Callout

You used AI to write code for 3 days. Callout tells you 60% of it was over-engineered.

AI coding tools make you 10x faster at writing code. Nobody checks if you're building the right thing. Callout is the second pair of eyes — 9 expert perspectives that catch what you miss, delivered as an MCP server that works inside Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and Windsurf.

Why Callout exists

A real product was built using Claude Code in 6 days: 186 files, 691 tests. A multi-perspective review on Day 5 found that 60% was over-engineered. 9 days of planned work reduced to 3.5 days. The key insight: the problem wasn't bad code — it was wrong priorities and missed blind spots.

Callout makes that review available to every developer, automatically.

30-second setup

npx callout-dev setup

No global install needed. Run this from your project directory. Callout auto-detects your editor and configures the MCP server.

After setup, restart your editor (or re-enter Claude Code from the project directory), then say:

Review this project

Claude Code:

claude mcp add callout -- npx callout-dev

Cursor / VS Code — add to your editor's MCP config (.cursor/mcp.json or .vscode/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "callout": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["callout-dev"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf — add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json with the same format.

After any manual setup, restart your editor so it picks up the new MCP server.

Quick Start: What to say

Multi-project? Say "portfolio" for cross-project health status and resource allocation advice.

Core Features

review — 9 expert perspectives on your project

3 groups, 9 perspectives:

Every finding is categorized as MUST FIX, SHOULD FIX, or GOOD with effort estimates. Starts with an Executive Summary.

> Review this project                              — full 9-perspective review
> Review with founder group                        — investor + unicorn founder + solo entrepreneur
> Review focus: should I use Supabase or Firebase?  — focused on one decision
> Review security + CTO only                       — selected perspectives

coach — AI collaboration blind spot detector

Analyzes your project setup, development habits, and knowledge gaps. Tells you what you don't know you're doing wrong when working with AI coding tools.

idea_score — Quantitative idea validator

Scores your idea across 10 dimensions (market size, feasibility, moat, revenue potential, etc.) with a skeptical default stance. Returns a verdict: CONTINUE, SIMPLIFY, PAUSE, or DELETE.

Domain Knowledge Guard — Make AI read docs before coding

Bind official documentation to code paths. Once bound, AI must read the referenced docs before modifying protected files.

> Bind Stripe docs to payment code     — register a doc binding
> Check if my code matches the docs    — compliance verification
> Start a renovation for stripe        — systematic domain knowledge audit

Tools: doc (register/remove/list/check), doc_gate, renovation

test_translate — Plain-language test results

Parses test output and tells you: what's tested, what failed, and produces a manual test script.

recommend — Tool recommendations

Detects what your project needs (auth, database, payments, etc.) and recommends the best tool — with install commands, setup steps, and alternatives.

Smart auto-triggers

After running init, Callout speaks up automatically:

• New feature described → discusses before coding
• Opening a new project → coach analysis
• Modifying doc-protected files → gates until docs are read
• Completing a milestone → suggests review

Works Best With (optional companion MCPs)

Callout integrates with these MCP servers when installed — no configuration needed:

How it works

Callout is an MCP server. It collects your project context (file structure, dependencies, README, git history) and assembles expert-perspective prompts. Your AI tool executes the review.

Callout never calls an LLM itself. Zero API cost. No API key needed. Works with whatever model you already use.

All 19 tools

Contributing

Contributions welcome. Please open an issue before submitting a PR for significant changes.

npm install
npm run build
npm test

License

MIT