# mcp-server-ironclad-legal
An MCP server tuned for in-house legal teams using Ironclad CLM. Exposes workflows, records, and documents as Claude tools, plus two legal-helper queries (`clauses_by_type`, `expiring_contracts`), an audit-class summary (`summarize_workflow`), and one privileged write (`add_comment`). Read-mostly by design — drafts inside active workflows are typically privileged content, so the server defaults to metadata-only responses with explicit drill-down.
> **STATUS: scaffold — not runtime-tested.** The code below is structurally
> complete and follows the official `mcp` Python SDK conventions, but it
> has not been executed against a live Ironclad tenant. Treat it as a
> starting point you adapt to your tenant's workflow types, custom-field
> conventions, and clause-extraction model. The Ironclad public API
> surface (paths, response shapes, association labels) varies by tenant
> tier and feature flags.
## What it exposes
### Object-read tools (read-only)
- `get_workflow(workflow_id)` — workflow metadata, current step, participants
- `get_record(record_id)` — executed-contract record (post-signature repository entry)
- `get_document(document_id, version?)` — full document body for a specific version (explicit drill-down only)
### Search tools (read-only)
- `search_records(query, limit?)` — search the executed-contract repository
- `list_workflows(status?, type?)` — active workflows by status and workflow type
### Legal helpers (read-only)
- `clauses_by_type(workflow_id, clause_type)` — extracted clauses of a specific type (e.g. `indemnification`, `liability_cap`, `termination`) from a workflow's documents
- `expiring_contracts(window_days=90)` — records approaching renewal or expiration in the window, sorted by next-action date
### Audit-class tool (truncate-by-default)
- `summarize_workflow(workflow_id)` — metadata-only summary: counterparty, type, status, step history, participants, associated documents (IDs + titles only). Document body fetch is a separate explicit `get_document` call.
### Light writes (privileged)
- `add_comment(record_id, body)` — append a comment to a record. Comments inside Ironclad are themselves discoverable; this tool is the only write path on purpose.
The server **does not** expose `delete_*`, draft edits, workflow-stage transitions, or signer changes. Privileged content (drafts in active workflows, audit logs, redlines) flows through truncate-by-default responses; the user must request the body via an explicit second tool call. The principle: Claude can navigate, summarize, and annotate; the attorney drives every state-changing decision.
## Setup
### 1. Install
```bash
git clone <wherever you put this>
cd mcp-server-ironclad-legal
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate # or .venv\Scripts\activate on Windows
pip install -e .
```
### 2. Create an Ironclad API token
In Ironclad: Admin → API Keys → Create. Grant read scope on workflows, records, and documents. Grant comment-write scope only if you intend to use `add_comment`. Copy the token.
The token is bearer-style — it bypasses Ironclad's per-user role permissions, so it sees everything the API key's role can see. Provision a service-account role with the narrowest scope your team can tolerate, not the broadest.
### 3. Configure environment
```bash
export IRONCLAD_API_TOKEN="ic_..."
export IRONCLAD_TRUNCATE_AT="4000" # chars per body in summary responses
export IRONCLAD_DEFAULT_WORKFLOW_TYPES="msa,nda,sow,dpa" # narrows list_workflows
```
`IRONCLAD_TRUNCATE_AT` is the character cap for any document-body field returned by `summarize_workflow`. Bodies above this length are truncated and the response includes a `_truncated_at` marker so Claude knows to issue a follow-up `get_document` call when the user explicitly asks.
### 4. Register with Claude Desktop
Edit `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` (macOS) or `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json` (Windows):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"ironclad-legal": {
"command": "python",
"args": ["-m", "ironclad_legal_mcp.server"],
"env": {
"IRONCLAD_API_TOKEN": "ic_...",
"IRONCLAD_TRUNCATE_AT": "4000",
"IRONCLAD_DEFAULT_WORKFLOW_TYPES": "msa,nda,sow,dpa"
}
}
}
}
```
Restart Claude Desktop. You should see ~9 tools registered under `ironclad-legal`.
### 5. Sanity-check
Ask Claude: "Summarize workflow {known-id}." Confirm the response is metadata-only (no document body inline) and contains a `_truncated_at` marker on any body field. Then ask Claude: "Now get me the full body of document {id} from that workflow." Confirm the body is returned only after the explicit second call. Tune `IRONCLAD_TRUNCATE_AT` until the metadata responses are useful for navigation but not large enough to ship privileged drafts inadvertently.
## Watch-outs
- **Drafts inside active workflows are typically privileged.** A draft MSA mid-redline is attorney work product. The truncate-by-default posture in `summarize_workflow` is the guard — never widen it without an explicit per-team policy review. If your team's matter-management policy treats some draft classes as non-privileged, configure `IRONCLAD_TRUNCATE_AT=999999` per-deployment, not per-tool.
- **The audit log is itself privileged content.** Ironclad's audit log records who looked at what when — surfacing it through an MCP tool would let Claude reason over privileged metadata. This server intentionally does not expose audit-log queries. If you need audit-log access, build a separate tool with a documented legal-hold exception path, not through this scaffold.
- **Search query metadata reveals legal strategy.** "Find all MSAs with uncapped indemnification" is a query whose existence — even without results — discloses the team's review priorities. The dispatch logs only timestamps, user IDs, and result counts (never the query string itself). Do not patch the dispatch to log query text without a privilege review; doing so creates a discoverable record of legal strategy.
- **Bearer tokens bypass per-user permissions.** Anyone with access to the MCP client sees every record the API key's role can reach. Provision the service-account role narrowly and document it with your security team.
- **Clause extraction is model-dependent.** Ironclad's clause extraction may miss non-standard clause headings or clauses inside attachments. `clauses_by_type` returns whatever Ironclad surfaces — never use it as the sole source for compliance attestations.
## Limits and TODOs (before production use)
- [ ] Validate the Ironclad public API base path against your tenant's actual endpoint — some tiers use a regional subdomain.
- [ ] Implement OAuth-with-refresh in place of the static bearer token. Static tokens cannot be revoked granularly when an attorney leaves; OAuth refresh + per-user delegation is the production posture.
- [ ] Add request-level retries with exponential backoff (Ironclad rate-limits aggressively under burst load).
- [ ] Wire structured logging via `python-json-logger` and pipe to your matter-management audit trail.
- [ ] Add a privilege-tag enforcement layer: refuse to return any document marked `privileged: true` in custom properties, even via explicit `get_document`, unless the user passes a documented `--privilege-acknowledged` flag.
- [ ] Write integration tests against an Ironclad sandbox.
- [ ] Add Sentry / OpenTelemetry export — but scrub query strings and document bodies before transmission.
"""
ironclad-legal-mcp — MCP server tuned for in-house legal teams using Ironclad.
Exposes object-read tools (workflows, records, documents), search tools,
two legal helpers (clauses_by_type, expiring_contracts), one audit-class
summary (summarize_workflow, truncate-by-default), and one privileged
write (add_comment). Read-mostly by design — drafts inside active
workflows are typically privileged work product, so document bodies are
truncated by default and the user must request the full body via an
explicit second tool call.
STATUS: scaffold — not runtime-tested. Adapt the workflow type names,
clause-type vocabulary, custom-property paths, and (in particular) the
public API base path to your tenant before use. Some Ironclad tiers use
a regional subdomain.
Run as: python -m ironclad_legal_mcp.server
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import logging
import os
from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
from typing import Any
import httpx
from mcp.server import Server
from mcp.server.stdio import stdio_server
from mcp.types import TextContent, Tool
# ----- Configuration (read from env at startup) -----
IRONCLAD_API_TOKEN = os.environ.get("IRONCLAD_API_TOKEN")
TRUNCATE_AT = int(os.environ.get("IRONCLAD_TRUNCATE_AT", "4000"))
DEFAULT_WORKFLOW_TYPES = [
s.strip()
for s in os.environ.get("IRONCLAD_DEFAULT_WORKFLOW_TYPES", "").split(",")
if s.strip()
]
API_BASE = "https://ironcladapp.com/public/api/v1"
# Privilege-aware logger: NEVER include query strings, document bodies, or
# clause text in log records. Only metadata: timestamp, user, tool name,
# result count. Surfacing query text would create a discoverable record
# of legal review strategy.
audit_log = logging.getLogger("ironclad_legal_mcp.audit")
def require_config() -> None:
if not IRONCLAD_API_TOKEN:
raise RuntimeError("IRONCLAD_API_TOKEN env var is required")
def auth_headers() -> dict[str, str]:
return {
"Authorization": f"Bearer {IRONCLAD_API_TOKEN}",
"Content-Type": "application/json",
}
def log_invocation(tool: str, result_count: int | None = None) -> None:
"""Metadata-only audit record. Never includes query text or body."""
audit_log.info(
"tool=%s ts=%s results=%s",
tool,
datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(),
result_count if result_count is not None else "n/a",
)
def truncate_body(body: str | None) -> dict[str, Any]:
"""Return a body field that is truncated to TRUNCATE_AT chars, with a
`_truncated_at` marker so Claude knows to issue a follow-up
explicit get_document call when the user asks for the full text."""
if body is None:
return {"text": None, "_truncated_at": None}
if len(body) <= TRUNCATE_AT:
return {"text": body, "_truncated_at": None}
return {
"text": body[:TRUNCATE_AT],
"_truncated_at": TRUNCATE_AT,
"_full_length": len(body),
"_hint": "Call get_document(document_id, version) for the full body.",
}
# ----- Ironclad HTTP helpers -----
async def ic_get(path: str, params: dict[str, Any] | None = None) -> dict[str, Any]:
async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=30.0) as client:
r = await client.get(f"{API_BASE}{path}", headers=auth_headers(), params=params)
r.raise_for_status()
return r.json()
async def ic_post(path: str, body: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any]:
async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=30.0) as client:
r = await client.post(f"{API_BASE}{path}", headers=auth_headers(), json=body)
r.raise_for_status()
return r.json()
# ----- Server + tool registry -----
server = Server("ironclad-legal")
@server.list_tools()
async def list_tools() -> list[Tool]:
return [
Tool(
name="get_workflow",
description=(
"Fetch workflow metadata, current step, and participant list "
"by workflow ID. Does not include document bodies — use "
"summarize_workflow for that, then get_document for full text."
),
inputSchema={
"type": "object",
"properties": {"workflow_id": {"type": "string"}},
"required": ["workflow_id"],
},
),
Tool(
name="get_record",
description=(
"Fetch an executed-contract record (post-signature repository "
"entry) by record ID. Returns metadata + linked document IDs."
),
inputSchema={
"type": "object",
"properties": {"record_id": {"type": "string"}},
"required": ["record_id"],
},
),
Tool(
name="get_document",
description=(
"Fetch the full body of a document at a specific version. "
"This is the explicit drill-down call the user must request "
"after seeing a truncated body in summarize_workflow."
),
inputSchema={
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"document_id": {"type": "string"},
"version": {"type": "string"},
},
"required": ["document_id"],
},
),
Tool(
name="search_records",
description=(
"Search the executed-contract repository by free-text query. "
"Query string is NOT logged; only timestamp, user, and "
"result count are recorded."
),
inputSchema={
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"query": {"type": "string"},
"limit": {"type": "integer", "default": 25},
},
"required": ["query"],
},
),
Tool(
name="list_workflows",
description=(
"List active workflows, optionally filtered by status (e.g. "
"'in_review', 'awaiting_signature') and type (e.g. 'msa', "
"'nda'). When type is omitted, IRONCLAD_DEFAULT_WORKFLOW_TYPES "
"is used if set."
),
inputSchema={
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"status": {"type": "string"},
"type": {"type": "string"},
"limit": {"type": "integer", "default": 50},
},
},
),
Tool(
name="clauses_by_type",
description=(
"Return extracted clauses of a specific type (e.g. "
"'indemnification', 'liability_cap', 'termination', "
"'governing_law') from the documents attached to a workflow. "
"Backed by Ironclad's clause-extraction model — coverage is "
"best-effort, not authoritative for compliance attestations."
),
inputSchema={
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"workflow_id": {"type": "string"},
"clause_type": {"type": "string"},
},
"required": ["workflow_id", "clause_type"],
},
),
Tool(
name="expiring_contracts",
description=(
"Return executed-contract records approaching renewal or "
"expiration within window_days, sorted by next-action date "
"ascending."
),
inputSchema={
"type": "object",
"properties": {"window_days": {"type": "integer", "default": 90}},
},
),
Tool(
name="summarize_workflow",
description=(
"Metadata-only summary of a workflow: counterparty, type, "
"status, step history, participants, document IDs + titles. "
"Document bodies are truncated to IRONCLAD_TRUNCATE_AT chars "
"with a _truncated_at marker. Use get_document for full text."
),
inputSchema={
"type": "object",
"properties": {"workflow_id": {"type": "string"}},
"required": ["workflow_id"],
},
),
Tool(
name="add_comment",
description=(
"Append a comment to an executed-contract record. The only "
"write path exposed by this server. Comments are themselves "
"discoverable inside Ironclad — write nothing here you would "
"not write directly in the Ironclad UI."
),
inputSchema={
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"record_id": {"type": "string"},
"body": {"type": "string"},
},
"required": ["record_id", "body"],
},
),
]
# ----- Tool dispatch -----
@server.call_tool()
async def call_tool(name: str, arguments: dict[str, Any]) -> list[TextContent]:
require_config()
if name == "get_workflow":
data = await ic_get(f"/workflows/{arguments['workflow_id']}")
log_invocation("get_workflow", 1)
return [TextContent(type="text", text=str(data))]
if name == "get_record":
data = await ic_get(f"/records/{arguments['record_id']}")
log_invocation("get_record", 1)
return [TextContent(type="text", text=str(data))]
if name == "get_document":
params: dict[str, Any] = {}
if v := arguments.get("version"):
params["version"] = v
data = await ic_get(f"/documents/{arguments['document_id']}", params or None)
log_invocation("get_document", 1)
return [TextContent(type="text", text=str(data))]
if name == "search_records":
body = {
"query": arguments["query"],
"limit": arguments.get("limit", 25),
}
result = await ic_post("/records/search", body)
# Log result count only — never the query string itself.
log_invocation("search_records", len(result.get("results", [])))
return [TextContent(type="text", text=str(result))]
if name == "list_workflows":
params: dict[str, Any] = {"limit": arguments.get("limit", 50)}
if status := arguments.get("status"):
params["status"] = status
wf_type = arguments.get("type")
if wf_type:
params["type"] = wf_type
elif DEFAULT_WORKFLOW_TYPES:
params["type"] = ",".join(DEFAULT_WORKFLOW_TYPES)
result = await ic_get("/workflows", params)
log_invocation("list_workflows", len(result.get("workflows", [])))
return [TextContent(type="text", text=str(result))]
if name == "clauses_by_type":
wf = await ic_get(
f"/workflows/{arguments['workflow_id']}",
{"include": "documents,clauses"},
)
clause_type = arguments["clause_type"].lower()
# Filter the workflow's surfaced clauses by type. Body of each
# clause is left intact (clauses are short; truncation is for
# full document bodies). If a downstream tenant has very long
# clauses, fold truncate_body() over the `text` field here.
clauses = []
for doc in wf.get("documents", []):
for c in doc.get("clauses", []):
if c.get("type", "").lower() == clause_type:
clauses.append(
{
"document_id": doc.get("id"),
"document_title": doc.get("title"),
"clause_type": c.get("type"),
"text": c.get("text"),
"page": c.get("page"),
}
)
log_invocation("clauses_by_type", len(clauses))
return [TextContent(type="text", text=str({"clauses": clauses}))]
if name == "expiring_contracts":
window_days = arguments.get("window_days", 90)
cutoff = datetime.now(timezone.utc) + timedelta(days=window_days)
body = {
"filters": [
{
"property": "next_action_date",
"operator": "LTE",
"value": cutoff.isoformat(),
},
{
"property": "status",
"operator": "IN",
"values": ["active", "auto_renewing"],
},
],
"sort": [{"property": "next_action_date", "direction": "ASC"}],
"limit": 200,
}
result = await ic_post("/records/search", body)
log_invocation("expiring_contracts", len(result.get("results", [])))
return [TextContent(type="text", text=str(result))]
if name == "summarize_workflow":
wf = await ic_get(
f"/workflows/{arguments['workflow_id']}",
{"include": "documents,participants,history"},
)
# Build a metadata-only summary. Any document body present is
# passed through truncate_body() so the response includes a
# _truncated_at marker that Claude reads as a hint to call
# get_document explicitly when the user asks for the full text.
summary = {
"id": wf.get("id"),
"type": wf.get("type"),
"status": wf.get("status"),
"counterparty": wf.get("counterparty"),
"current_step": wf.get("current_step"),
"participants": [
{"id": p.get("id"), "role": p.get("role"), "email": p.get("email")}
for p in wf.get("participants", [])
],
"step_history": wf.get("history", []),
"documents": [
{
"id": d.get("id"),
"title": d.get("title"),
"version": d.get("version"),
"body_preview": truncate_body(d.get("body")),
}
for d in wf.get("documents", [])
],
}
log_invocation("summarize_workflow", len(summary["documents"]))
return [TextContent(type="text", text=str(summary))]
if name == "add_comment":
body = {
"body": arguments["body"],
"created_at": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(),
}
result = await ic_post(
f"/records/{arguments['record_id']}/comments", body
)
log_invocation("add_comment", 1)
return [
TextContent(
type="text",
text=f"Added comment {result.get('id')} to record {arguments['record_id']}",
)
]
raise ValueError(f"Unknown tool: {name}")
# ----- Entrypoint -----
async def main() -> None:
require_config()
async with stdio_server() as (read, write):
await server.run(read, write, server.create_initialization_options())
if __name__ == "__main__":
import asyncio
asyncio.run(main())
