nextcloud-mcp-server/CLAUDE.md

CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.

Coding Conventions

async/await Patterns

• Use anyio for all async operations - Provides structured concurrency
  • pytest runs in anyio mode (anyio_mode = "auto" in pyproject.toml)
  • Use anyio.create_task_group() for concurrent execution (NOT asyncio.gather())
  • Use anyio.Lock() for synchronization primitives (NOT asyncio.Lock())
  • Use anyio.run() for entry points (NOT asyncio.run())
  • Prefer standard async/await syntax without explicit library imports when possible
  • Examples: app.py, search/hybrid.py, search/verification.py, auth/token_broker.py

Type Hints

• Use Python 3.10+ union syntax: str | None instead of Optional[str]
• Use lowercase generics: dict[str, Any] instead of Dict[str, Any]
• Type all function signatures - Parameters and return types
• No explicit type checker configured - Ruff handles linting only

Code Quality

• Run ruff before committing:

  uv run ruff check
  uv run ruff format
  

• Ruff configuration in pyproject.toml (extends select: ["I"] for import sorting)

Error Handling

• Use custom decorators: @retry_on_429 for rate limiting (see base_client.py)
• Standard exceptions: HTTPStatusError from httpx, McpError for MCP-specific errors
• Logging patterns:
  • logger.debug() for expected 404s and normal operations
  • logger.warning() for retries and non-critical issues
  • logger.error() for actual errors

Testing Patterns

• Use existing fixtures from tests/conftest.py (2888 lines of test infrastructure)
• Session-scoped fixtures handle anyio/pytest-asyncio incompatibility
• Mocked unit tests use mocker.AsyncMock(spec=httpx.AsyncClient)
• pytest-timeout: 180s default per test
• Mark tests appropriately: @pytest.mark.unit, @pytest.mark.integration, @pytest.mark.oauth, @pytest.mark.smoke

Architectural Patterns

• Base classes: BaseNextcloudClient for all API clients
• Pydantic responses: All MCP tools return Pydantic models inheriting from BaseResponse
• Decorators: @require_scopes, @require_provisioning for access control
• Context pattern: await get_client(ctx) to access authenticated NextcloudClient (async!)
• FastMCP decorators: @mcp.tool(), @mcp.resource()
• Token acquisition: get_client() handles both pass-through and token exchange modes
  • Pass-through (default): Simple, stateless (ENABLE_TOKEN_EXCHANGE=false)
  • Token exchange (opt-in): RFC 8693 delegation (ENABLE_TOKEN_EXCHANGE=true)

Project Structure

• nextcloud_mcp_server/client/ - HTTP clients for Nextcloud APIs
• nextcloud_mcp_server/server/ - MCP tool/resource definitions
• nextcloud_mcp_server/auth/ - OAuth/OIDC authentication
• nextcloud_mcp_server/models/ - Pydantic response models
• tests/ - Layered test suite (unit, smoke, integration, load)

Development Commands (Quick Reference)

Testing

# Fast feedback (recommended)
uv run pytest tests/unit/ -v                    # Unit tests (~5s)
uv run pytest -m smoke -v                       # Smoke tests (~30-60s)

# Integration tests
uv run pytest -m "integration and not oauth" -v # Without OAuth (~2-3min)
uv run pytest -m oauth -v                       # OAuth only (~3min)
uv run pytest                                   # Full suite (~4-5min)

# Coverage
uv run pytest --cov

# Specific tests after changes
uv run pytest tests/server/test_mcp.py -k "notes" -v
uv run pytest tests/client/notes/test_notes_api.py -v

Important: After code changes, rebuild the correct container:

• Single-user tests: docker-compose up --build -d mcp
• OAuth tests: docker-compose up --build -d mcp-oauth
• Keycloak tests: docker-compose up --build -d mcp-keycloak

Running the Server

# Local development
export $(grep -v '^#' .env | xargs)
mcp run --transport sse nextcloud_mcp_server.app:mcp

# Docker development (rebuilds after code changes)
docker-compose up --build -d mcp        # Single-user (port 8000)
docker-compose up --build -d mcp-oauth  # Nextcloud OAuth (port 8001)
docker-compose up --build -d mcp-keycloak  # Keycloak OAuth (port 8002)

Environment Setup

uv sync                # Install dependencies
uv sync --group dev    # Install with dev dependencies

Load Testing

# Quick test (default: 10 workers, 30 seconds)
uv run python -m tests.load.benchmark

# Custom concurrency and duration
uv run python -m tests.load.benchmark -c 20 -d 60

# Export results for analysis
uv run python -m tests.load.benchmark --output results.json --verbose

Expected Performance: 50-200 RPS for mixed workload, p50 <100ms, p95 <500ms, p99 <1000ms.

Database Inspection

Credentials: root/password, nextcloud/password, database: nextcloud

# Connect to database
docker compose exec db mariadb -u root -ppassword nextcloud

# Check OAuth clients
docker compose exec db mariadb -u root -ppassword nextcloud -e \
  "SELECT id, name, token_type FROM oc_oidc_clients ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 10;"

# Check OAuth client scopes
docker compose exec db mariadb -u root -ppassword nextcloud -e \
  "SELECT c.id, c.name, s.scope FROM oc_oidc_clients c LEFT JOIN oc_oidc_client_scopes s ON c.id = s.client_id WHERE c.name LIKE '%MCP%';"

# Check OAuth access tokens
docker compose exec db mariadb -u root -ppassword nextcloud -e \
  "SELECT id, client_id, user_id, created_at FROM oc_oidc_access_tokens ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 10;"

Important Tables:

• oc_oidc_clients - OAuth client registrations (DCR)
• oc_oidc_client_scopes - Client allowed scopes
• oc_oidc_access_tokens - Issued access tokens
• oc_oidc_authorization_codes - Authorization codes
• oc_oidc_registration_tokens - RFC 7592 registration tokens
• oc_oidc_redirect_uris - Redirect URIs

Architecture Quick Reference

For detailed architecture, see:

• docs/comparison-context-agent.md - Overall architecture
• docs/oauth-architecture.md - OAuth integration patterns
• docs/ADR-004-progressive-consent.md - Progressive consent implementation

Core Components:

• nextcloud_mcp_server/app.py - FastMCP server entry point
• nextcloud_mcp_server/client/ - HTTP clients (Notes, Calendar, Contacts, Tables, WebDAV)
• nextcloud_mcp_server/server/ - MCP tool/resource definitions
• nextcloud_mcp_server/auth/ - OAuth/OIDC authentication

Supported Apps: Notes, Calendar (CalDAV + VTODO tasks), Contacts (CardDAV), Tables, WebDAV, Deck, Cookbook

Key Patterns:

1. NextcloudClient orchestrates all app-specific clients
2. BaseNextcloudClient provides common HTTP functionality + retry logic
3. MCP tools use context pattern: get_client(ctx) → NextcloudClient
4. All operations are async using httpx

Progressive Consent Architecture (ADR-004)

Important: Progressive consent is a mechanism for granting access, not a feature flag. The architecture is always present in OAuth mode. Whether provisioning tools are available is controlled by ENABLE_OFFLINE_ACCESS.

What is Progressive Consent?

• Dual OAuth flow architecture that separates client authentication (Flow 1) from resource provisioning (Flow 2)
• Flow 1: MCP client authenticates directly to IdP with resource scopes (notes:, calendar:, etc.)
  • Token audience: "mcp-server"
  • Client receives resource-scoped token for MCP session
• Flow 2: Server explicitly provisions Nextcloud access via separate login (only when ENABLE_OFFLINE_ACCESS=true)
  • Server requests: openid, profile, email, offline_access
  • Token audience: "nextcloud"
  • Server receives refresh token for offline access
  • Client never sees this token
• Provides clear separation between session tokens and offline access tokens

Modes:

• Pass-through mode (ENABLE_OFFLINE_ACCESS=false, default):
  • No Flow 2 provisioning
  • Server uses client's token to access Nextcloud (pass-through)
  • No provisioning tools available
  • Suitable for stateless, client-driven operations
• Offline access mode (ENABLE_OFFLINE_ACCESS=true):
  • Flow 2 provisioning available
  • Server stores refresh tokens for background operations
  • Provisioning tools available: provision_nextcloud_access, check_logged_in
  • Suitable for background jobs and server-initiated operations

When to use OAuth mode:

• Multi-user deployments
• Background jobs requiring offline access (with ENABLE_OFFLINE_ACCESS=true)
• Enhanced security with separate authorization contexts
• Explicit user control over resource access

When to use BasicAuth instead:

• Simple single-user deployments
• Local development and testing

Key features:

• No scope escalation - client gets exactly what it requests
• User explicitly authorizes via provision_nextcloud_access tool
• Clear security boundaries between MCP session and Nextcloud access

MCP Response Patterns (CRITICAL)

Never return raw List[Dict] from MCP tools - FastMCP mangles them into dicts with numeric string keys.

Correct Pattern:

1. Client methods return List[Dict] (raw data)
2. MCP tools convert to Pydantic models and wrap in response object
3. Response models inherit from BaseResponse, include results field + metadata

Reference implementations:

• nextcloud_mcp_server/models/notes.py:80 - SearchNotesResponse
• nextcloud_mcp_server/models/webdav.py:113 - SearchFilesResponse
• nextcloud_mcp_server/server/{notes,webdav}.py - Tool examples

Testing: Extract data["results"] from MCP responses, not data directly.

MCP Sampling for RAG (ADR-008)

What is MCP Sampling? MCP sampling allows servers to request LLM completions from their clients. This enables Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) patterns where the server retrieves context and the client's LLM generates answers.

When to use sampling:

• Generating natural language answers from retrieved documents
• Synthesizing information from multiple sources
• Creating summaries with citations

Implementation Pattern (see ADR-008 for details):

from mcp.types import ModelHint, ModelPreferences, SamplingMessage, TextContent

@mcp.tool()
@require_scopes("notes:read")
async def nc_notes_semantic_search_answer(
    query: str, ctx: Context, limit: int = 5, max_answer_tokens: int = 500
) -> SamplingSearchResponse:
    # 1. Retrieve documents
    search_response = await nc_notes_semantic_search(query, ctx, limit)

    # 2. Check for no results (don't waste sampling call)
    if not search_response.results:
        return SamplingSearchResponse(
            query=query,
            generated_answer="No relevant documents found.",
            sources=[], total_found=0, success=True
        )

    # 3. Construct prompt with retrieved context
    prompt = f"{query}\n\nDocuments:\n{format_sources(search_response.results)}\n\nProvide answer with citations."

    # 4. Request LLM completion via sampling
    try:
        result = await ctx.session.create_message(
            messages=[SamplingMessage(role="user", content=TextContent(type="text", text=prompt))],
            max_tokens=max_answer_tokens,
            temperature=0.7,
            model_preferences=ModelPreferences(
                hints=[ModelHint(name="claude-3-5-sonnet")],
                intelligencePriority=0.8,
                speedPriority=0.5,
            ),
            include_context="thisServer",
        )

        return SamplingSearchResponse(
            query=query,
            generated_answer=result.content.text,
            sources=search_response.results,
            model_used=result.model,
            stop_reason=result.stopReason,
            success=True
        )
    except Exception as e:
        # Fallback: Return documents without generated answer
        return SamplingSearchResponse(
            query=query,
            generated_answer=f"[Sampling unavailable: {e}]\n\nFound {len(search_response.results)} documents.",
            sources=search_response.results,
            search_method="semantic_sampling_fallback",
            success=True
        )

Key Points:

• No server-side LLM: Server has no API keys, client controls which model is used
• Graceful degradation: Tool always returns useful results even if sampling fails
• User control: MCP clients SHOULD prompt users to approve sampling requests
• No results optimization: Skip sampling call when no documents found
• Fixed prompts: Prompts are not user-configurable to avoid injection risks

Reference: See nc_notes_semantic_search_answer in nextcloud_mcp_server/server/notes.py:517 and ADR-008 for complete implementation.

Testing Best Practices (MANDATORY)

Always Run Tests

• Run tests to completion before considering any task complete
• Rebuild the correct container after code changes (see Development Commands above)
• If tests require modifications, ask for permission before proceeding

Use Existing Fixtures

See tests/conftest.py for 2888 lines of test infrastructure:

• nc_mcp_client - MCP client for tool/resource testing (uses mcp container)
• nc_mcp_oauth_client - MCP client for OAuth testing (uses mcp-oauth container)
• nc_client - Direct NextcloudClient for setup/cleanup
• temporary_note, temporary_addressbook, temporary_contact - Auto-cleanup

Writing Mocked Unit Tests

For client-layer response parsing tests, use mocked HTTP responses:

async def test_notes_api_get_note(mocker):
    """Test that get_note correctly parses the API response."""
    mock_response = create_mock_note_response(
        note_id=123, title="Test Note", content="Test content",
        category="Test", etag="abc123"
    )

    mock_make_request = mocker.patch.object(
        NotesClient, "_make_request", return_value=mock_response
    )

    client = NotesClient(mocker.AsyncMock(spec=httpx.AsyncClient), "testuser")
    note = await client.get_note(note_id=123)

    assert note["id"] == 123
    mock_make_request.assert_called_once_with("GET", "/apps/notes/api/v1/notes/123")

Mock helpers in tests/conftest.py: create_mock_response(), create_mock_note_response(), create_mock_error_response()

When to use: Response parsing, error handling, request parameter building When NOT to use: CalDAV/CardDAV/WebDAV protocols, OAuth flows, end-to-end MCP testing

OAuth Testing

OAuth tests use Playwright browser automation to complete flows programmatically.

Test Environment:

• Three MCP containers: mcp (single-user), mcp-oauth (Nextcloud OIDC), mcp-keycloak (external IdP)
• OAuth tests require NEXTCLOUD_HOST, NEXTCLOUD_USERNAME, NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD environment variables
• Playwright configuration: --browser firefox --headed for debugging
• Install browsers: uv run playwright install firefox

OAuth fixtures: nc_oauth_client, nc_mcp_oauth_client, alice_oauth_token, bob_oauth_token, etc.

Shared OAuth Client: All test users authenticate using a single OAuth client (created via DCR, deleted at session end via RFC 7592). Matches production behavior.

Run OAuth tests:

uv run pytest -m oauth -v                        # All OAuth tests
uv run pytest tests/server/oauth/ --browser firefox -v
uv run pytest tests/server/oauth/test_oauth_core.py --browser firefox --headed -v

Keycloak OAuth Testing

Validates ADR-002 architecture for external identity providers and offline access patterns.

Architecture: MCP Client → Keycloak (OAuth) → MCP Server → Nextcloud user_oidc (validates token) → APIs

Setup:

docker-compose up -d keycloak app mcp-keycloak
curl http://localhost:8888/realms/nextcloud-mcp/.well-known/openid-configuration
docker compose exec app php occ user_oidc:provider keycloak

Credentials: admin/admin (Keycloak realm: nextcloud-mcp)

For detailed Keycloak setup, see:

• docs/oauth-setup.md - OAuth configuration
• docs/ADR-002-vector-sync-authentication.md - Offline access architecture
• docs/audience-validation-setup.md - Token audience validation
• docs/keycloak-multi-client-validation.md - Realm-level validation

Integration Testing with Docker

Nextcloud: docker compose exec app php occ ... for occ commands MariaDB: docker compose exec db mariadb -u [user] -p [password] [database] for queries

For detailed setup, see:

• docs/installation.md - Installation guide
• docs/configuration.md - Configuration options
• docs/authentication.md - Authentication modes
• docs/running.md - Running the server

For additional information regarding MCP during development, see:

• ../../Software/modelcontextprotocol/ - MCP spec
• ../../Software/python-sdk/ - Python MCP SDK