fabioc-aloha Flint Chart MCP
Provision and diagnose the optional Flint MCP runtime used by the visual add-on.
What this skill owns
This skill is operational, not chart-authoring. It handles:
- installing the pinned local
flint-chart-mcpnpm package into a Scout-owned runtime folder - registering a local Flint MCP server in Scout's MCP registry
- checking whether Flint tools are visible
- diagnosing common runtime failures
Use flint-chart after this runtime is available.
Runtime model
The visual add-on does not install Flint globally and does not use npx at runtime.
Default runtime paths:
| Platform | Runtime root |
|---|---|
| Windows | %USERPROFILE%\.scout\plugin-data\alex-act-scout\flint-runtime |
| macOS/Linux | $HOME/.scout/plugin-data/alex-act-scout/flint-runtime |
Pinned package:
flint-chart-mcp@0.5.0
Scripts
This skill carries helper scripts in scripts/.
| Script | Purpose |
|---|---|
setup-flint-runtime.ps1 |
Windows dry-run/apply installer for the local Flint runtime. |
setup-flint-runtime.sh |
macOS/Linux dry-run/apply installer for the local Flint runtime. |
register-flint-mcp.ps1 |
Windows dry-run/apply registration into %USERPROFILE%\.scout\m-mcp-servers.json. |
register-flint-mcp.sh |
macOS/Linux dry-run/apply registration into $HOME/.scout/m-mcp-servers.json. |
runtime-launcher.mjs |
Node launcher that starts the pinned local Flint MCP CLI over stdio. |
Setup workflow
The visual installer can perform the full setup:
Windows:
.\install-visual.ps1 -WithFlintMcp
.\install-visual.ps1 -Apply -WithFlintMcp
macOS/Linux:
./install-visual.sh --with-flint-mcp
./install-visual.sh --apply --with-flint-mcp
When the default npm registry is unavailable, pass a one-off registry to the setup step. For example, on the Microsoft network:
.\install-visual.ps1 -Apply -WithFlintMcp -NpmRegistry 'https://packagefeedproxy.microsoft.io/npm/'
./install-visual.sh --apply --with-flint-mcp --npm-registry 'https://packagefeedproxy.microsoft.io/npm/'
Manual setup remains available when you need separate control:
- Run the setup script in dry-run mode.
- Confirm the npm registry and install path are expected.
- Re-run with apply.
- Run the registration script in dry-run mode.
- Confirm the registry path and launcher path are expected.
- Re-run with apply.
- Restart Scout.
- Confirm Flint tools appear, especially
render_chart,validate_chart, andlist_themes.
Windows:
.\skills-visual\flint-chart-mcp\scripts\setup-flint-runtime.ps1
.\skills-visual\flint-chart-mcp\scripts\setup-flint-runtime.ps1 -Apply
.\skills-visual\flint-chart-mcp\scripts\register-flint-mcp.ps1
.\skills-visual\flint-chart-mcp\scripts\register-flint-mcp.ps1 -Apply
macOS/Linux:
./skills-visual/flint-chart-mcp/scripts/setup-flint-runtime.sh
./skills-visual/flint-chart-mcp/scripts/setup-flint-runtime.sh --apply
./skills-visual/flint-chart-mcp/scripts/register-flint-mcp.sh
./skills-visual/flint-chart-mcp/scripts/register-flint-mcp.sh --apply
Verified Scout registry shape
Scout accepted this custom server shape during local testing:
{
"servers": {
"flint": {
"builtin": false,
"config": {
"name": "flint",
"type": "command",
"command": "node",
"args": [
"<path-to-runtime-launcher.mjs>",
"flint"
]
},
"tools": []
}
}
}
Do not add embedded quote characters around Windows paths in args. Scout passes args directly to the process.
Diagnostics
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Flint tools missing after install | Scout has not restarted or registry was not applied. | Restart Scout and inspect m-mcp-servers.json. |
MODULE_NOT_FOUND |
Runtime dependencies were not installed. | Re-run setup with apply. |
| Path contains escaped quotes | Registration wrote "\"C:\\...\"" into args. |
Remove embedded quotes; keep the raw path string. |
create_chart_view returns only a card |
Current Scout UI does not embed interactive app views. | Use render_chart for visible output. |
| Chart validates false | Invalid chart type, encoding, or theme. | Call list_chart_types and list_themes, then revise the payload. |
Safety rules
- Dry-run by default.
- Install locally under
.scout, never globally. - Respect the user's configured npm registry unless they supply an explicit one-off override.
- Do not persist the one-off registry in user or global npm configuration.
- Back up the Scout MCP registry before modifying it.
- Do not remove unrelated MCP server entries.
- Do not overwrite user-created skill folders unless the user supplied the force flag through the visual installer.