Scans your npm dependencies for license violations by walking node_modules and checking each package against configurable policies. Exposes two tools: check_licenses takes a project path and policy preset (permissive, weak-copyleft, copyleft, or custom SPDX expressions) and returns a markdown report flagging GPL contamination and other issues with full dependency chains showing how problems entered your tree. explain_license gives plain English breakdowns of any SPDX license including permissions and compatibility gotchas. Uses license-checker-rseidelsohn under the hood with SPDX normalization and satisfies logic. Runs via npx, requires an installed node_modules to scan.
MCP server that scans npm project dependencies for license compliance issues. Catch GPL contamination before code ships.
check-licensesScan a project's npm dependencies against a license policy and get a detailed compliance report.
Parameters:
path (required) — Absolute path to the project rootpolicy (optional, default: "permissive") — Policy preset or custom SPDX expression
"permissive" — Only MIT, ISC, BSD, Apache-2.0, etc."weak-copyleft" — Adds LGPL, MPL-2.0, EPL-2.0"copyleft" — Adds GPL, AGPL"(MIT OR Apache-2.0)" — Any valid SPDX expressionexplain-licenseGet a plain-language explanation of any SPDX license — permissions, conditions, limitations, compatibility, and gotchas.
Parameters:
license (required) — SPDX identifier (e.g., "MIT", "GPL-3.0-only", "Apache-2.0")claude mcp add license-compliance -- npx -y license-compliance-mcp
Add to your config (claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"license-compliance": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "license-compliance-mcp"]
}
}
}
node_modules using license-checker-rseidelsohnspdx-correctspdx-satisfiesnode_modules installed (npm install)