NimbleBrain Contributor

Onboard into NimbleBrain open source and coordinate your contributions.

What is NimbleBrain?

NimbleBrain is a business automation platform powered by AI. Users talk to Nira (the AI agent) to automate workflows using tools they already use: Notion, HubSpot, Linear, Stripe, etc.

The open source ecosystem has three layers:

• •MCP Servers connect to external services and expose tools (MCPB bundles published to mpak)
• •Skills compose those tools into reusable workflows (published as .skill packages)
• •Platform (Studio) orchestrates everything for teams

Most open source contribution is building MCP servers + companion skills.

Process

If the user is new: Full Onboarding

Step 1: Check Environment

Verify these tools are installed. For each missing tool, provide the install command.

python3 --version          # Need 3.13+
uv --version               # Package manager
ruff --version              # Linter/formatter
ty --version                # Type checker
docker --version            # For testing bundles
gh --version                # GitHub CLI
gh auth status              # Must be authenticated

Install commands for missing tools:

Also check for mpak CLI:

mpak --version

If missing: npm install -g @nimblebrain/mpak

Step 2: Check Required Skills

Verify the build-mcpb skill is installed:

ls ~/.claude/skills/build-mcpb/SKILL.md 2>/dev/null && echo "installed" || echo "MISSING"

If missing: mpak skill install @nimblebraininc/build-mcpb

Step 3: Orient

Explain what NimbleBrain builds and how contributions work:

How NimbleBrain Contributions Work
====================================

1. Pick an integration from open issues (or propose your own)
2. Create a server repo from the template
3. Run /build-mcpb to scaffold, implement, validate, and author skills
4. Submit a PR with server + companion skills
5. CI validates, maintainer reviews, then it ships to mpak

Every deliverable is a server + skills combo:
  - MCP server with 5+ tools
  - 2-3 companion skills that compose those tools into workflows

Step 4: Help Pick Work

Browse open issues:

# Check open issues on HQ
gh issue list --repo NimbleBrainInc/hq

# Check for good first issues
gh issue list --repo NimbleBrainInc/hq --label "good first issue"

# Check available integrations
gh issue list --repo NimbleBrainInc/hq --label "integration"

Present the options and help the user pick something that matches their interest.

Step 5: Get Started

Once they've picked an integration:

1. •

   Create the server repo:

   bash

   gh repo create NimbleBrainInc/mcp-<name> \
     --template NimbleBrainInc/mcp-server-template --public --clone
   cd mcp-<name>
   

2. •

   Get their API key for the target service

3. •

   Hand off to /build-mcpb to start the build pipeline

If the user wants to browse work

Browse open issues and present a summary of what's available:

gh issue list --repo NimbleBrainInc/hq --state open
gh issue list --repo NimbleBrainInc/hq --label "integration"

If the user wants to file an issue

Help them create a well-structured issue on HQ:

New integration proposal:

gh issue create --repo NimbleBrainInc/hq \
  --title "New MCP Server: <service name>" \
  --body "## Service
- **API docs:** <url>
- **Auth:** <method>
- **Free tier:** <yes/no>

## Suggested Tools
- \`tool_1\` - description
- \`tool_2\` - description

## Suggested Skills
1. \`skill-name\` - description

## Notes
<any API quirks, complexity notes, etc.>" \
  --label "integration"

Bug report:

gh issue create --repo NimbleBrainInc/hq \
  --title "<concise description>" \
  --body "## What happened
<description>

## Expected behavior
<description>

## Steps to reproduce
1. ..." \
  --label "bug"

If the user wants to check status

gh issue list --repo NimbleBrainInc/hq --state all --limit 20
gh issue list --repo NimbleBrainInc/hq --assignee @me

Key Links

• •HQ repo: github.com/NimbleBrainInc/hq (issues, roadmap)
• •mpak registry: mpak.dev (published servers and skills)
• •Docs: docs.nimblebrain.ai
• •MCP spec: modelcontextprotocol.io

References

See references/ in this skill for:

• •DEV_SETUP.md - Detailed environment setup instructions
• •PIPELINE.md - Full build-validate-author-publish pipeline reference