@protomated/legal-context

LegalContext

LegalContext is an open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that creates a secure bridge between a law firm's Clio document management system and Claude Desktop AI assistant.

Features

• Secure Document Access: Connects to Clio API to access legal documents while maintaining security
• Local Processing: All document processing happens locally within the firm's infrastructure
• MCP Integration: Implements the Model Context Protocol for seamless integration with Claude Desktop
• Vector Search: Uses LanceDB for efficient document retrieval based on semantic similarity
• Free Tier Limitations: Includes built-in limits for the free version (100 documents, 50 queries/day)

Prerequisites

• Bun v1.0 or later
• Clio Developer Account (for API access)
• Claude Desktop (for AI assistant integration)

Quick Start

The fastest way to get started is to use our automated setup script:

# Make the script executable
chmod +x install.sh

# Run the setup script
./install.sh

The setup script will:

1. Install Bun if it's not already installed
2. Configure your environment variables
3. Set up OAuth with Clio
4. Update Claude Desktop configuration automatically

Manual Installation

If you prefer to set things up manually, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/protomated/legal-context.git
   cd legal-context

2. Install dependencies:

   bun install

3. Configure environment variables:

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env with your Clio API credentials and other settings

4. Set up your Clio Developer Account:

   • Go to Clio Developer Dashboard
   • Create a new application
   • Set the redirect URI to exactly match what you specified in your .env file (default is http://localhost:3001/clio/auth/callback)
   • Copy the Client ID and Client Secret to your .env file
   • Set the CLIO_API_REGION based on your Clio account (us, ca, eu, au)

5. Verify your Clio configuration:

   bun run check:clio

Usage

Testing Clio Integration

Before starting the server, you can test your connection to Clio:

# Verify your Clio API credentials and configuration
bun run check:clio

# Simple authentication test (recommended for first-time setup)
bun run auth:simple

# Full authentication test
bun test:auth

# Test the full Clio integration (document listing, etc.)
bun test:clio

The first time you run these tests, you'll need to authenticate with Clio:

1. The test will start a local web server on the port specified in your .env file (default: 3001)
2. It will provide a URL to visit (e.g., http://localhost:3001/clio/auth)
3. Visit this URL in your browser
4. Log in to your Clio account if prompted
5. Review and approve the authorization request
6. You should be redirected back to a success page
7. Return to the terminal where you'll see the authentication result

Important: Make sure that the redirect URI in your Clio Developer Application settings exactly matches the one in your .env file. Any mismatch (even in capitalization or trailing slashes) will result in an "Invalid authorization request" error.

Starting the Server

Run the server using Bun:

bun start

For development with auto-reload:

bun dev

Connecting with Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop

2. Configure Claude to use LegalContext as an MCP server:

   • Locate the Claude Desktop configuration file (claude_desktop_config.json):

     • On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
     • On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
     • On Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

   • Create or edit the claude_desktop_config.json file with the following structure:

     {
       "mcpServers": {
         "legalcontext": {
           "command": "/absolute/path/to/bun",
           "args": ["/absolute/path/to/legal-context/src/server.ts"],
           "cwd": "/absolute/path/to/legal-context"
         }
       }
     }

   • For the command field, specify the absolute path to your Bun executable:

     • Find it using which bun on macOS/Linux
     • Typically located at ~/.bun/bin/bun on macOS or /usr/local/bin/bun
     • Example: "command": "~/.bun/bin/bun"

   • For the args field, provide an array containing the absolute path to the main server TypeScript file:

     • Example: "args": ["/Users/username/projects/legal-context/src/server.ts"]

   • For the cwd field, specify the absolute path to your cloned repository:

     • Example: "cwd": "/Users/username/projects/legal-context"

   • IMPORTANT: Do NOT edit the main config.json file. Only edit the claude_desktop_config.json file.

   Pro Tip: Use our setup script (./install.sh) to automatically configure Claude Desktop.

3. Restart Claude Desktop to apply the configuration:

   • Quit Claude Desktop completely (not just closing the window)
   • Relaunch Claude Desktop
   • LegalContext should now appear as an available server in Claude Desktop

4. Start querying your legal documents!

Example Queries

Once you have LegalContext set up and connected to Claude Desktop, you can try these example queries:

• Document Summarization:

  • "Can you summarize the key points from our recent settlement agreement with Acme Corp?"
  • "What are the main provisions in our latest employment contract template?"

• Legal Research:

  • "What precedents do we have for consumer data privacy cases in the healthcare sector?"
  • "Find relevant cases in our repository related to intellectual property disputes."

• Document Search:

  • "Find documents related to non-compete agreements that we've drafted in the last year."
  • "Show me all merger and acquisition contracts we have with technology companies."

• Contract Analysis:

  • "What are the common clauses we include in our software licensing agreements?"
  • "Can you analyze the risks in the Johnson contract that was uploaded to Clio last week?"

• Legal Advice Preparation:

  • "Based on our previous cases, what arguments should we prepare for the upcoming Smith litigation?"
  • "What documentation do we typically require from clients for trademark registration?"

Note: The current implementation is a placeholder that tracks query counts but returns generic responses. Full document retrieval and context-aware responses will be available in future updates.

Development Tools

For developers, we provide a TypeScript setup script that offers the same functionality as the shell script but can be run using Bun:

# Run the TypeScript setup script
bun run setup.ts

Other development commands:

• TypeScript type checking:

  bun typecheck

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues with the Clio integration:

1. Authentication Issues:

   • Check that your Clio credentials are correct
   • Ensure your redirect URI matches exactly what's registered in Clio
   • Verify that your Clio API region is set correctly

2. Claude Desktop Connection Issues:

   • Make sure the path to Bun is correct in your Claude configuration
   • Check that the path to the server.ts file is correct
   • Restart Claude Desktop after changing configuration

3. Permission Issues:

   • Ensure the install.sh and setup.ts files are executable (chmod +x install.sh)
   • Check that Bun has write permissions to the project directory

License

This project is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

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Built with Bun and the Model Context Protocol.