Free AI coaching tools. Verdicts, not vibes.
Nine tools, built from 3,400+ mentoring sessions with 300+ engineering leaders across 17 countries. Eight open in the browser. All nine your agent can call over MCP. Four ship as Claude skills. Every one ends with a number or a verdict, not a reading list. No login, no email gate.
Every tool, and where it runs.
Browser, agent, or both. Start with the readiness test if you do not know which one you need.
| Tool | Where it runs |
|---|---|
Team Lead Readiness TestShould you take the lead role, wait, or stay IC on purpose? 17 questions, 6 dimensions, a straight verdict plus your top 2 gaps. Decision test · 3 min | assess_team_lead_readinessteam-lead-readiness |
Engineering Manager Salary CalculatorScore 5 leadership pillars, get your level from Team Lead to VP, plus a 2026 salary estimate you can take into a negotiation. Calculator · 2 min | calculate_engineering_manager_valueengineering-salary-calculator |
Developer Salary Calculator15 skills across 5 pillars. Junior to Staff, weighted by where you actually stand, with the 2026 number. Calculator · 2 min | calculate_developer_valueengineering-salary-calculator |
Coaching Cost CalculatorFair per-session price for your role, territory, and coach seniority, anchored to ICF 2025 and CEE market data. Plus the red flags before you pay anyone. Calculator · 1 min | estimate_coaching_costcoaching-cost-calculator |
Mentoring Business CaseROI math in EUR plus an approval email your manager can forward without editing it. ROI builder · 2 min | build_mentoring_business_case |
Engineering Leadership BenchmarksFirst-party data from 3,400+ sessions. CC BY 4.0: cite it, build on it. Dataset · CC BY 4.0 | get_engineering_leadership_benchmarks |
Mentor vs Coach vs AdvisorWhich one you need right now, with a 3-question self-test. Self-test · 3 min | choose_mentor_coach_or_advisor |
1:1 PlaybookSituation-specific scripts for the 1:1s you keep postponing. Playbook | get_one_on_one_playbook |
First-Time Manager GuidanceThe EM responsibility triangle and the 6 ways new managers fail. Agent only | get_first_time_manager_guidance |
MCP server · Claude skills · API
The same tools, inside your agent.
Point Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client at one endpoint and your agent gets 9 tools: salary math, readiness verdicts, benchmark data from 3,400+ sessions. No key, no signup, MIT-licensed, source on GitHub.
Claude Code · one command
claude mcp add --transport http eng-leadership-toolkit https://www.marian.coach/mcpCursor · .cursor/mcp.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"eng-leadership-toolkit": { "url": "https://www.marian.coach/mcp" }
}
}Claude Desktop · custom connector
Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, paste https://www.marian.coach/mcp. No JSON, no restart.
Claude skills · pick one from the table
git clone https://github.com/marian-kamenistak/<skill> ~/.claude/skills/<skill>MCP: coach.marian/eng-leadership-toolkit in the official MCP registry, endpoint www.marian.coach/mcp (streamable HTTP, works as a plain JSON-RPC API too). Skills install from GitHub, MIT. The benchmarks dataset is CC BY 4.0: cite it, build on it.
Questions people actually ask
Are these tools actually free?
Yes. No login, no email gate, no trial that expires. All nine also run inside your agent over MCP without an API key, and the source is MIT on GitHub, so you can read exactly what they do before you run them.
How accurate are the salary estimates?
They are estimates, not offers. The 2026 numbers come from Western-Europe market data weighted by the level the calculator scores you at. Use the range as a negotiation anchor, not a promise. Country and company stage move a real offer more than the calculator can see.
What is the MCP server, and why use it instead of the web page?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets an AI agent call a tool directly. Point Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client at https://www.marian.coach/mcp and your agent gets 9 tools it can run mid-conversation: salary math, readiness verdicts, benchmark data from 3,400+ sessions. No key, no signup. Worth it when you want the answer inside the doc you are already writing.
Can I cite or reuse the benchmark data?
Yes. The Engineering Leadership Benchmarks dataset is CC BY 4.0: cite it and build on it. It comes from 3,400+ mentoring sessions with 300+ engineering leaders across 17 countries, which is first-party data you will not find in a vendor report.
What happens after I get a result?
Nothing automatic. No drip sequence, no sales call booked on your behalf. If a result surprised you, or confirmed something you have been circling for months, book the free intro call and we talk about that.
A number is not a decision.
The tools give you a verdict in three minutes. What they cannot tell you is whether to take the role, how to run the conversation with your VP, or which of your two gaps to close first. That is the part I do, with 300+ engineering leaders across 17 countries so far.