { "pluginManifests": false } in devcheck.config.json. The checks below cover the fields the gate doesn't (version / repository / license sync, category, env vars).

If .codex-plugin/plugin.json exists, verify it's populated and in sync with package.json and server.json:

• name is the unscoped package.json name (display identity is the machine name on every surface)
• version matches package.json version
• description matches package.json description
• repository matches package.json repository.url
• license matches package.json license
• interface.displayName is the unscoped package.json name
• interface.shortDescription matches package.json description
• interface.category is set to a meaningful category

If .codex-plugin/mcp.json exists, verify the server-name key is the unscoped package.json name, the npx -y install arg is the full package.json name, and env vars include any required API keys from the server config schema.

If .claude-plugin/plugin.json exists, apply the same checks: name (unscoped), version, description, repository, license from package.json. Verify the inline mcpServers entry key is the unscoped name, its npx -y install arg is the full package.json name, and env vars include any required API keys.

11. MCPB Bundling Artifacts

If the project ships as an .mcpb bundle for Claude Desktop (check for manifest.json at the project root), verify the full artifact set is present and consistent. If the project doesn't ship .mcpb bundles, skip this step.

Files that must exist:

• manifest.json — MCPB manifest with mcp_config.env, user_config, and metadata
• .mcpbignore — controls what's excluded from the bundle

package.json scripts:

• bundle — builds the .mcpb (mcpb pack, then scripts/clean-mcpb.ts prunes dev deps and strips dependency-shipped agent docs)
• lint:packaging — validates manifest.json ↔ server.json env var consistency (run by devcheck)

Cross-file consistency:

• manifest.json version matches package.json version
• Env var names in manifest.json (mcp_config.env + user_config) match server.json environmentVariables — lint:packaging enforces this, but verify the set is complete
• manifest.json name matches package.json name without the npm scope prefix (e.g. bls-mcp-server, not @cyanheads/bls-mcp-server); description matches package.json
• manifest.json author is the full person object — { "name", "email", "url" } — carrying the same identity as package.json author (name matches the LICENSE copyright holder, url is the author's site)
• manifest.json user_config entries must include title and type fields — mcpb pack validates these
• For each user_config entry referenced as ${user_config.X} in mcp_config.env: if it's not required: true, set "default": "". MCPB hosts (Claude Desktop included) pass the literal placeholder string through to the process when an optional field is left blank without a default — strict consumer validators (z.email(), z.url(), .regex()) then crash at lazy config load, exiting silently after initialize. Server-side: pair every optional env-backed strict-validator field with a z.preprocess that strips ${...} placeholders to undefined.
• server.json env var isRequired must match the upstream API's actual requirement — if the API works without the value (rate-limited, DEMO_KEY fallback, polite pool), mark isRequired: false and describe the tradeoff in the description
• Server description aligned across all surfaces: package.json, manifest.json, server.json (condensed, hard 100-char limit), README header <p><b>, and GitHub repo description (gh repo edit --description)
• package.json keywords include baseline terms: mcp, mcp-server, model-context-protocol, typescript, bun, stdio, streamable-http, plus data-domain terms. GitHub repo topics (gh repo edit --add-topic) should match.

README install badges:

• If manifest.json exists, the README should include the Claude Desktop install badge linking to releases/latest/download/<name>.mcpb
• If the package is published to npm, include Cursor and VS Code install badges
• See references/readme.md for badge format and config generation commands

12. LICENSE

Confirm a license file exists. If not, ask the user which license to use (default: Apache-2.0, matching the scaffolded package.json). Create the file.

13. Dockerfile

If a Dockerfile exists, verify the OCI labels and runtime config match the actual server:

• org.opencontainers.image.title matches the package name
• org.opencontainers.image.description matches package.json description
• org.opencontainers.image.source points to the real repository URL (add if missing)
• Log directory path in mkdir and LOGS_DIR uses the correct server name

If no Dockerfile exists and the server is deployed via HTTP transport, consider scaffolding one — the template is available via npx @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core init.

14. docs/tree.md

Regenerate the directory structure:

bun run tree

Review the output for anything unexpected (leftover files, missing directories).

15. Final Verification

Run the full check suite one last time:

bun run devcheck
bun run test

Both must pass clean.

Checklist

• Surface area audited — tool/resource/prompt/service inventory built
• README.md accurate — tool/resource tables, config, descriptions match actual code
• Agent protocol file accurate — no stale template content, real examples, structure matches reality
• .env.example in sync with server config schema
• package.json metadata complete (description, mcpName, repository, author, keywords, engines, packageManager)
• server.json matches official MCP schema, versions synced, env vars current
• GitHub repo description matches package.json description; topics ↔ keywords in sync
• bunfig.toml present
• Changelog current — either monolithic CHANGELOG.md (hand-edited, Keep a Changelog) or directory-based (changelog/<minor>.x/<version>.md + rollup regenerated and in sync)