You used AI to write code for 3 days. Callout tells you 60% of it was over-engineered.
AI coding tools make you 10x faster at writing code. Nobody checks if you're building the right thing. Callout is the second pair of eyes — 9 expert perspectives that catch what you miss, delivered as an MCP server that works inside Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and Windsurf.
A real product was built using Claude Code in 6 days: 186 files, 691 tests. A multi-perspective review on Day 5 found that 60% was over-engineered. 9 days of planned work reduced to 3.5 days. The key insight: the problem wasn't bad code — it was wrong priorities and missed blind spots.
Callout makes that review available to every developer, automatically.
npx callout-dev setupNo global install needed. Run this from your project directory. Callout auto-detects your editor and configures the MCP server.
After setup, restart your editor (or re-enter Claude Code from the project directory), then say:
Review this project
Manual setup (if npx setup doesn't work)
Claude Code:
claude mcp add callout -- npx callout-devCursor / VS Code — add to your editor's MCP config (.cursor/mcp.json or .vscode/mcp.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"callout": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["callout-dev"]
}
}
}Windsurf — add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json with the same format.
After any manual setup, restart your editor so it picks up the new MCP server.
| Phase | What you want | Say this to AI | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get started | Check my AI collaboration habits | "Coach me" | Scans your project setup, finds blind spots, outputs improvement checklist |
| Evaluate this project | "Review this project" | 9 expert perspectives review your project, categorize as MUST FIX / SHOULD FIX / GOOD | |
| Is this idea worth building? | "Score this idea" | 10-dimension scoring, verdict: CONTINUE / SIMPLIFY / PAUSE / DELETE | |
| Go deeper | Get advice on a specific decision | "Review focus: should I use Supabase?" | Multi-perspective review focused on one question |
| Make AI read docs before coding | "Bind Stripe docs to payment code" | AI must read official docs before modifying protected files — no more guessing | |
| What tool should I use? | "I need to add payments" | Detects project needs, recommends best tool with install steps | |
| Manage | See all findings and progress | "Show my todos" | All review/coach findings auto-collected, sorted by priority |
Multi-project? Say "portfolio" for cross-project health status and resource allocation advice.
3 groups, 9 perspectives:
| Group | Perspectives | What they catch |
|---|---|---|
| Technical | CTO, Security, DevOps | Over-engineering, vulnerabilities, deployment gaps |
| Business | Product, Customer, Strategy | Missing features, UX gaps, business model issues |
| Founder | Investor, Unicorn Founder, Solo Entrepreneur | Market fit, scalability, solo feasibility |
Every finding is categorized as MUST FIX, SHOULD FIX, or GOOD with effort estimates. Starts with an Executive Summary.
> Review this project — full 9-perspective review
> Review with founder group — investor + unicorn founder + solo entrepreneur
> Review focus: should I use Supabase or Firebase? — focused on one decision
> Review security + CTO only — selected perspectives
Analyzes your project setup, development habits, and knowledge gaps. Tells you what you don't know you're doing wrong when working with AI coding tools.
Scores your idea across 10 dimensions (market size, feasibility, moat, revenue potential, etc.) with a skeptical default stance. Returns a verdict: CONTINUE, SIMPLIFY, PAUSE, or DELETE.
Bind official documentation to code paths. Once bound, AI must read the referenced docs before modifying protected files.
> Bind Stripe docs to payment code — register a doc binding
> Check if my code matches the docs — compliance verification
> Start a renovation for stripe — systematic domain knowledge audit
Tools: doc (register/remove/list/check), doc_gate, renovation
Parses test output and tells you: what's tested, what failed, and produces a manual test script.
Detects what your project needs (auth, database, payments, etc.) and recommends the best tool — with install commands, setup steps, and alternatives.
After running init, Callout speaks up automatically:
- New feature described → discusses before coding
- Opening a new project → coach analysis
- Modifying doc-protected files → gates until docs are read
- Completing a milestone → suggests review
Callout integrates with these MCP servers when installed — no configuration needed:
| MCP | What it adds | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Context7 | Auto-pulls latest docs for 9000+ public libraries — feed into doc register |
claude mcp add context7 -- npx -y @upstash/context7-mcp |
| Sequential Thinking | Structured step-by-step reasoning for complex renovations and multi-perspective reviews | claude mcp add sequential-thinking -- npx -y @anthropic-ai/mcp-server-sequential-thinking |
| Firecrawl | Scrapes any web docs into markdown — bind with doc register |
claude mcp add firecrawl -- npx -y firecrawl-mcp |
Callout is an MCP server. It collects your project context (file structure, dependencies, README, git history) and assembles expert-perspective prompts. Your AI tool executes the review.
Callout never calls an LLM itself. Zero API cost. No API key needed. Works with whatever model you already use.
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
review |
9-perspective architecture review (3 groups: technical, business, founder) |
coach |
AI collaboration blind spot detector |
idea_score |
10-dimension idea scoring with verdict |
test_translate |
Turn test output into plain-language test plan |
doc |
Domain Knowledge Guard — register/remove/list/check doc bindings |
doc_gate |
Gate check: returns docs AI must read before modifying a file |
renovation |
Systematic domain knowledge audit against official docs |
recommend |
Detect project needs and recommend best tools |
recommend_dismiss |
Dismiss a recommendation scenario |
recommend_reset |
Reset all dismissed recommendations |
todo_add |
Add a finding to the project todo list |
todo_update |
Update todo status |
todo_list |
View todos by priority or status |
todo_summary |
Project health overview |
init |
Initialize auto-trigger rules |
callout_help |
Show usage guide |
save_review_findings |
Save review summary for progress tracking |
set_target_user |
Set target user for customer perspective |
portfolio |
Multi-project overview with resource allocation advice |
Contributions welcome. Please open an issue before submitting a PR for significant changes.
npm install
npm run build
npm test