QUICKSTART.md

Quick Start Guide

Get fedramp-docs-mcp running in under 5 minutes.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ (download)
• npm 9+ (included with Node.js)

node --version  # Should be v18.0.0 or later

Installation

Choose one method:

Option 1: npx (Recommended)

No installation needed. Run directly:

npx fedramp-docs-mcp

Option 2: npm Global Install

npm install -g fedramp-docs-mcp
fedramp-docs-mcp

Option 3: Docker

docker run -it ghcr.io/ethanolivertroy/fedramp-docs-mcp:latest

Configure Your MCP Client

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fedramp-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "fedramp-docs-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop.

Cursor

Add to MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fedramp-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "fedramp-docs-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Verify It Works

Ask your AI assistant:

"Run the health_check tool from fedramp-docs"

You should see a response with repository path and indexed file counts.

First Queries

Try these prompts:

"List all Key Security Indicators related to identity management"

"What FedRAMP requirements map to NIST control AC-2?"

"Search the FedRAMP docs for continuous monitoring guidance"

"Get a summary of the IAM theme with all related KSIs"

Available Tools

Tool	Purpose
health_check	Verify server status
list_ksi	Browse Key Security Indicators
get_ksi	Get specific KSI details
get_theme_summary	All KSIs for a theme
get_control_requirements	FedRAMP requirements for a NIST control
search_markdown	Full-text search of docs

See Tools Reference for all 20 tools.

What's Next?

• Full Documentation - Complete guides and reference
• MCP Client Setup - Configure other clients
• Docker Setup - Container deployment
• Security Hardening - Production configs

Troubleshooting

First run is slow? The server clones FedRAMP/docs (~50MB) on first run.

Server not appearing in client? Check JSON syntax in config file, then restart the client.

Need help? See Troubleshooting Guide or open an issue.