mcptools

README

MCP Tools

Read my Blog Post about MCP Tools

A command-line interface for interacting with MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers using stdio transport.

Overview

mcp shell npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

This will open a shell as following:

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guidelines for details on how to submit pull requests, report issues, and contribute to the project.

Installation

Using Homebrew

brew tap f/mcptools
brew install mcp

From Source

go install github.com/f/mcptools/cmd/mcptools@latest

Usage

MCP is a command line interface for interacting with MCP servers.
It allows you to discover and call tools, list resources, and interact with MCP-compatible services.

Usage:
  mcp [command]
  
Available Commands:
  call           Call a tool, resource, or prompt on the MCP server
  help           Help about any command
  prompts        List available prompts on the MCP server
  resources      List available resources on the MCP server
  shell          Start an interactive shell for MCP commands
  tools          List available tools on the MCP server
  version        Print the version information
  
Flags:
  -f, --format string   Output format (table, json, pretty) (default "table")
  -h, --help            Help for mcp
  -p, --params string   JSON string of parameters to pass to the tool (default "{}")

Transport Options

MCP currently supports one transport method for communicating with MCP servers:

Stdio Transport

Uses stdin/stdout to communicate with an MCP server via JSON-RPC 2.0. This is useful for command-line tools that implement the MCP protocol.

mcp tools npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

Output Formats

MCP supports three output formats:

Table Format (Default)

Displays the output in a table-like view for better readability.

mcp tools npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

JSON Format

Displays the output as compact JSON.

mcp tools --format json npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

Pretty Format

Displays the output as indented JSON.

mcp tools --format pretty npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

Commands

List Available Tools

mcp tools npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

List Available Resources

mcp resources npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

List Available Prompts

mcp prompts npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

Call a Tool

mcp call read_file --params '{"path": "/path/to/file"}' npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

Call a Resource

mcp call resource:my-resource npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

Call a Prompt

mcp call prompt:my-prompt npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

Interactive Shell Mode

Start an interactive shell for executing multiple MCP commands:

mcp shell npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

This opens an interactive shell where you can run MCP commands:

mcp > connected to MCP server over stdio
mcp > Type '/h' for help or '/q' to quit
mcp > tools
NAME        DESCRIPTION
----        -----------
read_file   Reads a file from the filesystem
...

mcp > call read_file --params '{"path": "README.md"}'
...content of README.md...

# Direct tool calling is supported
mcp > read_file {"path": "README.md"}
...content of README.md...

mcp > /h
MCP Shell Commands:
  tools                      List available tools
  resources                  List available resources
  prompts                    List available prompts
  call <entity> [--params '{...}']  Call a tool, resource, or prompt
  format [json|pretty|table] Get or set output format
Special Commands:
  /h, /help                  Show this help
  /q, /quit, exit            Exit the shell
  
mcp > /q
Exiting MCP shell

Examples

List tools from a filesystem server:

mcp tools npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

Call the read_file tool with pretty JSON output:

mcp call read_file --params '{"path": "README.md"}' --format pretty npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

Using the interactive shell mode:

mcp shell npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Code

Roadmap

The following features are planned for future releases:

• HTTP Transport: Add support for connecting to MCP servers over HTTP
• Authentication: Support for secure authentication mechanisms

License

This project is licensed under MIT