AI Assistant Query MCP

AI assistant query (MCP)

The bridge can expose your inventory to an AI assistant through MCP (the Model Context Protocol) — so a tool like an AI chat client can answer questions such as "where are my spare fuses?" or "how many ESP32s do I have?" using your real data.

ℹ️ Note This is a technical, opt-in feature for people who use MCP-capable AI tools. Setup steps and the exact tool list are in the bridge README in the Gubbins repository.

How it works

The bridge includes an MCP server that exposes your Gubbins data as a small set of tools — search items, get an item's details, and so on. These are read-only: you wire that server into an MCP client, and the assistant can then look things up on your behalf, in natural language.

Because it uses the same query engine as the rest of the bridge, the assistant sees exactly the data you'd see — and, by default, cannot change anything.

Letting an assistant adjust stock (optional)

If you switch writes on when running the bridge, two more tools appear alongside the read-only ones, letting an assistant adjust stock as well as look it up — so "I've just used two of those" can actually bring the count down:

• Adjust a quantity — add or remove a whole number of a counted item.
• Adjust a gauge — change how full a part-used item is (a solder reel, a bottle of flux).

Nothing else is exposed: an assistant cannot create, rename or delete anything, and every adjustment is recorded in the activity log just as if you'd made it yourself — so you can always see what changed. Adjustments flow back through the same sync as any other change, so your other devices pick them up normally.

⚠️ Heads-up This is off by default, and worth a moment's thought before switching on. Unlike the bridge's web API — where every caller presents an API token and is held to that account's permissions — an MCP assistant presents nothing at all: anything able to start the server with writes enabled can adjust your stock, and the change is recorded against the system rather than a person. Turn it on only for an assistant you trust on a machine you control, and bear in mind that an assistant can be influenced by whatever it reads. Ask it to confirm before it adjusts anything.

💡 Tip The natural-language lookups here are the "external" cousin of the in-app plain-English search — same idea (ask a question, get your items), exposed to an outside assistant instead of the search box.

⚠️ Heads-up An AI assistant wired to the bridge can read your inventory. Only connect assistants you trust, keep the bridge read-only unless you deliberately need writes, and protect your API tokens. See Privacy & security.

Related pages

• Bridge overview and Running the bridge — the foundation.
• Home Assistant integration — voice lookups in your smart home.
• Natural-language search — the same idea inside the app.