Sentinel-IR MCP 0.5: a bouncer for your AI assistant

A 2-minute read. No programming needed. Contains one (1) nightclub metaphor.

What it is

AI coding assistants such as Claude Desktop, Cursor and Windsurf can now read
the files on your computer by themselves. That's handy. It's also a bit like
giving a very fast, very eager intern the keys to the whole office.

Sentinel-IR MCP is the bouncer at the door. MCP is the standard plug that
lets AI assistants use outside tools. Plug Sentinel-IR MCP in, and your
assistant gets a short X-ray of each code file (what it touches, how risky it
is, which line does it) instead of the full text, but only for the folder you
picked:

Only your project. Shortcuts and sneaky paths that lead out of the folder are refused. So is /etc/passwd. (We checked. Twice.)
Only reading. It never changes a file, never runs code, never sends your code anywhere.
Your no-go list. Say "never look at secrets", and the assistant can't change that, and neither can a file in the project.
A diary, if you want one. Turn on the log and you can see later what the assistant asked for: file names and results, never your code.

What's new in 0.5

It reads Rust. JavaScript, TypeScript, Python and now Rust. It also skips
Rust's giant build folder, so your assistant doesn't spend an afternoon
reading machine-generated leftovers.

It updates itself. Before, npx (the tool that starts the server) kept
starting the first copy it ever downloaded, a bit like a phone that hides
system updates in a drawer. Now setup points it at a label called
stable-0.5, which npx checks again on every start, so fixes reach you
automatically.

It has a doctor. Run npx -y sentinel-ir-mcp@stable-0.5 doctor and it
checks everything: your setup, your no-go list, the diary, whether the server
starts, and whether a newer version exists. It now works behind company
proxies too, and it no longer says "all good" when it just printed a warning.
(Yes, it used to. We're not proud.)

Tested on all three. Linux, macOS and Windows. We tried hard to break it
before release and fixed everything we found.

Get it

One command sets up your assistant (it asks before writing anything):

npx -y sentinel-ir-mcp@stable-0.5 setup

Listed on Glama and
the official MCP Registry. Free and
open source:
GitLab ·
npm

Want to see what the assistant sees first? Try the
playground.

Independent Engineering Projects

Built as independent engineering experiments across AI, software analysis, security, and autonomous systems.

Evaluated by reproducible evidence, not by the number of layers.

Explore the projects:

Sentinel Ecosystem: AutoDoc-Sentinel, Sentinel-IR, Sentinel-IR-MCP and related tools.
Agentix Lite: Independent security and system-observation project.
Find the projects: GitLab repositories | NPM packages

Support the work: ⭐ Star the repositories on GitLab.

Connect: Follow me here on DEV Community or explore the Playground.

Each project is distributed under its own license. Check the corresponding repository or NPM package for licensing terms.