staruml-controller-dfd-mcp

StarUML Controller MCP Server — Data Flow Diagram (DFD)

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server specialized for Data Flow Diagrams. Enables AI assistants like Claude to programmatically create and manage data flow diagrams — external entities, processes, data stores, and data flows in StarUML.

<p align="center"> <img src="images/main.jpg" alt="AI-generated Food Delivery System DFD in StarUML via MCP" width="800"> <br> <em>AI creating a complete Food Delivery System DFD through MCP tools</em> </p>

Architecture

<p align="center"> <img src="images/architecture.svg" alt="Architecture: Claude ↔ MCP (stdio) ↔ staruml-controller-dfd-mcp ↔ HTTP REST API ↔ StarUML" width="800"> </p>

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• StarUML with the staruml-controller extension installed and running

Setup

1. Clone and build the core package

git clone https://github.com/pontasan/staruml-controller-mcp-core.git
cd staruml-controller-mcp-core
npm install && npm run build
cd ..

2. Clone and build this package

git clone https://github.com/pontasan/staruml-controller-dfd-mcp.git
cd staruml-controller-dfd-mcp
npm install && npm run build

3. Start the StarUML Controller Server

1. Launch StarUML and open a project (or create a new one)
2. From the menu bar, select Tools > StarUML Controller > Start Server...
3. Enter a port (default: 12345) and click OK
4. The HTTP server starts — all Data Flow Diagram (DFD) tools become available via MCP

4. Configure your AI assistant

Claude Code — add to your project's .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "staruml-dfd": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/staruml-controller-dfd-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Or via CLI:

claude mcp add staruml-dfd node /absolute/path/to/staruml-controller-dfd-mcp/dist/index.js

Claude Desktop — add to your config file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "staruml-dfd": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/staruml-controller-dfd-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

1. Restart your AI assistant.

Available Tools

All tools accept optional host (default: localhost) and port (default: 12345) parameters.

Data Flow Diagram (DFD) Tools

The core of this server — full CRUD for every Data Flow Diagram (DFD) resource.

| Resource | Tools | |---|---| | Diagrams | dfd_list_diagrams, dfd_create_diagram, dfd_get_diagram, dfd_update_diagram, dfd_delete_diagram | | External Entities | dfd_list_external_entities, dfd_create_external_entity, dfd_get_external_entity, dfd_update_external_entity, dfd_delete_external_entity | | Processes | dfd_list_processes, dfd_create_process, dfd_get_process, dfd_update_process, dfd_delete_process | | Data Stores | dfd_list_data_stores, dfd_create_data_store, dfd_get_data_store, dfd_update_data_store, dfd_delete_data_store | | Data Flows | dfd_list_data_flows, dfd_create_data_flow, dfd_get_data_flow, dfd_update_data_flow, dfd_delete_data_flow |

Common Tools

Shared infrastructure tools available across all StarUML Controller MCP servers.

<details> <summary><strong>General</strong> — status, elements, tags, project I/O</summary>

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | get_status | Get server status, version, and endpoint list | | get_element | Get any element by ID | | list_element_tags | List tags on an element | | create_element_tag | Create a tag on an element | | get_tag | Get tag details | | update_tag | Update a tag | | delete_tag | Delete a tag | | save_project | Save project to a .mdj file | | open_project | Open a .mdj project file |

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Project</strong> — new, close, import, export</summary>

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | project_new | Create a new empty project | | project_close | Close the current project | | project_import | Import a .mdj fragment into the project | | project_export | Export a model fragment to a .mdj file | | project_export_all | Export all diagrams as images (PNG/SVG/JPEG/PDF) | | project_export_doc | Export project documentation (HTML/Markdown) |

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Utility</strong> — undo, redo, search, validate, mermaid, generate</summary>

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | undo | Undo the last action | | redo | Redo the last undone action | | search | Search elements by keyword with optional type filter | | validate | Run model validation | | mermaid_import | Import a Mermaid diagram definition | | generate_diagram | Generate a diagram from natural language (requires AI extension) |

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Diagrams</strong> — CRUD, export, layout, zoom</summary>

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | diagram_list | List all diagrams (optionally filter by type) | | diagram_create | Create a new diagram of any type | | diagram_get | Get diagram details by ID | | diagram_update | Update diagram name | | diagram_delete | Delete a diagram | | diagram_list_elements | List all elements on a diagram | | diagram_list_views | List all views on a diagram | | diagram_create_element | Create a node element on a diagram | | diagram_create_relation | Create a relation between elements | | diagram_export | Export diagram as image (PNG/SVG/JPEG/PDF) | | diagram_layout | Auto-layout diagram with configurable direction | | diagram_open | Open/activate a diagram in the editor | | diagram_zoom | Set diagram zoom level | | diagram_create_view_of | Create a view of an existing model on a diagram | | diagram_link_object | Create a UMLLinkObject on an object diagram |

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Notes & Shapes</strong> — notes, note links, free lines, shapes</summary>

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | note_list | List all notes on a diagram | | note_create | Create a note with text and position | | note_get | Get note details | | note_update | Update note text | | note_delete | Delete a note | | note_link_list | List all note links on a diagram | | note_link_create | Create a link between a note and an element | | note_link_delete | Delete a note link | | free_line_list | List all free lines on a diagram | | free_line_create | Create a free line on a diagram | | free_line_delete | Delete a free line | | shape_list | List all shapes on a diagram | | shape_create | Create a shape (Text, TextBox, Rect, RoundRect, Ellipse, Hyperlink, Image) | | shape_get | Get shape details | | shape_update | Update shape text | | shape_delete | Delete a shape |

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Views & Elements</strong> — positioning, styling, element management</summary>

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | view_update | Move/resize a view (left, top, width, height) | | view_update_style | Update visual style (fillColor, lineColor, fontColor, fontSize, etc.) | | view_reconnect | Reconnect an edge to different source/target | | view_align | Align/distribute multiple views | | element_update | Update any element's name and documentation | | element_delete | Delete any element by ID | | element_list_relationships | List all relationships of an element | | element_list_views | List all views of an element across diagrams | | element_relocate | Move element to a different parent | | element_create_child | Create a child element (attribute, operation, etc.) | | element_reorder | Reorder element within parent (up/down) |

</details>

Related Projects

This server is part of the StarUML Controller MCP family:

| Server | Diagram Type | |---|---| | staruml-controller-erd-mcp | Entity-Relationship Diagram | | staruml-controller-seq-mcp | Sequence Diagram | | staruml-controller-class-mcp | Class / Package Diagram | | staruml-controller-usecase-mcp | Use Case Diagram | | staruml-controller-activity-mcp | Activity Diagram | | staruml-controller-bpmn-mcp | BPMN Diagram | | staruml-controller-sysml-mcp | SysML Diagram | | and 18 more... | |

All servers share common tools and add diagram-specific tools on top. Install only what you need.

License

MIT