The tool worth knowing about is the small one: refining the question before starting a consultation changes what comes back more than picking `deep` over `standard` does. Naming real stakeholders does the same job — the output is a synthesis across perspectives, so the perspectives you supply are the input that matters.
An MCP server in front of Counsel, a strategic reasoning service. You hand it a question and the stakeholders who matter; it runs a debate across perspectives and returns a synthesis. Consultations are asynchronous — you start one, check on it, and read the report when it is done.
- `start_consultation` — analyze a question across perspectives; takes `question`, optional `context`, optional `stakeholders`, and a `mode` of `quick`, `standard` or `deep`
- `get_consultation_status` and `get_consultation_report` — check progress by `debate_id`, then pull the final synthesis
- `list_consultations` — your past consultations, `limit` defaulting to 10
- `sharpen_question` — refine a vague question before spending a consultation on it
- `consult_advisor` — an interactive session for brainstorming or scoping a problem before it is a decision
A Counsel account. The quickest path is the hosted endpoint `http://counsel-mcp.getmason.dev/mcp` with `transport` set to `http` — your client handles the OAuth flow and there is nothing to install. To run it yourself, Node.js 18+ and `npx -y counsel-mcp-server start`, with `COUNSEL_API_KEY` in the env block for stdio mode; `npx -y counsel-mcp-server http --port 3000` instead serves OAuth locally and needs no key. `COUNSEL_API_URL` overrides the API base. Package `counsel-mcp-server` at 0.2.6, MIT.
One command plus a key — npx -y counsel-mcp-server start, then supply credentials