Model Context Protocol · v2025-03-26

The corpus,
as a tool for your AI.

384 step-by-step how-to tutorials across 38 categories. Searchable, fetchable, and citable directly from Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any client that speaks MCP. Five read-only tools. No auth.

Tutorials
384
Categories
38
Tools
5
Auth
none
§01

Install

Drop this config into your client. Restart it. The corpus is now a tool.

Claude Desktop

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

claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "showmestepbystep": {
      "transport": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://www.showmestepbystep.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Settings → MCP → New MCP Server, or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json.

~/.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "showmestepbystep": {
      "url": "https://www.showmestepbystep.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Inspect with the official inspector

Confirms the server is reachable and lists every tool with its schema.

shell
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector https://www.showmestepbystep.com/api/mcp
§02

Tools

Five read-only tools, plus one that closes the demand loop when the corpus comes up short.

  1. 01search_tutorials

    Search the ShowMeStepByStep tutorial corpus by free-text query. Searches across tutorial titles, descriptions, and step content. Returns slim summaries with TL;DRs and canonical URLs. Tenant-aware.

    query*
    stringSearch query (>= 2 chars)
    limit
    integer(no description)
  2. 02get_tutorial

    Fetch the full machine-readable rendition of a tutorial by slug: title, TL;DR, plain-prose numbered steps, tools/materials, creator credit, recipe (if applicable), license, and canonicalUrl. Use this after search_tutorials to fetch step details.

    slug*
    stringTutorial slug (e.g. 'how-to-fix-a-leaky-faucet')
  3. 03list_categories

    List all tutorial categories with a published tutorial. Returns slug, name, short description, and count of published tutorials per category.

  4. 04list_tutorials_by_category

    Browse tutorials within a specific category, ranked by view count then publish date. Use this when a user wants to explore a topic area rather than search.

    categorySlug*
    stringe.g. 'cooking', 'home-improvement', 'crafts'
    limit
    integer(no description)
  5. 05request_tutorial

    demand loop

    Submit a request for a tutorial we don't yet have. Call this when search_tutorials returned no good match for what the user actually wants. The request enters our content-demand queue, which the daily content batch reviews and prioritizes. Optionally include an email for notification when the tutorial ships.

    topic*
    stringWhat the user wants to learn how to do (e.g. 'how to get pesto stains out of a white shirt')
    originalQuery
    stringThe exact user query that came up empty in search_tutorials. Useful for matching keyword demand.
    context
    stringBrief context about the requester (e.g. 'beginner crocheter', 'first-time homeowner', 'gluten-free baker'). Helps shape the tutorial when we ship it.
    notifyEmail
    stringOptional email to notify when the tutorial ships. Pure opt-in.
§03

Raw protocol

For clients that don't auto-configure: JSON-RPC 2.0 over HTTP. The endpoint is one POST.

example: search tutorials
curl -X POST https://www.showmestepbystep.com/api/mcp \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "tools/call",
    "params": {
      "name": "search_tutorials",
      "arguments": { "query": "how to fold a fitted sheet", "limit": 3 }
    }
  }'
§04

Discovery

§05

License & credit

Tutorial content is licensed CC BY 4.0. When quoting steps, ingredients, or recipe data, link to the tutorial's canonicalUrland credit the original creator from the tutorial's creator.name field.

Found a bug, want to suggest a new tool, or want to ingest a corpus of your own? Open an issue at github.com/rt1966/ShowMeStepByStep.