mcptools

README

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 ~

This will open a shell as following:

Installation

Using Homebrew

brew tap f/mcptools
brew install mcp

❕ The binary is installed as mcp but can also be accessed as mcpt to avoid conflicts with other tools that might use the mcp command name.

From Source

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

The binary will be installed as mcptools but can be aliased to mcpt for convenience and to avoid conflicts with other tools that might use the mcp command name.

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
  mock           Create a mock MCP server with tools, prompts, and resources
  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 two 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 ~

Http SSE Transport

Uses HTTP and Server-Sent Events (SSE) to communicate with an MCP server via JSON-RPC 2.0. This is useful for connecting to remote server that implement the MCP protocol.

mcp tools http://127.0.0.1:3001

# As an example, you can use the everything sample server
# docker run -p 3001:3001 --rm -it tzolov/mcp-everything-server:v1

Note: Currently HTTP SSE supports only MCP protocol version 2024-11-05.

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 ~

JSON Format

Displays the output as compact JSON.

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

Pretty Format

Displays the output as indented JSON.

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

Commands

List Available Tools

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

List Available Resources

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

List Available Prompts

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

Call a Tool

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

Call a Resource

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

Call a Prompt

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

Interactive Shell Mode

Start an interactive shell for executing multiple MCP commands:

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

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

Mock Server Mode

Create a mock MCP server for testing clients without implementing a full server:

# Create a mock server with a simple tool
mcp mock tool hello_world "A simple greeting tool"

# Create a mock server with a tool, prompt, and resource
mcp mock tool hello_world "A greeting tool" \
       prompt welcome "A welcome prompt" "Hello {{name}}, welcome to {{location}}!" \
       resource docs://readme "Documentation" "Mock MCP Server\nThis is a mock server"

The mock server implements the MCP protocol with:

• Full initialization handshake (initialize method)
• Tool listing with standardized schema format
• Tool calling with simple responses
• Resource listing and reading with proper format
• Prompt listing and retrieving with proper format, including arguments

For prompts, any text in {{double_braces}} is automatically detected as an argument:

# Create a prompt with name and location arguments
mcp mock prompt greeting "Greeting template" "Hello {{name}}! Welcome to {{location}}."

When a client requests the prompt, it can provide values for these arguments which will be substituted in the response.

Examples

List tools from a filesystem server:

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

Call the read_file tool with pretty JSON output:

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

Using the interactive shell mode:

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

Creating a mock server for testing:

# Create a mock server with multiple entity types
mcp mock tool file_reader "Reads files" \
      prompt code_review "Code review prompt" "Please review this {{language}} code: {{code}}" \
      resource docs://api "API Documentation" "# API Reference\n\nThis document describes the API."

Contributing

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

Roadmap

The following features are planned for future releases:

• Authentication: Support for secure authentication mechanisms

License

This project is licensed under MIT