HoxCore

What is HoxCore?

HoxCore is a meta-manager — a low-level tool that centralizes the core metadata of organizational objects into a single, unified registry. Rather than managing execution or visualization directly, HoxCore acts as the foundational layer that independent software can build upon.

Organizational Object Types

HoxCore handles four categories of objects:

Type	Orientation	Description
Projects	Goal-oriented	Has a defined finalization point; decoupled from execution
Missions	Event-oriented	Linked to execution; tied to a specific occurrence or execution window
Activities	Action-oriented	No definite end; represents indefinite, ongoing progression
Programs	Container	Groups and organizes Projects, Missions, and/or Activities

Design Philosophy

HoxCore is intentionally minimal and low-level. It owns the metadata — everything else is up to you. Independent tools can be built on top of HoxCore for visualization, reporting, dashboards, or richer management interfaces, all reading from the same single source of truth.

Installation

From PyPI

pip install hoxcore

For Development

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/SDEscobedo/hoxcore
cd hoxcore

# Create a virtual environment (optional but recommended)
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .

Usage

HoxCore manages your projects using a simple file-based system. It operates on a Registry (a directory on your disk) that holds various Entities (Programs, Projects, Missions, or Actions) stored as individual files. This mental model allows you to maintain full control over your data while using simple CLI commands to organize your workflow.

Available Commands

Command	Description
init	Initialize a new registry
create	Create a new entity (project, program, mission, action)
list	List entities with optional filters
show	Show full details of a specific entity
get	Get a specific property from an entity
edit	Edit properties of an entity
delete	Delete an entity from the registry
validate	Validate registry integrity
registry	Manage registry location
mcp	Start the MCP server for LLM access

Quick Start Guide

1. Initialize a Registry

Set up your first registry to start storing entities.

# Initialize a registry in the current directory
hxc init

# Initialize in a specific directory
hxc init ~/my-registry

# Initialize without git integration
hxc init --no-git

2. Create Entities

Add projects, programs, missions, or actions to your registry.

# Create a basic project
hxc create project "My First Project"

# Create a project with a description, tags, and due date
hxc create project "API Redesign" --description "Redesign the public API" --tags backend api --due-date 2025-06-01

# Create a program (container for projects)
hxc create program "Q2 Initiatives"

# Create a mission (execution-oriented, time-bound)
hxc create mission "Deploy v2.0"

# Create an action (ongoing, no end date)
hxc create action "Monitor system health"

3. List and Inspect

View your registry content and drill down into details.

# List all projects
hxc list project

# List all entities in the registry
hxc list all

# Filter by status or tag
hxc list project --status active
hxc list project --tag backend

# Show full details of a specific entity
hxc show <uid>

# Get a specific property
hxc get <uid> status

4. Edit and Delete

Update or remove entities as your tasks progress.

# Change status or add a tag
hxc edit <uid> --set-status completed
hxc edit <uid> --add-tag backend

# Set a new due date
hxc edit <uid> --set-due-date 2025-06-01

# Delete an entity (prompts for confirmation)
hxc delete <uid>

# Delete immediately without prompt
hxc delete <uid> --force

# Prevent automatic commit after deletion
hxc delete <uid> --no-commit

Getting Help

If you need more information about a specific command or general flags:

# General help
hxc --help

# Command-specific help
hxc create --help
hxc list --help

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MCP Server (Model Context Protocol)

HoxCore includes a built-in MCP server that exposes registry functionality to LLMs through a standardized interface. This allows AI assistants (like Claude) to interact with your HoxCore registries directly.

Starting the Server

# Start with the default or configured registry
hxc mcp

# Start with a specific registry path
hxc mcp --registry /path/to/your/registry

# Specify transport (currently only stdio is supported)
hxc mcp --transport stdio

# Show server capabilities (tools, resources, prompts) without starting
hxc mcp --capabilities

# Start in read-only mode — write tools are not exposed to the LLM
hxc mcp --read-only

You can also start the server programmatically:

from hxc.mcp.server import create_server

# Normal mode (all tools)
server = create_server(registry_path="/path/to/registry")
server.run_stdio()

# Read-only mode (write tools omitted)
server = create_server(registry_path="/path/to/registry", read_only=True)
server.run_stdio()

Connecting to Claude (or other MCP-compatible clients)

Add HoxCore to your MCP client configuration. For Claude Desktop, update your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hoxcore": {
      "command": "hxc",
      "args": ["mcp", "--registry", "/path/to/your/registry"]
    }
  }
}

To restrict the assistant to read-only access, add "--read-only" to the args list:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hoxcore": {
      "command": "hxc",
      "args": ["mcp", "--registry", "/path/to/your/registry", "--read-only"]
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

The MCP server exposes tools that an LLM can call. By default all seven tools are available; start with --read-only to expose only the four read tools.

Tool	Type	Description
list_entities	Read	List entities in the registry, with optional filters for type, status, tags, category, and parent
get_entity	Read	Retrieve a specific entity by its ID or UID
search_entities	Read	Full-text search across entity titles and descriptions
get_entity_property	Read	Fetch a specific property from an entity, with support for list indexing and key filtering
create_entity	Write	Create a new entity (program, project, mission, or action) in the registry
edit_entity	Write	Update scalar fields or incrementally add/remove tags on an existing entity
delete_entity	Write	Delete an entity; requires a two-step confirmation (force=false first, then force=true)

Available Resources

Resources are accessible via hxc:// URIs:

URI	Description
hxc://entity/{identifier}	A specific entity by ID or UID (YAML)
hxc://entities/{type}	All entities of a given type (JSON)
hxc://hierarchy/{identifier}	Entity hierarchy and relationships (JSON)
hxc://registry/stats	Registry statistics and overview (JSON)
hxc://search?q={query}	Search results for a query (JSON)

Extending the Server

You can register custom tools, resources, and prompts at runtime:

from hxc.mcp.server import create_server

server = create_server()

# Register a custom tool
def my_tool(registry_path=None, **kwargs):
    """My custom tool description."""
    return {"result": "..."}

server.register_tool("my_tool", my_tool)

# Register a custom prompt
server.register_prompt({
    "name": "my_prompt",
    "description": "A helpful prompt template",
    "arguments": [
        {"name": "context", "description": "Context for the prompt", "required": True}
    ]
})

server.run_stdio()

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING for details on our development workflow, including branch naming and test requirements.