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Glyphs info MCP

A unified MCP server integrating Glyphs handbook queries and API reference lookups for Glyphs font design software.

🚀 Quick Start

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• uv package manager - MCP officially recommended
• Claude Desktop - For running the MCP server
• macOS

Installation

Method 1: Using uvx (Recommended)

Step 1: Install uv

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Step 2: Configure Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "glyphs-info": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["glyphs-info-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop and you're ready to go!

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Method 2: Install from Source (Developers)

Prerequisites: uv installed (see Method 1 Step 1)

# Clone with submodules
git clone --recursive https://github.com/yintzuyuan/glyphs-info-mcp.git
cd glyphs-info-mcp

# Install dependencies
uv sync

Configure Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "glyphs-info-mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/Users/username/glyphs-info-mcp",
        "run",
        "glyphs-info-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

[!IMPORTANT] Replace /Users/username/glyphs-info-mcp with your actual absolute path.

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Verify Installation

uv run glyphs-info-mcp

You should see:

✅ Glyphs info MCP Server initialized with 8 unified tools

✨ Features

• 🔍 Unified Search - Smart query routing with automatic content type detection
• 🌏 Multilingual UI Terms - Support for Glyphs UI terminology in 14 languages
• 📚 Complete Handbook - All Glyphs official handbook content
• 🔌 Full API Reference - Python and Objective-C API documentation
• 🧠 Smart Cross-referencing - Automatic linking of related content
• 🛠️ MCP Protocol Compatible - Standardized tool interface
• 📦 Plugin Templates as Resources - Python and Xcode templates for plugin development

🎁 MCP Resources

MCP resources provide direct access to plugin development templates through Claude Desktop.

Python Plugin Templates (Issue #33)

8 Python templates for converting scripts to plugins:

• glyphs://plugin-template/filter_without_dialog - Filter without UI
• glyphs://plugin-template/filter_dialog_with_vanilla - Filter with Vanilla UI
• glyphs://plugin-template/filter_dialog_with_xib - Filter with XIB UI
• glyphs://plugin-template/reporter_without_dialog - Reporter plugin
• glyphs://plugin-template/palette_with_vanilla - Palette with Vanilla
• glyphs://plugin-template/general_without_dialog - General plugin
• glyphs://plugin-template/fileformat - File format plugin
• glyphs://plugin-template/selecttool - SelectTool plugin

Xcode Plugin Templates (Issue #34)

7 Xcode templates for native Objective-C plugin development:

• glyphs://xcode-template/reporter - Reporter plugins (.glyphsReporter)
• glyphs://xcode-template/filter - Filter plugins (.glyphsFilter)
• glyphs://xcode-template/palette - Palette plugins (.glyphsPalette)
• glyphs://xcode-template/tool - Tool plugins (.glyphsTool)
• glyphs://xcode-template/file_format - File format plugins
• glyphs://xcode-template/plugin - General plugins
• glyphs://xcode-template/plugin_base - Base template

Access Methods:

• Via Claude Desktop: Resources automatically appear in the MCP resources list
• Via Tools:
  • Python: sdk(action='list_python_templates') and sdk(action='get_python_template', template_id='...')
  • Xcode: sdk(action='list_xcode_templates') and sdk(action='get_xcode_template', template_id='...')

Placeholder Formats:

• Python: ____PluginClassName____, ____PluginName____, ____PluginMenuName____
• Xcode: ___PACKAGENAMEASIDENTIFIER___, ___FILENAME___, ___PACKAGENAME___, ___FULLUSERNAME___

Python Plugin Samples (Issue #37)

6 complete Python plugin examples with source code:

• glyphs://python-sample/callback_for_context_menu - Context menu callback example
• glyphs://python-sample/document_exported - Document export hook
• glyphs://python-sample/multipletools - Multiple tools in one plugin
• glyphs://python-sample/plugin_preferences - Plugin preferences handling
• glyphs://python-sample/plugin_with_window - Plugin with custom window
• glyphs://python-sample/smiley_panel_plugin - Panel plugin example

Xcode Plugin Samples (Issue #37)

4 complete Xcode/Objective-C plugin examples:

• glyphs://xcode-sample/custom_parameter_ui - Custom parameter UI
• glyphs://xcode-sample/inspector_demo - Inspector panel demo
• glyphs://xcode-sample/photo_font - PhotoFont plugin
• glyphs://xcode-sample/plugin_with_window - Plugin with window

Access Methods for Samples:

• Via Claude Desktop: Resources automatically appear in the MCP resources list
• Via Tools:
  • Python: sdk(action='list_python_samples') and sdk(action='get_python_sample', sample_name='...')
  • Xcode: sdk(action='list_samples') and sdk(action='get_sample', sample_name='...')

📋 Feature Overview

Operating Requirements

Module	Out-of-box	Network	Glyphs Required
Handbook	✅	First cache build	-
API (Python)	✅	-	-
API (Obj-C Headers)	-	-	✅
SDK Documentation	✅	-	-
mekkablue Scripts	✅	-	-
Light Table API	✅	-	-
Vocabulary	-	-	✅
Plugins (Local)	-	-	✅
Plugins (Official)	-	✅	-
News/Tutorials	-	✅	-

[!TIP] Out-of-box: Uses bundled GlyphsSDK submodule data, no extra setup needed. Network: Handbook only needs network for initial cache, then works offline. Glyphs Required: Reads from local Glyphs app (Headers from GlyphsCore.framework).

MCP Tools (8 Unified Entry Points)

The server provides 8 unified tools with action-based routing, reducing context token cost by ~85%:

• handbook - Glyphs Handbook operations
• vocabulary - UI terminology translation (14 languages)
• api - Python and Objective-C API reference
• plugins - Local and official plugin management
• scripts - mekkablue script collection (358+)
• sdk - SDK documentation and Xcode templates
• news - Forum, tutorials, and news search
• lighttable - Light Table version control API

handbook

Action	Description
search	Search handbook content
get	Get chapter content by filename
toc	Get table of contents
children	Get chapter children
parameter	Get custom parameter details
list_parameters	List all custom parameters
cache	Cache management (info/update)

vocabulary

Action	Description
translate	Translate UI term
search	Search UI terms
mapping	Get multi-locale translations
categories	List vocabulary categories

api

Action	Description
search_python	Search Python API
get_class	Get Python class info
get_member	Get class member info
search_objc	Search Obj-C headers
get_header	Get Obj-C header content
list_protocols	List plugin protocols
get_protocol	Get protocol methods
convert_objc	Convert Obj-C to Python name
convert_python	Convert Python to Obj-C name
identify_method	Identify method type
get_template	Get method implementation template
search_vanilla	Search Vanilla UI components
get_vanilla	Get Vanilla UI component
list_vanilla	List all Vanilla UI components
hierarchy	Get class hierarchy
relationships	Get class relationships
navigate	Navigate class structure

plugins

Action	Description
search_local	Search local plugins
search_official	Search official registry
get_info	Get plugin details
scan	Scan repositories directory
categories	List plugin categories

scripts

Action	Description
search	Search scripts
get	Get script details
categories	List script categories
list	List scripts in category

sdk

Action	Description
search	Search SDK content
get	Get SDK file content
list_xcode_templates	List Xcode templates
get_xcode_template	Get Xcode template
list_python_templates	List Python templates
get_python_template	Get Python template
list_samples	List Xcode samples
get_sample	Get Xcode sample
list_python_samples	List Python samples
get_python_sample	Get Python sample

news

Action	Description
search_forum	Search forum discussions
search_tutorials	Search tutorials
fetch_tutorial	Fetch tutorial content
fetch_forum	Fetch forum post
search_posts	Search news posts
fetch_content	Fetch news content

lighttable

Action	Description
search	Search Light Table API
get_enum	Get enum details
list_enums	List all enums
list_all	List all API items

📖 Usage Guide

Usage Examples

# Handbook queries
handbook(action="search", query="kerning")
handbook(action="get", filename="anchors.md")

# API queries
api(action="search_python", query="GSFont")
api(action="get_class", class_name="GSGlyph")

# UI terminology
vocabulary(action="translate", term="Cancel", target="zh-Hant")

Search Best Practices

• Use core English terminology words
• Prefer single concept keywords
• Utilize automatic query type detection
• Refer to the terminology reference for translations

🛠️ Development

Setup

# Install development dependencies
uv sync --extra dev

# Install test dependencies
uv sync --extra test

Code Quality

uv run black src/ tests/      # Formatting
uv run ruff check src/ --fix  # Linting
uv run mypy src/              # Type checking

Testing

uv run pytest                              # All tests
uv run pytest tests/test_specific.py       # Specific tests
uv run pytest --cov=src/glyphs_info_mcp    # Coverage

📚 Background

Development Approach

This project was largely built using Vibe Coding iterative development, focusing on rapid feature implementation and practicality.

Data Sources

• API Reference: Converted from Glyphs official GitHub SDK code
• Handbook Content: Scraped from Glyphs official handbook using an internal parser
• Terminology Translation: Extracted from Glyphs app localization string files (.strings)

Recommended Model

After testing, this project works best with Claude models. We recommend using it in the Claude Desktop environment for the best experience.

❓ FAQ

Restart your terminal, or run source ~/.zshrc

1. Ensure the path is an absolute path (not relative or using ~)
2. Check for JSON syntax errors
3. Restart Claude Desktop

uv sync --reinstall
python --version  # Requires 3.10+

⚙️ Configuration

Environment Variables

All paths are auto-detected. Only set these if using non-standard locations:

# export GLYPHS_APP_PATH=/Applications/Glyphs 3.app
# export GLYPHS_APP_HEADERS_PATH=/Applications/Glyphs\ 3.app/Contents/Frameworks/GlyphsCore.framework/Versions/A/Headers
# export GLYPHS_REPOSITORIES_PATH=~/Library/Application\ Support/Glyphs\ 3/Repositories

Or use the env field in Claude Desktop configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "glyphs-info": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["glyphs-info-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GLYPHS_APP_PATH": "/Applications/Glyphs 3.app"
      }
    }
  }
}

Module Enable/Disable

By default, all modules are enabled. To control specific modules, use environment variables:

Available modules: vocabulary, handbook, api, glyphs_plugins, glyphs_news, glyphs_sdk, light_table_api, mekkablue_scripts

Whitelist mode (enable only specified modules):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "glyphs-info": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["glyphs-info-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GLYPHS_ENABLED_MODULES": "handbook,api"
      }
    }
  }
}

Blacklist mode (disable specified modules):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "glyphs-info": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["glyphs-info-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GLYPHS_DISABLED_MODULES": "glyphs_news,glyphs_plugins"
      }
    }
  }
}

If both whitelist and blacklist are set, whitelist takes precedence.

🔗 Resources

• Glyphs Official Website
• Glyphs Handbook
• Glyphs Forum
• GlyphsSDK
• MCP Protocol
• Report Issues

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file.

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Glyphs info MCP - Making Glyphs knowledge queries simple and powerful

Last updated: 2026-01-05