stig-mcp 0.1.0__tar.gz

stig_mcp-0.1.0/LICENSE

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+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026 Eric Miller
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.

stig_mcp-0.1.0/MANIFEST.in

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+# setuptools adds tests/test*.py to the sdist implicitly. The suite needs its fixtures,
+# conftest subtree and tools/ to run, so ship none of it; build from the git tag to test.
+prune tests

stig_mcp-0.1.0/NOTICE

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+Third-party notices for stig-mcp
+=================================
+
+This knowledge base aggregates content from five upstream sources. This file
+records the attribution and licensing obligations that travel with it. Any
+distributed copy of a built knowledge base must carry this notice and the license
+texts under licenses/ with it.
+
+MITRE ATT&CK®
+-------------
+
+Technique names, descriptions, and ids ingested from the MITRE ATT&CK®
+Enterprise STIX bundle (`enterprise-attack.json`) originate with MITRE and
+carry the following statement, embedded in that bundle by MITRE:
+
+    Copyright 2015-2026, The MITRE Corporation. MITRE ATT&CK and ATT&CK are
+    registered trademarks of The MITRE Corporation.
+
+MITRE's ATT&CK Terms of Use grants a license to use ATT&CK and authorizes
+copies made for those purposes, on the condition that both the copyright
+designation and the license paragraph below travel with each copy. Both are
+quoted verbatim from the LICENSE section of
+https://attack.mitre.org/resources/legal-and-branding/terms-of-use/,
+captured 2026-08-08 (the year in the designation reflects that capture date,
+not a fixed value):
+
+    The MITRE Corporation (MITRE) hereby grants you a non-exclusive,
+    royalty-free license to use ATT&CK® for research, development, and
+    commercial purposes. Any copy you make for such purposes is authorized
+    provided that you reproduce MITRE's copyright designation and this
+    license in any such copy.
+
+    © 2026 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed
+    with the permission of The MITRE Corporation.
+
+stig-mcp is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by MITRE.
+
+Center for Threat-Informed Defense (CTID) mappings
+---------------------------------------------------
+
+The ATT&CK-to-NIST 800-53r5 mapping data ingested from CTID's
+`mappings-explorer` project (`ctid_mappings.json`) is licensed under the
+Apache License, Version 2.0. The full license text is included at
+licenses/apache-2.0.txt. The project carries this notice:
+
+    © 2024 MITRE. Approved for public release. Document number(s) CT0104.
+
+Each mapping record also names the ATT&CK technique it maps, and those names
+fall under the ATT&CK terms above. stig-mcp transforms and subsets this data
+into its knowledge base.
+
+DISA STIG content
+-----------------
+
+STIG rule metadata, check text, and fix text are ingested from the unclassified
+(`U_`) SRG-STIG Library Compilation, the Rev 4 SRG-STIG Sunset Compilation, and
+individual STIG archives published by the Defense Information Systems Agency
+(DISA) on DoD Cyber Exchange. The
+compilation's readme (SRG-STIG Library Compilation Readme, V2R1, 06 August
+2024) describes the `U_` compilation as containing "only publicly releasable
+STIGs and related content for download by the general public", and states:
+
+    The compilations may be used and distributed in the same manner as
+    individually downloaded documents.
+
+Cyber Exchange's Privacy & Security page
+(https://www.cyber.mil/privacy-security/, captured 2026-09-26; archived copy at
+https://web.archive.org/web/20250118065122/https://public.cyber.mil/privacy-security/)
+states: "Information presented on Cyber Exchange is considered public
+information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate
+byline/photo/image credits is requested."
+
+Credit: STIG content courtesy of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA),
+DoD Cyber Exchange, https://www.cyber.mil/stigs/.
+
+Many STIGs are developed jointly by a product vendor and DISA, as the overview
+document of each such STIG states. Text written by DISA is a work of the United
+States Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United
+States; this notice makes no such claim for vendor-contributed text, whose
+distribution rests on DISA's release statements above. stig-mcp-fetch refuses
+controlled (`CUI_`) content, and stig-mcp-ingest and stig-mcp-extract refuse
+any source file or archive member with a `CUI_` path component; an operator
+who places sources by hand remains responsible for content that is controlled
+but not so named.
+
+DISA CCI list
+-------------
+
+The Control Correlation Identifier list is published by DISA on Cyber Exchange
+as the public download `U_CCI_List.zip`, from which stig-mcp-fetch extracts
+`U_CCI_List.xml`. The Privacy & Security statement quoted above applies to it.
+
+NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 control catalog
+------------------------------------------
+
+The NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 OSCAL control catalog
+(`nist_800_53_rev5_catalog.json`) is a work of the United States Government and
+is in the public domain within the United States. NIST additionally waives
+copyright and related rights in the work worldwide through the CC0 1.0
+Universal public domain dedication
+(https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/), per
+https://github.com/usnistgov/oscal-content/blob/main/LICENSE.md.

stig_mcp-0.1.0/PKG-INFO

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+Metadata-Version: 2.4
+Name: stig-mcp
+Version: 0.1.0
+Summary: MCP server mapping MITRE ATT&CK® -> NIST 800-53r5 -> DISA STIG fix/check steps
+Author: Eric Miller
+License-Expression: MIT
+Project-URL: Source, https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP
+Project-URL: Issues, https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/issues
+Project-URL: Security, https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/security/policy
+Requires-Python: >=3.11
+Description-Content-Type: text/markdown
+License-File: NOTICE
+License-File: LICENSE
+License-File: licenses/apache-2.0.txt
+Requires-Dist: defusedxml>=0.7.1
+Requires-Dist: mcp<3,>=2.2
+Requires-Dist: pyyaml>=6.0.3
+Dynamic: license-file
+
+# stig-mcp
+
+Local MCP server that maps MITRE ATT&CK® techniques (and actors) to the NIST
+800-53r5 controls that mitigate them, with the DISA STIG fix and check steps for
+the systems under consideration, severity-ordered.
+
+<!-- mcp-name: io.github.jeneric/stig-mcp -->
+
+## Install
+
+This project uses [UV](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/). Install dependencies with:
+
+    uv sync
+
+## Quickstart
+
+1. `uv sync`: install dependencies, then wire the server into a client (see "Run the
+   server" below) and start it.
+2. Ask the agent to install the knowledge base. It calls the `install_knowledge_base`
+   tool, which downloads the newest published release from this project's GitHub releases
+   and verifies its SHA-256 before installing it. From a terminal the same is
+   `uv run stig-mcp-install-kb`. A host that cannot reach GitHub installs from a file; see
+   [docs/operations.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/operations.md), "Install a prebuilt knowledge base". Until the
+   first knowledge-base release is published, the install says so and names the build
+   commands in the next step.
+3. Or build it yourself: `uv run stig-mcp-fetch` downloads ATT&CK, the CTID mapping, the
+   800-53 catalog, and DISA's STIG content. **This transfers roughly a gigabyte** and
+   refuses to start with less than 2 GiB free. Then `uv run stig-mcp-ingest` builds the
+   knowledge base.
+
+On a host that cannot reach `dl.dod.cyber.mil`, place the artifacts in the sources
+directory yourself and go straight to `stig-mcp-ingest`. That is a first-class path rather
+than a fallback: the ingest reads a directory and never consults the fetch. See
+[docs/operations.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/operations.md), "Placing the sources by hand".
+
+Afterwards, `uv run stig-mcp-fetch --check` reports what MITRE ATT&CK, CTID, NIST and DISA
+have published since, exiting 10 when there is something to take and 3 when a source could not
+be reached, and `--refresh` takes it.
+Neither rebuilds the knowledge base; see "Keeping current" in the same document.
+
+## Run the server
+
+    uv run stig-mcp
+
+This is a stdio MCP server: it speaks JSON-RPC on stdin/stdout and logs to stderr,
+so it is launched by an MCP client rather than run standalone.
+
+It starts whether or not the knowledge base exists, and it never answers from one it
+cannot trust. Called before the knowledge base is installed, or against one an older release
+wrote, every tool returns a `not_ready` payload instead of an answer: the reason, which
+source files it can and cannot see, the sources directory it looked in, and the next steps,
+led by the `install_knowledge_base` tool and followed by the commands to run, each in both its
+console-script and `python -m` form. That is deliberate, so an agent can read the remedy from
+the tool result rather than the operator having to find a log pane. Install or rebuild the
+knowledge base and the running server picks it up without a restart.
+
+The `check_sources` tool tells an agent whether a newer knowledge base is published. It and
+`install_knowledge_base` are the only two tools that contact the network, and they reach
+only this project's GitHub releases.
+
+### GitHub Copilot in VS Code
+
+Create `.vscode/mcp.json` in this repository (git-ignored, so it stays local):
+
+```json
+{
+  "servers": {
+    "stig-mcp": {
+      "type": "stdio",
+      "command": "uv",
+      "args": ["run", "stig-mcp"],
+      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Then:
+
+1. Open Copilot Chat and set the mode dropdown to **Agent**. MCP tools are not
+   available in Ask or Edit mode.
+2. Command Palette (`Ctrl+Shift+P`, or `Cmd+Shift+P` on macOS) and run
+   **MCP: List Servers**, select `stig-mcp`, then **Start**. Trust the server when
+   prompted, since it runs a local command.
+3. Click **Configure Tools** in the chat input to confirm the eight tools are listed
+   and enabled.
+4. Reference a tool explicitly to verify the wiring, rather than hoping the model
+   picks it up on its own. See [docs/user-guide.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/user-guide.md)'s "Getting the
+   LLM to use the server" for a prompt shape that reliably does this.
+
+Copilot saves a tool answer over 8 KB to a temporary file and reads it back, so with
+manual permissions it asks to read a file named like `…copilot-tool-output-….txt`
+outside the workspace. That file is this server's answer; allow it.
+
+To debug, run **MCP: List Servers**, select the server, and choose **Show Output**.
+The two common failures are that `uv` is not on the `PATH` VS Code inherited, which
+looks like a broken server but is a missing command, and an absent knowledge base.
+For the first, use uv's absolute path (`which uv`) as `command`. For the second, see
+[docs/operations.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/operations.md).
+
+### Other clients
+
+Any MCP client that launches a stdio server works. `uv run` locates the project from
+the working directory, so a client that starts elsewhere needs `--directory`, which
+makes the command independent of where it is launched:
+
+    uv run --directory /path/to/STIG-MCP stig-mcp
+
+For Claude Code, from the repository root:
+
+    claude mcp add stig-mcp -- uv run stig-mcp
+
+By default the knowledge base is not found relative to the working directory, so only `uv`
+cares where the client starts the server. Where it *is* found depends on whether this is a
+checkout or an installed copy. (A relative `STIG_MCP_DATA` does resolve against the working
+directory, so give it an absolute path if the client's is not yours.)
+
+### Where the data lives
+
+Two environment variables override the defaults, and the defaults differ between a source
+checkout and an installed copy:
+
+| | source checkout | installed, POSIX and macOS | installed, Windows |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| data directory (`STIG_MCP_DATA`) | `stig_mcp/data/` | `$XDG_DATA_HOME/stig-mcp`, else `~/.local/share/stig-mcp` | `$XDG_DATA_HOME/stig-mcp`, else `%LOCALAPPDATA%\stig-mcp`, else `~\.local\share\stig-mcp` |
+| mapping overrides (`STIG_MCP_OVERRIDES`) | `overrides.yaml` at the repository root | `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/stig-mcp/overrides.yaml`, else `~/.config/stig-mcp/overrides.yaml` | `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/stig-mcp/overrides.yaml`, else `%LOCALAPPDATA%\stig-mcp\overrides.yaml`, else `~\.config\stig-mcp\overrides.yaml` |
+
+A checkout is a directory holding both the package and the `pyproject.toml` that declares
+it, so an editable install counts as one. XDG is used on POSIX, including macOS. On Windows
+with the XDG variables unset, the default is `%LOCALAPPDATA%`, because a roaming profile
+copies `~/.local/share` at every logon and logoff, and this project's downloads can run to a
+gigabyte; when
+`%LOCALAPPDATA%` is set this puts the mapping overrides file inside the data directory rather
+than beside it, since Windows has one such variable rather than XDG's separate data and config
+locations. (With `%LOCALAPPDATA%` unset, Windows falls back to the same separate `~/.config`
+and `~/.local/share` trees POSIX uses, so the two stay apart in that case, same as the table
+above shows.)
+
+**The XDG variables are read first on every platform, Windows included**, as the table's
+Windows column shows: a Windows host with `XDG_DATA_HOME` set uses it and never reaches
+`%LOCALAPPDATA%`, so the roaming argument above holds only where that variable is unset. The
+order is kept so that an existing install's data directory never moves under it.
+`STIG_MCP_DATA` and `STIG_MCP_OVERRIDES` outrank everything above and are the escape hatch
+everywhere, for a native location or any other.
+
+`stig-mcp-ingest` creates the data directory if it does not exist. It refuses to run when
+`STIG_MCP_OVERRIDES` names a file that is not there, rather than silently applying no
+overrides; a missing file at the default location is fine, because that file is optional.
+
+## What this server fetches
+
+- The MCP server contacts nothing unless `check_sources` or `install_knowledge_base` is
+  called. Then it sends HTTPS GET requests to `api.github.com` (this repository's release
+  listing) and `github.com` (`/jeneric/STIG-MCP/releases/download/...`), which redirects to
+  `release-assets.githubusercontent.com` or `objects.githubusercontent.com`. Any other URL, a
+  redirect included, is refused. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no telemetry.
+  `install_knowledge_base` given a file path and its SHA-256 requests nothing at all.
+- `stig-mcp-install-kb` contacts the same hosts, and nothing at all with `--file`.
+- `stig-mcp-fetch`, used only to build the knowledge base yourself, downloads from
+  `raw.githubusercontent.com` and `api.github.com` (MITRE ATT&CK, the CTID mapping, the NIST
+  800-53 catalog) and from `dl.dod.cyber.mil` (DISA).
+
+[PRIVACY.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/PRIVACY.md) states what each of these requests sends and what is stored locally.
+
+## Example prompts
+
+With the knowledge base installed and the server wired into an agent, these are answered
+from it:
+
+1. `What DISA STIG steps mitigate T1078 on Windows 11?`
+2. `Which ATT&CK techniques does APT29 use?`
+3. `Which STIG benchmarks apply to RHEL 9?`
+
+## Documentation
+
+- [docs/operations.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/operations.md): for whoever installs, builds and maintains the knowledge base.
+- [docs/user-guide.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/user-guide.md): for a person talking to an LLM that has this server wired in.
+- [SECURITY.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/SECURITY.md): reporting a vulnerability, and what is in scope.
+- [RELEASING.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/RELEASING.md): for the maintainer, publishing the package to PyPI and the MCP Registry.
+- [PRIVACY.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/PRIVACY.md): what the server and the fetch tool contact, and what is stored locally.
+
+## Third-party content
+
+The knowledge base aggregates MITRE ATT&CK, CTID mapping, DISA STIG, DISA CCI
+list, and NIST OSCAL content. See [NOTICE](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/NOTICE) for attribution and licensing obligations
+and [licenses/apache-2.0.txt](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/licenses/apache-2.0.txt) for the Apache 2.0
+license text that notice requires.
+
+## Development
+
+Developed with the assistance of Claude Code (Anthropic). All changes were reviewed and
+tested by the maintainer.
+
+## Tests
+
+    uv run pytest

stig_mcp-0.1.0/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,196 @@
+# stig-mcp
+
+Local MCP server that maps MITRE ATT&CK® techniques (and actors) to the NIST
+800-53r5 controls that mitigate them, with the DISA STIG fix and check steps for
+the systems under consideration, severity-ordered.
+
+<!-- mcp-name: io.github.jeneric/stig-mcp -->
+
+## Install
+
+This project uses [UV](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/). Install dependencies with:
+
+    uv sync
+
+## Quickstart
+
+1. `uv sync`: install dependencies, then wire the server into a client (see "Run the
+   server" below) and start it.
+2. Ask the agent to install the knowledge base. It calls the `install_knowledge_base`
+   tool, which downloads the newest published release from this project's GitHub releases
+   and verifies its SHA-256 before installing it. From a terminal the same is
+   `uv run stig-mcp-install-kb`. A host that cannot reach GitHub installs from a file; see
+   [docs/operations.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/operations.md), "Install a prebuilt knowledge base". Until the
+   first knowledge-base release is published, the install says so and names the build
+   commands in the next step.
+3. Or build it yourself: `uv run stig-mcp-fetch` downloads ATT&CK, the CTID mapping, the
+   800-53 catalog, and DISA's STIG content. **This transfers roughly a gigabyte** and
+   refuses to start with less than 2 GiB free. Then `uv run stig-mcp-ingest` builds the
+   knowledge base.
+
+On a host that cannot reach `dl.dod.cyber.mil`, place the artifacts in the sources
+directory yourself and go straight to `stig-mcp-ingest`. That is a first-class path rather
+than a fallback: the ingest reads a directory and never consults the fetch. See
+[docs/operations.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/operations.md), "Placing the sources by hand".
+
+Afterwards, `uv run stig-mcp-fetch --check` reports what MITRE ATT&CK, CTID, NIST and DISA
+have published since, exiting 10 when there is something to take and 3 when a source could not
+be reached, and `--refresh` takes it.
+Neither rebuilds the knowledge base; see "Keeping current" in the same document.
+
+## Run the server
+
+    uv run stig-mcp
+
+This is a stdio MCP server: it speaks JSON-RPC on stdin/stdout and logs to stderr,
+so it is launched by an MCP client rather than run standalone.
+
+It starts whether or not the knowledge base exists, and it never answers from one it
+cannot trust. Called before the knowledge base is installed, or against one an older release
+wrote, every tool returns a `not_ready` payload instead of an answer: the reason, which
+source files it can and cannot see, the sources directory it looked in, and the next steps,
+led by the `install_knowledge_base` tool and followed by the commands to run, each in both its
+console-script and `python -m` form. That is deliberate, so an agent can read the remedy from
+the tool result rather than the operator having to find a log pane. Install or rebuild the
+knowledge base and the running server picks it up without a restart.
+
+The `check_sources` tool tells an agent whether a newer knowledge base is published. It and
+`install_knowledge_base` are the only two tools that contact the network, and they reach
+only this project's GitHub releases.
+
+### GitHub Copilot in VS Code
+
+Create `.vscode/mcp.json` in this repository (git-ignored, so it stays local):
+
+```json
+{
+  "servers": {
+    "stig-mcp": {
+      "type": "stdio",
+      "command": "uv",
+      "args": ["run", "stig-mcp"],
+      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Then:
+
+1. Open Copilot Chat and set the mode dropdown to **Agent**. MCP tools are not
+   available in Ask or Edit mode.
+2. Command Palette (`Ctrl+Shift+P`, or `Cmd+Shift+P` on macOS) and run
+   **MCP: List Servers**, select `stig-mcp`, then **Start**. Trust the server when
+   prompted, since it runs a local command.
+3. Click **Configure Tools** in the chat input to confirm the eight tools are listed
+   and enabled.
+4. Reference a tool explicitly to verify the wiring, rather than hoping the model
+   picks it up on its own. See [docs/user-guide.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/user-guide.md)'s "Getting the
+   LLM to use the server" for a prompt shape that reliably does this.
+
+Copilot saves a tool answer over 8 KB to a temporary file and reads it back, so with
+manual permissions it asks to read a file named like `…copilot-tool-output-….txt`
+outside the workspace. That file is this server's answer; allow it.
+
+To debug, run **MCP: List Servers**, select the server, and choose **Show Output**.
+The two common failures are that `uv` is not on the `PATH` VS Code inherited, which
+looks like a broken server but is a missing command, and an absent knowledge base.
+For the first, use uv's absolute path (`which uv`) as `command`. For the second, see
+[docs/operations.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/operations.md).
+
+### Other clients
+
+Any MCP client that launches a stdio server works. `uv run` locates the project from
+the working directory, so a client that starts elsewhere needs `--directory`, which
+makes the command independent of where it is launched:
+
+    uv run --directory /path/to/STIG-MCP stig-mcp
+
+For Claude Code, from the repository root:
+
+    claude mcp add stig-mcp -- uv run stig-mcp
+
+By default the knowledge base is not found relative to the working directory, so only `uv`
+cares where the client starts the server. Where it *is* found depends on whether this is a
+checkout or an installed copy. (A relative `STIG_MCP_DATA` does resolve against the working
+directory, so give it an absolute path if the client's is not yours.)
+
+### Where the data lives
+
+Two environment variables override the defaults, and the defaults differ between a source
+checkout and an installed copy:
+
+| | source checkout | installed, POSIX and macOS | installed, Windows |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| data directory (`STIG_MCP_DATA`) | `stig_mcp/data/` | `$XDG_DATA_HOME/stig-mcp`, else `~/.local/share/stig-mcp` | `$XDG_DATA_HOME/stig-mcp`, else `%LOCALAPPDATA%\stig-mcp`, else `~\.local\share\stig-mcp` |
+| mapping overrides (`STIG_MCP_OVERRIDES`) | `overrides.yaml` at the repository root | `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/stig-mcp/overrides.yaml`, else `~/.config/stig-mcp/overrides.yaml` | `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/stig-mcp/overrides.yaml`, else `%LOCALAPPDATA%\stig-mcp\overrides.yaml`, else `~\.config\stig-mcp\overrides.yaml` |
+
+A checkout is a directory holding both the package and the `pyproject.toml` that declares
+it, so an editable install counts as one. XDG is used on POSIX, including macOS. On Windows
+with the XDG variables unset, the default is `%LOCALAPPDATA%`, because a roaming profile
+copies `~/.local/share` at every logon and logoff, and this project's downloads can run to a
+gigabyte; when
+`%LOCALAPPDATA%` is set this puts the mapping overrides file inside the data directory rather
+than beside it, since Windows has one such variable rather than XDG's separate data and config
+locations. (With `%LOCALAPPDATA%` unset, Windows falls back to the same separate `~/.config`
+and `~/.local/share` trees POSIX uses, so the two stay apart in that case, same as the table
+above shows.)
+
+**The XDG variables are read first on every platform, Windows included**, as the table's
+Windows column shows: a Windows host with `XDG_DATA_HOME` set uses it and never reaches
+`%LOCALAPPDATA%`, so the roaming argument above holds only where that variable is unset. The
+order is kept so that an existing install's data directory never moves under it.
+`STIG_MCP_DATA` and `STIG_MCP_OVERRIDES` outrank everything above and are the escape hatch
+everywhere, for a native location or any other.
+
+`stig-mcp-ingest` creates the data directory if it does not exist. It refuses to run when
+`STIG_MCP_OVERRIDES` names a file that is not there, rather than silently applying no
+overrides; a missing file at the default location is fine, because that file is optional.
+
+## What this server fetches
+
+- The MCP server contacts nothing unless `check_sources` or `install_knowledge_base` is
+  called. Then it sends HTTPS GET requests to `api.github.com` (this repository's release
+  listing) and `github.com` (`/jeneric/STIG-MCP/releases/download/...`), which redirects to
+  `release-assets.githubusercontent.com` or `objects.githubusercontent.com`. Any other URL, a
+  redirect included, is refused. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no telemetry.
+  `install_knowledge_base` given a file path and its SHA-256 requests nothing at all.
+- `stig-mcp-install-kb` contacts the same hosts, and nothing at all with `--file`.
+- `stig-mcp-fetch`, used only to build the knowledge base yourself, downloads from
+  `raw.githubusercontent.com` and `api.github.com` (MITRE ATT&CK, the CTID mapping, the NIST
+  800-53 catalog) and from `dl.dod.cyber.mil` (DISA).
+
+[PRIVACY.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/PRIVACY.md) states what each of these requests sends and what is stored locally.
+
+## Example prompts
+
+With the knowledge base installed and the server wired into an agent, these are answered
+from it:
+
+1. `What DISA STIG steps mitigate T1078 on Windows 11?`
+2. `Which ATT&CK techniques does APT29 use?`
+3. `Which STIG benchmarks apply to RHEL 9?`
+
+## Documentation
+
+- [docs/operations.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/operations.md): for whoever installs, builds and maintains the knowledge base.
+- [docs/user-guide.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/docs/user-guide.md): for a person talking to an LLM that has this server wired in.
+- [SECURITY.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/SECURITY.md): reporting a vulnerability, and what is in scope.
+- [RELEASING.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/RELEASING.md): for the maintainer, publishing the package to PyPI and the MCP Registry.
+- [PRIVACY.md](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/PRIVACY.md): what the server and the fetch tool contact, and what is stored locally.
+
+## Third-party content
+
+The knowledge base aggregates MITRE ATT&CK, CTID mapping, DISA STIG, DISA CCI
+list, and NIST OSCAL content. See [NOTICE](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/NOTICE) for attribution and licensing obligations
+and [licenses/apache-2.0.txt](https://github.com/jeneric/STIG-MCP/blob/main/licenses/apache-2.0.txt) for the Apache 2.0
+license text that notice requires.
+
+## Development
+
+Developed with the assistance of Claude Code (Anthropic). All changes were reviewed and
+tested by the maintainer.
+
+## Tests
+
+    uv run pytest