grad-agent runs on your own machine — the client starts it, so there is no endpoint to ping. 211 installs a week from pypi. Last commit 25 Sep 2026.
Autonomous MCP agent for grad school applications: prof discovery, cold emails, SOP, tracking.
What the code does
We read the source, 5 d ago · rules 995398eba69f
What this server is able to do. For an MCP server this is often the job itself — a terminal server runs commands because that is what it is for. Listed so you know what you are plugging in, not as an accusation.
r = subprocess.run(
Is this your server and something here is wrong? Tell us — corrections are free and do not require a plan.
This code can reach further than it looks
We found places where it runs commands, builds paths or queries from values it is given. None of that is a flaw by itself — it becomes one when the code changes, and code changes quietly between releases. We re-read it on every one.
Connect this server
This server runs on your own machine — install it with the package manager and the client starts it for you. Package name taken from the official registry entry.
claude mcp add grad-agent -e 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=<ANTHROPIC_API_KEY>' -e 'SMTP_SERVER=<SMTP_SERVER>' -e 'SMTP_PORT=<SMTP_PORT>' -e 'SMTP_USERNAME=<SMTP_USERNAME>' -e 'SMTP_PASSWORD=<SMTP_PASSWORD>' -e 'SMTP_FROM=<SMTP_FROM>' -- uvx grad-agent{
"mcpServers": {
"grad-agent": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"grad-agent"
],
"env": {
"ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "<ANTHROPIC_API_KEY>",
"SMTP_FROM": "<SMTP_FROM>",
"SMTP_PASSWORD": "<SMTP_PASSWORD>",
"SMTP_PORT": "<SMTP_PORT>",
"SMTP_SERVER": "<SMTP_SERVER>",
"SMTP_USERNAME": "<SMTP_USERNAME>"
}
}
}
}[mcp_servers.grad-agent]
command = "uvx"
args = ["grad-agent"]
env = { ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = "<ANTHROPIC_API_KEY>", SMTP_SERVER = "<SMTP_SERVER>", SMTP_PORT = "<SMTP_PORT>", SMTP_USERNAME = "<SMTP_USERNAME>", SMTP_PASSWORD = "<SMTP_PASSWORD>", SMTP_FROM = "<SMTP_FROM>" }{
"mcpServers": {
"grad-agent": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"grad-agent"
],
"env": {
"ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "<ANTHROPIC_API_KEY>",
"SMTP_FROM": "<SMTP_FROM>",
"SMTP_PASSWORD": "<SMTP_PASSWORD>",
"SMTP_PORT": "<SMTP_PORT>",
"SMTP_SERVER": "<SMTP_SERVER>",
"SMTP_USERNAME": "<SMTP_USERNAME>"
}
}
}
}{
"servers": {
"grad-agent": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"grad-agent"
],
"env": {
"ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "<ANTHROPIC_API_KEY>",
"SMTP_FROM": "<SMTP_FROM>",
"SMTP_PASSWORD": "<SMTP_PASSWORD>",
"SMTP_PORT": "<SMTP_PORT>",
"SMTP_SERVER": "<SMTP_SERVER>",
"SMTP_USERNAME": "<SMTP_USERNAME>"
}
}
}
}Put your own values in place of
<ANTHROPIC_API_KEY> (Anthropic API key used by Claude Haiku for hook synthesis and verification), <SMTP_SERVER> (SMTP host for the review mailer), <SMTP_PORT> (SMTP port), <SMTP_USERNAME> (SMTP username; used as From address by default), <SMTP_PASSWORD> (SMTP password. Gmail App Password recommended), <SMTP_FROM> (Envelope From address for drafts emailed to the user's review inbox).
The author’s registry entry marks them as required.
Optional settings from the registry entry, left out of the block above:
GITHUB_TOKEN (Optional. Personal access token used to enumerate the user's public and private GitHub repos during catalog sync), HF_TOKEN (Optional. HuggingFace token used to enumerate the user's published models and datasets during catalog sync), GRAD_AGENT_HOME (Optional. Override the default ~/.grad-agent/ location for profile, programs, secrets, and data), LOR_LETTERHEAD_PATH (Optional. Absolute path to a letterhead / company logo image (.png / .jpg / .pdf) embedded at the top of Letters of Recommendation during LaTeX compile. Leave unset for a plain top block. Can also be set at runtime via the `set_letterhead` MCP tool), LOR_LETTERHEAD_WIDTH (Optional. LaTeX length for the letterhead image width (e.g. '2.5in'). Used only when LOR_LETTERHEAD_PATH is set).
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grad-agent — questions
Answers built from our own checks of this server.