License Compliance
Scans your npm dependencies for license violations by walking node_modules and checking each package against configurable policies. Exposes two tools: check_licenses takes a project path and policy preset (permissive, weak-copyleft, copyleft, or custom SPDX expressions) and returns a markdown report flagging GPL contamination and other issues with full dependency chains showing how problems entered your tree. explain_license gives plain English breakdowns of any SPDX license including permissions and compatibility gotchas. Uses license-checker-rseidelsohn under the hood with SPDX normalization and satisfies logic. Runs via npx, requires an installed node_modules to scan.
- tools
- 2
- transport
- STDIO
- last updated
- Mar 6, 2026
Tools
2 toolsPublic tool metadata for what this MCP can expose to an agent.
check-licensesScan a project's npm dependencies against a license policy and get a detailed compliance report.
Scan a project's npm dependencies against a license policy and get a detailed compliance report.
No parameter schema in public metadata yet.
explain-licenseGet a plain-language explanation of any SPDX license — permissions, conditions, limitations, compatibility, and gotchas.
Get a plain-language explanation of any SPDX license — permissions, conditions, limitations, compatibility, and gotchas.
No parameter schema in public metadata yet.
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license-compliance-mcp
MCP server that scans npm project dependencies for license compliance issues. Catch GPL contamination before code ships.
Tools
check-licenses
Scan a project's npm dependencies against a license policy and get a detailed compliance report.
Parameters:
path(required) — Absolute path to the project rootpolicy(optional, default:"permissive") — Policy preset or custom SPDX expression"permissive"— Only MIT, ISC, BSD, Apache-2.0, etc."weak-copyleft"— Adds LGPL, MPL-2.0, EPL-2.0"copyleft"— Adds GPL, AGPL- Custom:
"(MIT OR Apache-2.0)"— Any valid SPDX expression
explain-license
Get a plain-language explanation of any SPDX license — permissions, conditions, limitations, compatibility, and gotchas.
Parameters:
license(required) — SPDX identifier (e.g.,"MIT","GPL-3.0-only","Apache-2.0")
Install
Claude Code
claude mcp add license-compliance -- npx -y license-compliance-mcp
Claude Desktop / Cursor
Add to your config (claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json):
Details
- Repository
- github.com/bighippoman/license-compliance-mcp
- Package
license-compliance-mcp- Transport
- STDIO
- Registry
- MCP registry, active