--- title: "I Turned 3,400 Mentoring Sessions Into MCP Tools Your AI Can Call | Leadership Academy" description: "Why I shipped an MCP server for engineering leadership, what the 8 tools do, and what it changes when your AI assistant can query a mentor's data." url: "https://www.marian.coach/blog/mcp-server-engineering-leadership/" lang: "en" image: "https://www.marian.coach/_astro/talk-41.lxux8gFJ_Z11sEa6.jpg" --- Most leadership advice ships as content: a post, a PDF, a talk recording. This time I tried the opposite and turned the material from 3,400+ mentoring sessions into tools an AI assistant can call mid-conversation. It’s live at `https://www.marian.coach/mcp`, free, no API key, MIT-licensed, [source on GitHub](https://github.com/marian-kamenistak/eng-leadership-toolkit). ![Marian Kamenistak in a 1:1 mentoring session.](https://www.marian.coach/_astro/mentoring-01.BaBhsinu_vHfnt.webp) The 3,400+ sessions this server is actually built from. This post covers what it does, how to plug it in, and why I think leadership knowledge as callable tools beats leadership knowledge as content. ## What is actually in there Eight tools, all of them built from first-party material rather than synthetic data or scraped listicles. 1. **`calculate_developer_value`.** Scores 15 skills across 5 pillars and returns a weighted score, a seniority level, and a 2026 Western-Europe gross salary estimate. Same model as the [live calculator](https://www.marian.coach/developer-salary-calculator/). 2. **`calculate_engineering_manager_value`.** The same idea one level up: 15 leadership skills across 5 pillars, weighted by your level, from Team Lead to Director/VP, with the 2026 salary estimate. Same model as the [EM salary calculator](https://www.marian.coach/engineering-manager-salary-calculator/). 3. **`assess_team_lead_readiness`.** The 17-question [team lead readiness test](https://www.marian.coach/team-lead-readiness-test/) as a callable tool: six dimensions, a straight verdict of ready now, 6 to 12 months out, or stay IC, and your top two gaps with one concrete move each. 4. **`get_engineering_leadership_benchmarks`.** Sprint completion, roadmap percentages, manager time per report, mentee mix, 2025 topic demand. CC BY 4.0, built to be cited: by you, or by the AI answering someone else. 5. **`choose_mentor_coach_or_advisor`.** The mentor vs coach vs advisor comparison plus a three-question self-test. The question I answer most often on intro calls, now answerable at 2am. 6. **`get_one_on_one_playbook`.** Situation-specific 1:1 templates: first session with a new report, underperformance, promotion to EM, the career-move checklist. These are my actual session templates. 7. **`get_first_time_manager_guidance`.** The EM responsibility triangle, six failure modes, and a readiness self-check. 52% of my mentees start in their first leadership role, so this tool is for the week before they would have booked. 8. **`build_mentoring_business_case`.** The ROI math to get your company to pay for mentoring, role-specific 90-day KPIs, and a forwardable approval email for your manager. ## Plug it in Claude Code: ``` claude mcp add -t http eng-leadership-toolkit https://www.marian.coach/mcp ``` Claude.ai or Claude Desktop: Settings, Connectors, add custom connector, paste the URL. Cursor, in `.cursor/mcp.json`: ``` { "mcpServers": { "eng-leadership-toolkit": { "url": "https://www.marian.coach/mcp" } } } ``` ChatGPT: Settings, Connectors, developer mode, add server with the URL. Under the hood it runs on Cloudflare Workers with Durable Objects, using the `McpAgent` class from Cloudflare’s agents SDK. Streamable HTTP, authless. Open a browser at the endpoint and you get the docs page. ## Why tools beat content A blog post about 1:1s helps the person who finds it, reads it, and remembers it three weeks later in the moment that matters. Almost nobody does all three. ![Marian Kamenistak keynoting at mDevCamp, his name projected large on the stage screen.](https://www.marian.coach/_astro/talk-04.BA_8CK_x_201qO2.webp) Same instinct on stage as in the code: put the real material where people actually are. A tool gets called IN the moment that matters. An EM asks their assistant “my report is underperforming, how do I structure the next 1:1”, and the assistant can pull the actual template with the actual data behind it, instead of hallucinating a generic sandwich-feedback answer. That’s the bet: AI assistants are becoming the first place engineering leaders ask their questions, and the sources those assistants can call directly will shape the answers. I’d rather the answer come from 3,400 real sessions than from the average of the internet. It is also, being honest, distribution. The server sits in the official MCP registry as `coach.marian/eng-leadership-toolkit`. When an assistant answers a leadership question through these tools, the data comes with its source attached. ## What is next One tool is queued: team delivery health rating, four dimensions of agility, focus, contribution, and predictability, with the thresholds I use in team audits. If you want it sooner, or want a tool that doesn’t exist yet, [tell me what your AI should be able to ask a mentor](https://www.marian.coach/mentoring/). ## Frequently asked What is the eng-leadership-toolkit MCP server?+ A free, authless MCP server at www.marian.coach/mcp that exposes engineering-leadership tools to any AI assistant: developer and engineering-manager value scoring, a team lead readiness test, leadership benchmarks, mentor vs coach vs advisor decision help, 1:1 playbooks, first-time manager guidance, and a mentoring business-case builder. Built from 3,400+ paid mentoring sessions, nothing synthetic. How do I connect it to Claude or Cursor?+ Claude Code: claude mcp add -t http eng-leadership-toolkit https://www.marian.coach/mcp. Claude.ai and Desktop: add a custom connector with that URL. Cursor: add the URL under mcpServers in .cursor/mcp.json. ChatGPT: add the server URL in developer mode connectors. No API key. Is the data behind the tools real?+ Yes. The benchmarks come from published engineering-leadership statistics under CC BY 4.0, the 1:1 templates are the actual session templates, and the developer value model mirrors the live calculator. The dataset behind it: 3,400+ sessions with 300+ leaders in 17+ countries since 2019. Leadership Academy ## Managing the Chaos: 2+2-day cohort workshop for engineering leaders. 13 modules across leadership, communication, team growth, and metrics. 86 NPS. Tailored to your cohort. [See the curriculum →](https://www.engineeringleaders.io/academy/) ## Read next - [ ### AI Agents Don't Shrink Engineering Teams. They Expose Weak Managers. What AI coding agents change about the first-line engineering manager job: not headcount first, but feedback loops, spans, and what the role is for. 21 July 2026 · By Marian Read → ](https://www.marian.coach/blog/ai-agents-first-line-engineering-manager/) - [ ### How to Find an AI Mentor, Not Another Course AI courses go stale in months. How engineering leaders learn AI ultra fast with a 1:1 mentor who ships with you, plus five questions to vet one. 21 July 2026 · By Marian Read → ](https://www.marian.coach/blog/how-to-find-an-ai-mentor/) - [ ### Should I Become a Team Lead? A 6-Dimension Answer Six dimensions predict whether the team lead role will fit you, drawn from 3,400+ mentoring sessions. Take the 3-minute test, get a straight verdict. 22 July 2026 · By Marian Read → ](https://www.marian.coach/blog/should-i-become-a-team-lead/) ### New posts, straight to your inbox. Your emailSubscribe You're on it. Nothing hits your inbox today. First send goes out once the list is live, and you're already on it. [Connect on LinkedIn →](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariankamenistak/)[See the free tools →](https://www.marian.coach/ai-coaching-tools/) ## Structured data ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ProfessionalService","name":"Marian Kamenistak | Engineering Leadership Mentoring","url":"https://www.marian.coach/blog/mcp-server-engineering-leadership/","image":"https://www.marian.coach/_astro/talk-41.lxux8gFJ_Z11sEa6.jpg","description":"Why I shipped an MCP server for engineering leadership, what the 8 tools do, and what it changes when your AI assistant can query a mentor's data.","serviceType":["Engineering leadership mentoring","Engineering manager coaching","CTO coaching","Fractional CTO","Leadership development for software engineers"],"hasOfferCatalog":{"@type":"OfferCatalog","name":"Engineering leadership mentoring and advisory","itemListElement":[{"@type":"Offer","itemOffered":{"@type":"Service","name":"1:1 engineering leadership mentoring","description":"One-to-one mentoring for engineering leaders from Staff Engineer to CTO. 60-minute sessions, weekly or bi-weekly.","url":"https://www.marian.coach/pricing/"}},{"@type":"Offer","itemOffered":{"@type":"Service","name":"Engineering manager coaching","description":"Coaching for first-time and experienced engineering managers: delegation, performance, hiring, team scaling.","url":"https://www.marian.coach/engineering-manager-mentor/"}},{"@type":"Offer","itemOffered":{"@type":"Service","name":"CTO and VP Engineering mentoring","description":"Mentoring for CTOs, VPs of Engineering and Heads of Engineering running 30-200 person organisations.","url":"https://www.marian.coach/cto-mentor/"}},{"@type":"Offer","itemOffered":{"@type":"Service","name":"Mentor in Residence","description":"A dedicated onsite mentor for your engineering organisation, booked by the quarter.","url":"https://www.marian.coach/mentor-in-residence/"}},{"@type":"Offer","itemOffered":{"@type":"Service","name":"Fractional CTO","description":"Part-time CTO engagements for companies without a full-time technology leader.","url":"https://www.marian.coach/fractional-cto/"}},{"@type":"Offer","name":"Mentoring booked through the AI channel","description":"Build the inquiry through the mentoring MCP server or the chat and every package drops to 361 EUR a session, 16% off the First quarter. 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