NorthStar

Define the organization's goals hierarchically and inject them into AI assistants through Model Context Protocol (MCP) to ensure that individual work aligns with the organization's direction.

The Purpose Behind the Development

"I've been experimenting with 'Vibe coding' lately, and it’s fascinating how the same task can yield such different results depending on who's doing it. It made me wonder: even within the same organization, does everyone actually need different context to execute the same request? But surely, the organization's goals should be aligned, right? That train of thought led me to build this tool. I'm still testing its effectiveness, but the concept started there."

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/anthropics/NorthStar.git
cd NorthStar

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

# Seed the database with example data
npm run seed

Configuration

Create a .env file based on .env.example:

# User ID for the current session (required)
NORTHSTAR_USER_ID=user-jane-smith

# Database file path (optional, defaults to ./northstar.db)
NORTHSTAR_DB_PATH=./northstar.db

Usage

Starting the Server

NORTHSTAR_USER_ID=user-jane-smith npm start

Using with Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "northstar": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/NorthStar/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "NORTHSTAR_USER_ID": "user-jane-smith"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using with Google Gemini

For Gemini clients that support MCP (like Gemini Developer API or compatible tools), use the standard server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "northstar": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/NorthStar/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "NORTHSTAR_USER_ID": "user-jane-smith"
      }
    }
  }
}

Testing with MCP Inspector

NORTHSTAR_USER_ID=user-jane-smith npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js

Screenshots

MCP Resources & Tools

Resource

URI	Description
northstar://context/current_user	Returns user context with goals and AI guidelines

Tools

Tool	Description
get_parent_goals	Get goals from parent organizations for strategic context
search_collaborator_goals	Search goals across accessible organizations
submit_question	Submit a question about a goal from another team

Available Scripts

Script	Description
npm run build	Compile TypeScript to JavaScript
npm run start	Start the MCP server
npm run dev	Build and start in one command
npm run seed	Populate database with example data

Sample Users

After running npm run seed, the following users are available:

User ID	Name	Organization
user-jane-smith	Jane Smith	Platform Team
user-ceo	Alex Johnson	Acme Corp
user-vp-engineering	Sarah Chen	Engineering Department
user-platform-lead	Mike Williams	Platform Team
user-product-team-lead	David Lee	Product Team
user-enterprise-lead	Amanda White	Enterprise Sales Team

Documentation

• Architecture
• Example Hierarchy