Sequential Thinking

At a glance

Sequential Thinking is one of the reference servers kept by the Model Context Protocol project. It has a single tool, and that tool does no outside work at all: the model writes one thought per call, says how many it expects to need, and can go back to revise an earlier thought or fork off a branch to try another idea.

What you get is structure. The model commits to a plan in visible steps, which tends to help on long debugging sessions, migrations and design choices where the first idea is often wrong. On short questions it only adds calls, so leave it to the model to decide when to use it.

Made by

The Model Context Protocol project (reference server)

Latest version

2.0.0 (19 Oct 2026)

npm package

@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking

GitHub stars

91.6K

Downloads

169.3K a week

Last commit

25 Oct 2026

Tools

1

Runs on

Your computer

Our check: We ran this exact config on 27 Oct 2026: it started and answered with 1 tools. The shared database pointed at @modelcontextprotocol/server-everything, a test server from the same repository. The Sequential Thinking package is @modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking, and its npm entry links back to modelcontextprotocol/servers.

What's in the pod: its tools

We found 1 tool when we started it on 27 Oct 2026. 0 only read. The rest can change things, so keep your app's "ask before each tool call" setting on for them.

Grouped and described by us. The README on GitHub lists the inputs each tool takes.

Set it up

Pick your app for the exact snippet and where it goes.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sequential-thinking": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking"
      ]
    }
  }
}

claude mcp add-json sequential-thinking '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking"]}'

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sequential-thinking": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "servers": {
    "sequential-thinking": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sequential-thinking": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Set "DISABLE_THOUGHT_LOGGING": "true" in env if you do not want each thought printed to the server log.

New to this? See the setup guides for Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop and ChatGPT.

Settings

Names are exactly as the project spells them. Required ones are marked.

What it can touch

Safer setup: There is little to lock down. If you want fewer tool calls, say in your prompt when step-by-step thinking is worth it.

Before you start

• Node.js 24 or newer (the package asks for it)
• Nothing else: no account, key or network access

If it does not work

npx warns about the Node.js version or the server will not start

Version 2 of the package asks for Node.js 24 or newer. Update Node, or run the Docker image instead.

On Windows the client says it cannot find npx

Use "command": "cmd" with "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking"].

The tool is listed but the model never calls it

Ask for it: phrases like "think this through step by step" or "plan it, then revise the plan if an assumption fails" usually trigger it.

Peas in a pod: similar servers

How Sequential Thinking lines up against other agent helpers and desktop control servers on the shelf.

Questions

Something wrong on this page? Tell us.