TL;DR—jhipster-mcp
is an open-source[Model Context Protocol]server that lets an AI agent generate and evolve[JHipster]applications for you. You describe what you want in plain language; the agent writes JDL and drives the JHipster CLI. It's on npm — point your MCP host at it with one line.v0.0.4 is the first public release.📦 npm:
[https://www.npmjs.com/package/jhipster-mcp]
🧑💻 GitHub:[https://github.com/avdev4j/jhipster-mcp]
JHipster has always been about speed: scaffold a production-grade Spring Boot + modern frontend app in minutes, model your domain with JDL (JHipster Domain Language), and let the generator write the boilerplate.
AI coding agents are great at intent: you tell them what you want, they figure out the steps.
jhipster-mcp
connects the two. It exposes JHipster as a set of MCP tools an agent can call. So instead of remembering JDL syntax and CLI flags, you say:
"Create a JHipster monolith in/tmp/shop
with PostgreSQL and an Angular frontend, plus aProduct
entity (name, price) and aCategory
with a one-to-many to products. Paginate everything."
…and the agent composes valid JDL, runs the generator, and streams the result back.
If you use Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible host, you can plug it in today.
The server ships 9 tools, JDL-first:
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
create_app_from_jdl |
|
| Scaffold a brand-new app from a full JDL block. | |
import_jdl |
|
| Apply JDL (entities, relationships, options) to an existing project. | |
add_entity |
|
| Add one entity with fields, validations, and per-entity options. | |
add_relationship |
|
| Add a typed relationship between two entities. | |
set_option |
|
Toggle JDL options (paginate , dto , service , search , …). |
|
validate_jdl |
|
| Check JDL for errors without modifying anything. | |
generate_ci_cd |
|
| Scaffold a CI/CD pipeline (GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, …). | |
info |
|
| Inspect project versions, config, and entities. | |
run_jhipster |
|
| Escape hatch — run an allowlisted subcommand safely. |
It also exposes a JDL grammar cheat-sheet as an MCP resource, so the agent writes valid JDL on the first try.
This first release focuses on making every tool call trustworthy and legible to the agent:
Full app generation can take 30–90 seconds. Instead of looking frozen, the server streams the generator's output as MCP progress notifications in real time.
You can validate JDL or preview a change without touching your project.
There's a fun gotcha here: JHipster's own --dry-run
flag only prints conflicts — it still writes files (I confirmed this against the real CLI). So a flag-based "preview" would silently modify your project. jhipster-mcp
instead does a real preview: it generates in a throwaway temp directory (copying your project's .yo-rc.json
and .jhipster/
for context), parses what would be produced, and discards everything. Your project is never modified.
Every tool returns machine-readable JSON alongside the human-readable text, so the agent reasons on data instead of scraping logs:
{
"command": "jhipster jdl changes.jdl --force --skip-git",
"exitCode": 0,
"success": true,
"dryRun": false,
"entities": ["Customer", "Order"],
"filesChanged": [{ "action": "create", "path": "src/main/java/..." }],
"warnings": []
}
shell: false
and an argument allowlist — no command injection.--force --skip-git
and CI=true
; never hangs on a prompt.workingDirectory
; the server won't act outside it.Under the hood it's TypeScript on the official MCP SDK, with 70 tests and CI on Node 22/24.
npm install -g generator-jhipster
jhipster --version
Claude Code:
claude mcp add jhipster -- npx -y jhipster-mcp
Claude Desktop / Cursor / others — add to your MCP config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"jhipster": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "jhipster-mcp"]
}
}
}
No clone, no build — npx
fetches and caches the package for you.
"In/Users/me/projects/shop
, add aCustomer
entity with firstName (required, 2–50 chars), lastName, and email, then a one-to-many from Customer to Order."
The agent reads the JDL grammar, builds the snippet, and applies it — streaming progress as it goes.
Want to look before you leap? Ask it to preview first:
"Show me what adding aTag
entity would change — don't write anything yet."
…and it runs the same tool with dryRun: true
.
This release completes the "Tier 1" experience work (progress, validation/dry-run, structured output). On the roadmap:
.yo-rc.json
, the entity list, and exported JDL directly.
npx -y jhipster-mcp@0.0.4
⭐ Star it, break it, and tell me what's missing: https://github.com/avdev4j/jhipster-mcp
Built with ❤️ for the JHipster community.
#jhipster #ai #mcp #java #springboot #opensource