# Writing Style Checker

A prose linter that spots weasel words, passive voice, hedging and phrasing overrepresented in AI-generated text. Handy when you edit a README or docs.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed, Gemini CLI · ★ 9
- Author: theserverlessdev
- License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/theserverlessdev/wsc
- Updated: 2026-10-14
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/writing-style-checker

## What it does

Eight detectors run over your text: weasel words, passive voice, repeated words, long sentences, nominalizations, hedging, filler adverbs and AI tells. Every flag comes with a source, drawn from corpus studies and a Wikipedia editor-maintained catalogue of AI writing signs. The author is clear about the limits: this is not authorship proof, just a specific edit that improves the text whoever wrote it.

The MCP tools are `check_text` for a full eight-detector pass, `fix_duplicates` to strip adjacent repeats and hand back clean text, and `list_word_lists` for details on the word lists. The local build adds `check_file`, which reads a file from disk and picks up `.wscrc.json` on its own. Settings live in `.wscrc.json`: toggle detectors, add your own terms, set the sentence-length threshold. Every field is optional.

Two ways to connect: a hosted server at `https://wsc.theserverless.dev/mcp` and a local one via `npx -y wsc-mcp`. The hosted option needs no install, but your text leaves your machine — keep that in mind for internal documents. The local one reads files from disk, so it is the pick for private material.

## Requirements
- Needs: Node.js (commands run via npx)
- Remote server: `https://wsc.theserverless.dev/mcp`

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
claude mcp add --transport http wsc https://wsc.theserverless.dev/mcp
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
claude mcp add writing-style-checker -- npx -y wsc-mcp
```

### Codex

1. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
codex mcp add writing-style-checker --url https://wsc.theserverless.dev/mcp
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
codex mcp add writing-style-checker -- npx -y wsc-mcp
```

### Cursor

**Config file**
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "writing-style-checker": {
            "url": "https://wsc.theserverless.dev/mcp"
        }
    }
}
```
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "writing-style-checker": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "wsc-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}
```

### GitHub Copilot

**Config file**
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "writing-style-checker": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://wsc.theserverless.dev/mcp"
        }
    }
}
```
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "writing-style-checker": {
            "type": "stdio",
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "wsc-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}
```

### Gemini CLI

1. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
gemini mcp add -t http writing-style-checker https://wsc.theserverless.dev/mcp
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini mcp add writing-style-checker npx -y wsc-mcp
```

## When to use it
- strip passive voice and vague wording from a README before publishing
- remove filler words like "very" and "basically" from documentation
- catch adjacent repeated words left after edits
- scan a draft for phrasing typical of AI-generated text
- set a custom sentence-length threshold in `.wscrc.json`

## Example prompts
- Check this text for AI tells and passive voice with `check_text`
- Clean up repeated words in `docs/intro.md` using `fix_duplicates`
- Show me what word lists the server uses: `list_word_lists`

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