Get Started

Try tropical-mcp

A guarded compression MCP server that protects what your AI needs to stay on task. Install in under a minute.

View on GitHub See the demo →

Quick Start

Up and running in seconds

Run tropical-mcp directly with uvx — no install step required.

uvx tropical-mcp

To register it as an MCP server in your Claude or Codex config, add the following to your MCP configuration file:

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

Requires Python 3.10+ and uv. No other dependencies needed.


What It Does

Guarded compression for AI context windows

tropical-mcp is an MCP server that implements the guarded compression policy from the Validity Mirage research. It identifies the pivot message in a conversation — the instruction that defines what the task is about — and mathematically guarantees it survives compression. Standard recency-based compression treats all messages equally; tropical-mcp treats the pivot as inviolable.

The server exposes tools for compression, certificate generation, telemetry, and diagnosis. Every compression decision is auditable: you can inspect which messages were kept, which were dropped, and whether the structural contract was satisfied.

Context anchor

Mark the messages your task depends on. The guarded policy will never drop them, even under aggressive compression budgets.

Portable certificate

Every compression run emits a verifiable JSON certificate — kept IDs, dropped IDs, contract status, and audit flags in one artifact.

Adaptive policy

The server selects the best compression mode automatically based on your token budget and conversation structure.


Repositories

The full research stack

tropical-mcp is part of a larger open research program. All artifacts are public.

MCP Server

tropical-mcp

The guarded compression MCP server. Implements the L2-guarded policy, certificate generation, and telemetry tools.

github.com/jack-chaudier/tropical-mcp
Research Monorepo

dreams

The full research monorepo. Contains papers, replay witnesses, validation logs, and the DOI-backed archive artifacts.

github.com/jack-chaudier/dreams
Supporting Library

stark

Core library implementing the tropical semiring algebra and frontier feasibility checks that underpin the guarded policy.

github.com/jack-chaudier/stark
Demo / Test Harness

immortal-baby

The test harness and demo fixtures used to generate the replay witnesses and validate the compression policies end-to-end.

github.com/jack-chaudier/immortal-baby

Verification

Smoke test

Once registered, confirm tropical-mcp is working with this minimal sequence:

# 1. Check your runtime
runtime_info()

# 2. Run guarded compression
compact_auto(
  messages=messages,
  token_budget=45,
  k_target=2,
  mode="adaptive",
)

# 3. Generate a portable certificate
certificate(
  messages=messages,
  token_budget=45,
  k=2,
)

# 4. Review telemetry
telemetry_summary(limit=5)

Compare the certificate output against the public reference certificate on the Evidence page.

View evidence artifacts →