README - Maven Check MCP Server by danielscholl

Maven Check MCP Server

A lightweight MCP server that lets Large Language Models query Maven Central for artifact versions. This server allows Claude and other LLMs to find the latest version of a Maven dependency and check if a specific version exists.

Features

Find the latest version of any Maven dependency (library)
Check if a specific version of a dependency exists
Support for packaging types (jar, war, pom, etc.)
Automatic detection of POM dependencies (artifacts with -bom or -dependencies suffix)
Support for classifiers
Proper semantic versioning comparisons
Batch processing for multiple dependencies in a single request
Connection via Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/danielscholl/maven-mcp-server.git
cd maven-mcp-server

# Install dependencies and the package
uv sync && uv pip install -e .

MCP Server Configuration

To use this MCP server with your projects, add the following to your .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "maven-check": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "maven-check"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Usage

Start the server:

uv run maven-check

For debug logging:

uv run maven-check --debug

Tools

This MCP server provides five tools:

1. get_maven_latest_version

Gets the latest version of a Maven dependency.

Parameters:

dependency (required): The dependency in the format 'groupId:artifactId'
packaging (optional): The packaging type, defaults to 'jar' (automatically uses 'pom' for dependencies with -bom or -dependencies suffix)
classifier (optional): The classifier, if any

Examples:

{
  "dependency": "org.apache.commons:commons-lang3"
}

{
  "dependency": "org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-dependencies"
}

Returns: The latest version as a string (e.g., "3.14.0")

2. check_maven_version_exists

Checks if a specific version of a Maven dependency exists.

Parameters:

dependency (required): The dependency in the format 'groupId:artifactId'
version (required): The version to check
packaging (optional): The packaging type, defaults to 'jar' (automatically uses 'pom' for dependencies with -bom or -dependencies suffix)
classifier (optional): The classifier, if any

Examples:

{
  "dependency": "org.apache.commons:commons-lang3",
  "version": "3.14.0"
}

{
  "dependency": "org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-dependencies",
  "version": "3.2.0"
}

Returns: A boolean indicating whether the version exists ("true" or "false")

3. find_maven_latest_component_version

Gets the latest version of a Maven dependency based on semantic versioning component (major, minor, or patch).

Parameters:

dependency (required): The dependency in the format 'groupId:artifactId'
version (required): The version in semantic version format (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH)
target_component (required): The component to find the latest version for, one of: "major", "minor", "patch"
packaging (optional): The packaging type, defaults to 'jar' (automatically uses 'pom' for dependencies with -bom or -dependencies suffix)
classifier (optional): The classifier, if any

Examples:

{
  "dependency": "org.apache.commons:commons-lang3",
  "version": "3.12.0",
  "target_component": "minor"
}

{
  "dependency": "org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-dependencies",
  "version": "3.1.0",
  "target_component": "minor"
}

Returns: The latest version as a string (e.g., "3.14.0")

Behavior by Target Component

major: Returns the highest available major version (across all versions)
minor: Returns the highest minor version within the given major version
patch: Returns the highest patch version within the given major.minor version

4. get_maven_all_latest_versions

Gets the latest versions for all semantic versioning components (major, minor, patch) in a single call.

Parameters:

dependency (required): The dependency in the format 'groupId:artifactId'
version (required): The version in semantic version format (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH)
packaging (optional): The packaging type, defaults to 'jar' (automatically uses 'pom' for dependencies with -bom or -dependencies suffix)
classifier (optional): The classifier, if any

Examples:

{
  "dependency": "org.apache.commons:commons-lang3",
  "version": "3.12.0"
}

{
  "dependency": "org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-dependencies",
  "version": "3.1.0"
}

Returns: A JSON object containing the latest versions for each component:

{
  "latest_major_version": "3.14.0",
  "latest_minor_version": "3.12.0",
  "latest_patch_version": "3.12.0"
}

5. batch_maven_versions_check

Checks the latest versions for multiple Maven dependencies in a single batch request, reducing the number of API calls when working with projects containing many dependencies.

Parameters:

dependencies (required): List of dependency objects to check, each containing:
- dependency (required): The dependency in the format 'groupId:artifactId'
- version (required): The version in any supported format
- packaging (optional): The packaging type, defaults to 'jar' (automatically uses 'pom' for dependencies with -bom or -dependencies suffix)
- classifier (optional): The classifier, if any

Example:

{
  "dependencies": [
    {
      "dependency": "org.apache.commons:commons-lang3",
      "version": "3.12.0" 
    },
    {
      "dependency": "org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-dependencies", 
      "version": "3.1.0"
    },
    {
      "dependency": "org.json:json",
      "version": "20231013"
    }
  ]
}

Returns: A JSON object containing a summary and results for each dependency:

{
  "summary": {
    "total": 3,
    "success": 3,
    "failed": 0
  },
  "dependencies": [
    {
      "dependency": "org.apache.commons:commons-lang3",
      "status": "success",
      "versions": {
        "latest_major_version": "3.14.0",
        "latest_minor_version": "3.12.0",
        "latest_patch_version": "3.12.0"
      }
    },
    {
      "dependency": "org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-dependencies",
      "status": "success",
      "versions": {
        "latest_major_version": "3.2.0",
        "latest_minor_version": "3.1.5",
        "latest_patch_version": "3.1.0"
      }
    },
    {
      "dependency": "org.json:json",
      "status": "success",
      "versions": {
        "latest_major_version": "20240303",
        "latest_minor_version": "20240303",
        "latest_patch_version": "20240303"
      }
    }
  ]
}

How It Works

The server works by:

Querying the Maven Central Repository Search API
Parsing and validating dependency formats
Automatically detecting POM dependencies:
- Identifies artifacts with "-bom" or "-dependencies" suffix
- Uses "pom" packaging type for these artifacts
For latest version queries:
- Fetches all versions of the artifact
- Sorts them using proper semantic versioning rules
- Returns the most recent version
For version existence checks:
- Directly queries Maven Central for the specific version
- Returns whether it exists
For batch version checks:
- Processes multiple dependency requests in a single call
- Returns detailed results for each dependency with success/error status
- Provides a summary with counts of successful and failed requests

Development

Testing

Run all tests:

uv run pytest

Using with Claude

Once the server is set up and Claude Code is connected, you can use the tools like this:

Get the latest version of a Maven dependency:

What is the latest version of org.springframework:spring-framework-bom

Check if a specific version exists:

Does version 3.14.0 of org.apache.commons:commons-lang3 exist?

Get latest patch version:

I'm using version 2.0.2 of org.springdoc:springdoc-openapi-starter-webmvc-ui what is the latest patch?

Working with BOM and POM dependencies:
```
What is the latest version of org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-dependencies?
```
The server automatically detects dependencies with "-dependencies" or "-bom" suffix and uses POM packaging type.
Get all latest versions in one call:
```
Check latest versions org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-dependencies (currently using 3.1.0)
```
This returns the latest major, minor, and patch versions in a single call, making it efficient for understanding upgrade options.

Check multiple dependencies at once with batch processing:

I need to check the latest versions for:
- org.apache.commons:commons-lang3 (currently using 3.12.0)
- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-dependencies (currently using 3.1.0)
- org.json:json (currently using 20231013)

The batch processing tool checks all dependencies in one request, improving efficiency for projects with multiple dependencies.