Inventory and shared resources (work in progress)

Work in progress

The inventory model described here is partially implemented (the inventory MCP server exists) but is still under active development. The schema and mechanisms below describe the intended design.

Inventory is stored as semi-structured markdown in the lab-management repository. It is group-scoped, never project-scoped: every member needs access regardless of which project they are working on. Markdown with frontmatter carries catalog photos, vendor notes, and prep procedures, is versioned in git, and can be queried from Claude Code, in the same toolchain as everything else.

Layout

One markdown file per reagent or kit:

<lab-mgmt-repo>/
├── inventory/
│   ├── anti_cd31.md
│   ├── 4_oht.md
│   └── ...
└── ...

Schema (frontmatter)

Field	Type	Notes
name	str	Canonical name
lot	str	Current lot number
qty	number	Current quantity
unit	str	mg, mL, units, vials
expiry	ISO date	YYYY-MM-DD
location	str	Freezer / shelf / box
vendor	str
catalog_no	str
last_updated	ISO date	Auto-set on edit
status	enum	in_stock / low / out / expired / on_order
protocols	list[wikilink]	Protocols that consume this reagent

Body holds free-form notes: vendor link, MSDS, prep procedure, photos of label or catalog page.

Inventory MCP

The provision operation, and inventory access in general, are exposed as an MCP server (the inventory MCP). Any agent in any member's Claude Code instance can call its tools:

• inventory_list(filter): list reagents matching a filter (e.g. --low, --expiring 30).
• inventory_show(name): return frontmatter + body of one reagent.
• inventory_provision(plan_path): compute plan ∩ inventory, report gaps and expiring lots.
• inventory_set(name, fields) (lab_manager only): update fields, auto-bump last_updated.
• inventory_order(name) (lab_manager only): open an order issue in the lab-management repo.

The MCP wraps the markdown files. Permissions are enforced by the MCP server (read for the whole group, write for the lab_manager role); the lab-management repo's branch protection is the second line of defence for write paths that bypass the MCP.

last_updated mechanism

last_updated is auto-set regardless of how the file was edited, via three redundant layers:

1. the inventory MCP sets it on every write (primary path; covers programmatic edits by agents);
2. a pre-commit hook in the lab-management repo updates last_updated for any staged inventory/*.md file (covers direct edits via Obsidian, vim, or an IDE);
3. a GitHub Action on push does the same (a backstop for edits made through the GitHub web UI, which does not run pre-commit hooks).

The field is reliable regardless of the editing tool.

Permissions

• Read: every group member.
• Write: the lab_manager role only (enforced by the inventory MCP and by branch protection on the lab-management repo).