{"slug": "show-hn-an-mcp-server-that-turns-async-work-practices-into-tools", "title": "Show HN: An MCP server that turns async-work practices into tools", "summary": "A developer has released an open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that turns async-work practices from the book 'Open and Async' into AI-accessible tools, enabling users to draft decision docs, convert meetings to async artifacts, score status updates, and triage sync-vs-async debates directly from editors and AI assistants. The server, available via npx as @open-and-async/mcp, provides 10 tools including a 'coach' prompt that generates a complete async deliverable for a given situation, with all reference tools citing the book's publicly available summaries.", "body_md": "Bring async-first working practices into your editor and AI assistant. This\n[Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) server gives your AI the\ntools to draft a decision doc, turn a meeting into an async artifact, pressure-test a\nstatus update, or settle a sync-vs-async debate — without leaving the tools you\nalready work in.\n\nIt's the method from ** Open and Async** — the\ncollaborative software-development playbook for remote and distributed teams — as\nworking tools, not reading.\n\n**Stop writing decision docs from a blank page.** Hand your AI the decision and the options; get back a structured ADR scaffold — context, tradeoffs, the call, and how reversible it is.**Turn \"let's hop on a call\" into an artifact.** Give it a meeting's purpose and agenda; get the async equivalent with an owner and a deadline.**Ship status updates that don't blindside anyone.** Score a draft against the \"work loudly / no surprises\" rubric and get concrete fixes before you post it.**Settle sync vs. async in seconds.** Describe the task; get a recommendation and the rule behind it.**Run a standup without a meeting.** Drop in a structured async-standup template your team can adopt today.**Win the \"async is too slow\" argument.** Map common objections to a ready reframe, pull role-aware guidance, or search the book's principles — each answer cited and linked.**Get coached end to end.** Run the`coach`\n\nprompt with a situation and it triages sync vs. async, generates the right artifact, adds role guidance, and caps with a shareable line — one composed answer, or a nudge to just have the conversation when that's the better call.\n\n**Claude Code:**\n\n```\nclaude mcp add open-async -- npx -y @open-and-async/mcp\n```\n\n**Claude Desktop** (`claude_desktop_config.json`\n\n):\n\n```\n{\n  \"mcpServers\": {\n    \"open-async\": {\n      \"command\": \"npx\",\n      \"args\": [\"-y\", \"@open-and-async/mcp\"]\n    }\n  }\n}\n```\n\nAny MCP client that speaks stdio works the same way: run `npx @open-and-async/mcp`\n\n.\n\n| Tool | What it does |\n|---|---|\n`draft_decision_doc` |\nDecision + options → a structured ADR/decision-doc scaffold (context, options, tradeoffs, decision, reversibility). |\n`convert_meeting_to_async` |\nMeeting purpose/agenda → the async equivalent (artifact, owner, deadline). |\n`score_status_update` |\nScores a draft update against the \"work loudly / no surprises\" rubric and suggests fixes. |\n`run_async_standup` |\nA structured async-standup template a team can adopt. |\n`triage_sync_vs_async` |\nRecommends sync vs async for a task, with the decision rule. |\n\n| Tool | What it does |\n|---|---|\n`book_outline` |\nSections + chapters + one-line TL;DRs. The map. |\n`get_chapter_summary` |\nA chapter's TL;DR + taglines + read-the-chapter link. |\n`search_principles` |\nKeyword search over the summary corpus; short cited snippets. |\n`handle_objection` |\nMaps skepticism (\"async is slow\") to the book's reframe. |\n`get_guidance` |\nRole-aware (`manager` /`ic` ) guidance for a topic. |\n`get_taglines` |\nTaglines + their `/q/<slug>` quote-card URLs. |\n\n`book://outline`\n\n— sections, chapters, TL;DRs (JSON)`book://taglines`\n\n— taglines + quote-card URLs (JSON)`book://about`\n\n— what this server is, what it does and doesn't contain, and where to get the book\n\nInvoke these directly from your client (e.g. as slash commands):\n\n`coach`\n\n—**the full method on one situation.** Triages sync vs. async, generates the right artifact, enriches with role guidance, and caps with a shareable tagline — one composed deliverable. Stops and recommends a real-time conversation when the situation genuinely needs one.`async-standup`\n\n,`write-adr`\n\n,`meeting-to-issue`\n\n,`weekly-update`\n\n— parameterized templates for a single task.\n\n**It's a real tool, not a paywall.** The method tools work on their own — no book\nrequired. The reference tools answer from the book's already-public summaries and a\nparaphrased framework layer, always capped and always cited so you can trace any\nsnippet to its chapter. The \"get the book\" link surfaces about once per session, not\non every line — it's a tool, not an ad. No verbatim book prose is bundled (the only\ndata file is `data/book.json.br`\n\n), so what you install is genuinely useful, not a\nteaser.\n\n**Staying current.** `data/book.json.br`\n\nships with a `version`\n\nthat tracks the book's\nedition, so the server can tell you which edition it's based on and re-sync when a new\none lands.\n\n**Generated output is a template, not the author speaking.** The method tools format\n*your* input into decision docs, standups, and triage calls. That output is generated\nguidance to adapt — it is not a personal statement, quote, or endorsement by Ben Balter\nor Open & Async LLC, and shouldn't be presented as one. Reference-tool snippets are\nsummaries the tool cites back to the book, not verbatim prose.\n\nThis package is split-licensed — see [LICENSE](/open-and-async/mcp/blob/main/LICENSE) for the overview:\n\n**Code**(everything under`src/`\n\n) —[MIT](/open-and-async/mcp/blob/main/CODE-LICENSE.md).**Data**(`data/book.json.br`\n\n) — proprietary; © Open & Async LLC. You may use it only as part of running this software. No redistribution as a standalone dataset, no derivative datasets, no model training. See[DATA-LICENSE.md](/open-and-async/mcp/blob/main/DATA-LICENSE.md).\n\nThe full work — the stories, the voice, the complete argument — lives in the book:\n** open-and-async.com**.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-an-mcp-server-that-turns-async-work-practices-into-tools", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/open-and-async/mcp", "published_at": "2026-07-21 16:06:20+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-22 02:06:44.145979+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "ai-tools", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Model Context Protocol", "Open and Async", "Claude Code", "Claude Desktop"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-an-mcp-server-that-turns-async-work-practices-into-tools", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-an-mcp-server-that-turns-async-work-practices-into-tools.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-an-mcp-server-that-turns-async-work-practices-into-tools.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-an-mcp-server-that-turns-async-work-practices-into-tools.jsonld"}}