mcp cli

Author's original introduction

Interface for MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers via CLI. Use when you need to interact with external tools, APIs, or data sources through MCP servers, list available MCP servers/tools, or call MCP tools from command line.

SkillPi interpretation

Tasks

mcp cli

Audience

Use the scenarios stated in the author's introduction.

Inputs and outputs

See the complete author document; outputs have not been runtime verified by SkillPi.

Software, accounts and paid services

Check required software, accounts, costs and permissions in the full document; confirm and authorize actual file access and external services in your host. Domains referenced in the documents (not a runtime allowlist): No HTTP(S) domain stated.

Limits and differences

Functionality, version status and outcome statements in the introduction are author claims. Only pinned source and static attachment evidence were checked; runtime behavior, external services and compatibility are not guaranteed.

Testing

Not tested

Security rating and access scope

caution · Static evidence review; not a runtime safety guarantee.

Check required software, accounts, costs and permissions in the full document; confirm and authorize actual file access and external services in your host. Domains referenced in the documents (not a runtime allowlist): No HTTP(S) domain stated.

Before use, confirm and authorize actual file access, external services and network destinations in your host. This review grants no runtime permissions.

Original SKILL.md

---
name: mcp-cli
description: Interface for MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers via CLI. Use when you need to interact with external tools, APIs, or data sources through MCP servers, list available MCP servers/tools, or call MCP tools from command line.
---

# MCP-CLI

Access MCP servers through the command line. MCP enables interaction with external systems like GitHub, filesystems, databases, and APIs.

## Commands

| Command                            | Output                          |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| `mcp-cli`                          | List all servers and tool names |
| `mcp-cli <server>`                 | Show tools with parameters      |
| `mcp-cli <server>/<tool>`          | Get tool JSON schema            |
| `mcp-cli <server>/<tool> '<json>'` | Call tool with arguments        |
| `mcp-cli grep "<glob>"`            | Search tools by name            |

**Add `-d` to include descriptions** (e.g., `mcp-cli filesystem -d`)

## Workflow

1. **Discover**: `mcp-cli` → see available servers and tools
2. **Explore**: `mcp-cli <server>` → see tools with parameters
3. **Inspect**: `mcp-cli <server>/<tool>` → get full JSON input schema
4. **Execute**: `mcp-cli <server>/<tool> '<json>'` → run with arguments

## Examples

```bash
# List all servers and tool names
mcp-cli

# See all tools with parameters
mcp-cli filesystem

# With descriptions (more verbose)
mcp-cli filesystem -d

# Get JSON schema for specific tool
mcp-cli filesystem/read_file

# Call the tool
mcp-cli filesystem/read_file '{"path": "./README.md"}'

# Search for tools
mcp-cli grep "*file*"

# JSON output for parsing
mcp-cli filesystem/read_file '{"path": "./README.md"}' --json

# Complex JSON with quotes (use heredoc or stdin)
mcp-cli server/tool <<EOF
{"content": "Text with 'quotes' inside"}
EOF

# Or pipe from a file/command
cat args.json | mcp-cli server/tool

# Find all TypeScript files and read the first one
mcp-cli filesystem/search_files '{"path": "src/", "pattern": "*.ts"}' --json | jq -r '.content[0].text' | head -1 | xargs -I {} sh -c 'mcp-cli filesystem/read_file "{\"path\": \"{}\"}"'
```

## Options

| Flag         | Purpose                   |
| ------------ | ------------------------- |
| `-j, --json` | JSON output for scripting |
| `-r, --raw`  | Raw text content          |
| `-d`         | Include descriptions      |

## Exit Codes

- `0`: Success
- `1`: Client error (bad args, missing config)
- `2`: Server error (tool failed)
- `3`: Network error

Copyright and license notice

MIT License

Copyright GitHub, Inc.

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.