MCP Server

May 31, 2026 · View on GitHub

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that lets LLM clients execute build commands on JVM projects. Supports Maven and Gradle with automatic project detection.

How It Works

You talk to an LLM (Claude, Goose, etc.). The LLM translates your request into build commands and calls the server. The server runs them and returns the output.

You:     "Build this project"
Claude:   → execute_build_command(projectDir="...", command="clean compile")
Server:   → mvn clean compile
You:      sees the build output

Supported Build Tools

Tool	Detection	Home Required	Fallback
Maven	`pom.xml`	Yes	`maven.home` prop
Gradle	`build.gradle`, `settings.gradle`, etc.	No	`gradlew` in project, then `gradle` on PATH

The server auto-detects which build tool to use based on project files. If both Maven and Gradle markers are present, Maven is tried first.

Available Tools

The server exposes 3 MCP tools:

Tool	What It Does
`get_build_tool_version`	Returns the installed version of a build tool. Pass `"maven"` or `"gradle"`.
`execute_build_command`	Runs a build command. Auto-detects the tool from project files.
`list_build_tools`	Lists registered tools and their supported commands.

Examples

Maven project:

execute_build_command(buildToolName="maven", buildToolHome="/opt/maven",
    projectDir="/path/to/project", command="clean install")

Gradle project with wrapper (no home needed):

execute_build_command(projectDir="/path/to/project", command="build")

Any project (auto-detect):

execute_build_command(projectDir="/path/to/project", command="test")

Installation

Prerequisites

Java 21 or later
Maven (to build the JAR)
An MCP client (Claude Desktop, Goose, Continue, etc.)

Build

git clone https://github.com/thepragmatik/mcp-server-jvm-build-tools.git
cd mcp-server-jvm-build-tools
mvn clean package -DskipTests

The JAR is at target/mcp-server-jvm-build-tools.jar.

Configure Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or the equivalent on your platform:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "jvm-build-tools": {
            "command": "/path/to/java",
            "args": ["-jar", "/path/to/mcp-server-jvm-build-tools.jar"]
        }
    }
}

Note: Don't pass -Dmaven.home as a JVM argument — the server's tools handle build tool paths. For Maven, set MAVEN_HOME in your environment or pass buildToolHome when calling execute_build_command.

Docker

docker build -t mcp-server-jvm-build-tools .
docker run -i --rm mcp-server-jvm-build-tools

Volume-mount your project directory and Maven/Gradle homes as needed.

Security

The server prevents shell injection (metacharacters like &&, |, ;, $(), backticks are blocked) and path traversal. It does not restrict which build commands you can run — you can use any Maven goal or Gradle task. The server trusts you to know what you're doing.