MCP Server

Connect your AI tools to the leveling guide using the Model Context Protocol. Search competencies, retrieve guides, and explore career stage expectations — all from your editor or assistant.

Connect

The server supports two transports. Use whichever your client supports — most modern clients work with Streamable HTTP.

Streamable HTTP (recommended)

https://leveling.arbini.dev/connect/mcp

SSE (legacy)

https://leveling.arbini.dev/connect/sse

See client-specific setup instructions below.

Client Setup

Claude Code

Run this in your terminal:

claude mcp add leveling-guide https://leveling.arbini.dev/connect/mcp

Claude Desktop

Open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, then paste the server URL:

https://leveling.arbini.dev/connect/mcp

Cursor

Add to your ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "leveling-guide": {
      "url": "https://leveling.arbini.dev/connect/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to your ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "leveling-guide": {
      "url": "https://leveling.arbini.dev/connect/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Other clients

Point any MCP-compatible client at the Streamable HTTP endpoint. For stdio-only clients, use npx mcp-remote https://leveling.arbini.dev/connect/mcp as the command.

Tools

`search_competencies`

Fuzzy search across all IC and management competencies and guide content. Supports typo tolerance and returns matched fields.

querystringSearch term or natural language query

trackstring?Filter to 'ic' or 'management' track

categorystring?Filter to an IC category slug

stagestring?Filter to a career stage slug

`get_competency_guide`

Retrieve the flowing narrative guide for an IC or management competency. Covers what the competency looks like in practice, the key mindset shift, and how to grow. Management guides include IC-to-manager transition context.

slugstringCompetency slug (IC or management)

stagestring?Return only a specific stage (IC or management stage slugs)

`get_competency_reference`

Retrieve structured reference data for an IC or management competency — behaviors, struggles, success indicators, mindset shifts, habits, feedback questions, practice opportunities, and uplevel signals.

slugstringCompetency slug (IC or management)

stagestringStage slug (IC or management stage slugs)

`get_category_overview`

Retrieve the category-level guide for a competency group, including its introduction, themed sections, and list of competencies.

slugstringCategory slug

Resources

leveling://competencies

All 22 IC engineering competencies with slug, name, category, and description.

leveling://categories

All 5 competency categories with their competency slugs.

leveling://stages

All 5 IC career stages with slug, display name, and level number.

leveling://management-competencies

All 4 management competencies with slug, name, and description.

leveling://management-stages

All 4 management stages with slug, display name, and level number.

Parameter Reference

Category slugs

domain-knowledgecollaborationexecutionleadershipproduct-excellence

IC stage slugs

early-careermid-levelseniorstaffprincipal

Management stage slugs

team-leadengineering-managersenior-engineering-managerdirector

IC competency slugs

ai-leveragecode-qualitycommunicationcustomer-empathycustomer-valuedebuggingdeliveryeconomic-thinkingfeedbackinitiativementorshipownership-and-accountabilityprioritization-and-dependenciesprocess-thinkingproduct-knowledgeproduct-stabilityrelationship-buildingstrategic-alignmentsystem-architectureteamworktestingwork-simplification

Management competency slugs

people-developmentteam-buildingexecution-leadershiporganizational-design