AI Integration
Connect your AI to circular design research
Our research dataset — 229 strategies, 129 case studies, and 56 glossary terms curated over 3 years of PhD research — is available as an MCP server. Connect it to your AI assistant and query the complete Multi-hierarchical DfX framework directly from your conversations.
What is MCP?
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI assistants connect to external data sources and tools. Think of it as a USB port for AI — a universal way to plug in specialized knowledge.
By connecting our MCP server, your AI assistant gains direct access to the entire Circular Design research database. Instead of relying on its general training data, it can query specific strategies, filter by lifecycle phase, look up case studies, and provide recommendations grounded in peer-reviewed research.
Available tools
Your AI assistant gets access to these 5 tools, which it will call automatically based on your questions.
search_strategies Search and filter 229 circular design strategies by circular objective, lifecycle phase, loop, applicability, or free text.
get_strategy_details Get full details for a specific strategy including why it matters, how to implement it, usage context, characteristics, and guiding questions.
search_case_studies Search and filter 129 real-world case studies by focus level, cycle type, business model, or free text.
get_case_study Get full case study details including the complete markdown description.
search_glossary Look up circular economy and circular design terminology from 56 curated definitions.
Setup
Add the following configuration to your AI client. No installation or downloads required — the server is hosted on our website.
{
"mcpServers": {
"circular-design": {
"type": "url",
"url": "https://www.circulardesign.it/api/mcp"
}
}
}Claude Desktop
- 1 Open Claude Desktop and go to Settings
- 2 Navigate to the Developer section
- 3 Click "Edit Config" to open claude_desktop_config.json
- 4 Add the configuration shown below and save
- 5 Restart Claude Desktop
Claude Code
- 1 Create a .mcp.json file in your project root
- 2 Add the configuration shown below
- 3 Claude Code will auto-discover the server on next start
Other MCP clients
Any MCP-compatible client can connect using Streamable HTTP transport. Point it at:
https://www.circulardesign.it/api/mcp
Example questions
Once connected, just ask your AI naturally. It will automatically use the right tools to query the research dataset.
“What circular design strategies help make a laptop more repairable?”
search_strategies “Show me all reuse strategies for the service & maintenance phase”
search_strategies “Tell me everything about Design for Modular Architecture”
get_strategy_details “Find case studies about product-as-a-service business models”
search_case_studies “What does remanufacturing mean exactly?”
search_glossary What data is available
229
Strategies
Organized across 5 circular objectives, 8 lifecycle phases, and 3 product loops. Each with detailed implementation guidance.
129
Case Studies
Real-world examples from companies implementing circular design, filterable by focus, cycle, and business model.
56
Glossary Terms
Curated definitions for circular economy terminology to help your AI use precise language.
Ready to get started?
Add the configuration above to your AI client and start asking questions about circular design strategies.