# MCP server

Source: https://joinopenfile.com/docs/mcp
Index: https://joinopenfile.com/llms.txt

The MCP server gives an agent every API endpoint as a tool, along with instructions for handling a filing. Connect it and ask something like "form an LLC in Wyoming" or "can I trademark Quillbrook for candles?".

Address: `https://mcp.joinopenfile.com`. It uses Streamable HTTP and needs no key.

## Connect

**Claude Code**

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http openfile https://mcp.joinopenfile.com
```

**Claude**: add a custom connector with the address above.

**Cursor**: add this to `.cursor/mcp.json`.

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openfile": { "url": "https://mcp.joinopenfile.com" }
  }
}
```

[Setup for each client](https://joinopenfile.com/docs/agents/claude.md) has the steps for each one: Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, Cline, Zed, n8n, Zapier, LangChain, Vercel AI SDK, OpenAI Agents SDK.

**Other clients**: use the address above with the Streamable HTTP transport. Servers that find tools by domain can read [/.well-known/mcp.json](https://joinopenfile.com/.well-known/mcp.json).

## How an agent files

1. `plan_task` returns the questions for the job, so the agent asks the owner instead of guessing.
2. For a company, `get_state` and `quote_formation` show the rules and fees. For a trademark, `screen_mark` and `search_marks` check the name.
3. `create_formation` or `create_application` saves a draft and lists what's missing in `issues`.
4. The agent sends the owner `review_url`. **The owner signs. The agent can't.**
5. `get_formation` or `get_application` shows the order or filing once they've signed.

The `form_company` and `file_trademark` prompts walk an agent through all of it. [Form a company](https://joinopenfile.com/docs/formations.md) and [Prepare an application](https://joinopenfile.com/docs/applications.md) have the details.

## Tools

| Tool | What it does | Changes anything |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `search_docs` | Searches OpenFile's docs and returns the best sections with a link to each. | No |
| `read_doc` | One docs page as Markdown, by its slug. | No |
| `plan_task` | The questions behind anything a person does here, with the options for each, the rules, and what only the person can do: form a company, check on an order, add-ons, file a trademark, check a name, check on a filing, office action replies, statements of use, extensions, Section 8 and 15, renewals, assignments, owner updates. | No |
| `get_pricing` | Formation packages, the trademark package, and USPTO fees. | No |
| `quote_application` | Every fee for a number of classes, with the government's marked. | No |
| `list_classes` | The Nice classes small businesses file in most, with ID Manual style wording. | No |
| `suggest_classes` | Classes and goods and services wording from a plain description of the business. | No |
| `screen_mark` | Checks a mark against common refusal grounds: descriptive, generic, surname, place name, famous brand. | No |
| `search_marks` | Searches live USPTO records for marks with this name, or lists an owner's marks. | No |
| `suggest_alternatives` | Names that keep the idea of a risky mark. | No |
| `check_site` | From a website or app store link: the brand, its legal owner, and which USPTO marks are theirs or someone else's. | No |
| `read_site` | What a website says about its owner, address and what's sold, each with the quote it came from. | No |
| `list_filing_types` | Everything that can be filed for a mark, with when it's due, what it costs for one class, and whether it can be started here. | No |
| `get_filing_type` | One filing with its explanation, the fields it needs and its fees for a number of classes. | No |
| `create_application` | Saves a draft trademark application and returns review_url for the owner, who checks it and signs. | Yes |
| `get_application` | A draft, what's still missing, and the filing once the owner has signed. | No |
| `update_application` | Changes the fields you send on a draft. | Yes |
| `list_states` | Every state with its LLC and corporation filing fees. | No |
| `get_state` | One state's filing fees, annual report, accepted company name endings and publication rules. | No |
| `list_services` | Every add-on with its price, whether it can go on a formation, and whether the owner orders it from their dashboard. | No |
| `quote_formation` | Every fee for a formation, with the state's marked. | No |
| `create_formation` | Saves a draft company formation and returns review_url for the owner, who checks it and signs the authorization. | Yes |
| `get_formation` | A draft formation, what's still missing, and the order once the owner has signed. | No |
| `update_formation` | Changes the fields you send on a draft formation. | Yes |
| `get_order` | A signed formation's status, what the owner still has to do, and the state file number once formed. | No |
| `get_filing` | A signed application's status, the attorney's note if there is one, and its USPTO serial number once filed. | No |
| `add_specimen` | Adds or replaces the image showing the mark in use, until the attorney has filed. | Yes |

Tools that change something only save a draft or add a specimen to a filing. None of them files anything with a state or the USPTO, sends anything to the attorney, or charges anyone.

## Prompts

| Prompt | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `form_company` | Prepare a company formation with the owner, from picking the state to sending them the link to sign. |
| `file_trademark` | Prepare a trademark application with the owner, from checking the name to sending them the link to sign. |
| `check_trademark` | Check whether a name is likely to be refused and who already owns it. |

## Tokens

The API has no accounts or keys yet, so there's no sign-in. A tool that reads one formation, order, application or filing takes that one's `token` as an input. See [Authentication](https://joinopenfile.com/docs/authentication.md).

## Common questions

### Does it need a key or an account?

No. Lookups are public with limits per IP. Each draft has its own token, returned when it's created.

### Can an agent file something by itself?

No. Tools save drafts and read status. Nothing reaches a state or the USPTO until the owner signs at `review_url`.

### What does it cost?

The server is free. The owner pays the same as on the site, and only for what they file.

### Can an agent see a Social Security number?

No. The API refuses one, and the owner gives it on our secure page.