Mcp Cli

This lets you invoke MCP servers on the fly without permanently configuring them in your environment, which is genuinely useful when you want to test a server or make a one-off call without cluttering your context window. The `mcp` CLI gives you discovery commands to explore what tools, resources, and prompts a server exposes, then you call them directly with JSON parameters. The workflow is straightforward: run `mcp tools npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp` to see what's available, then `mcp call read_file --params '{"path": "/tmp/example.txt"}' npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp` to actually use it. It supports stdio, HTTP, and SSE transports, plus you can create temporary aliases if you're hitting the same server repeatedly in a session.

skills.sh installs: 486
GitHub stars: 438
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add obra/superpowers-lab --skill mcp-cli --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

MCP CLI: On-Demand MCP Server Usage

Use the mcp CLI tool to dynamically discover and invoke MCP server capabilities without pre-configuring them as permanent integrations.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

Explore an MCP server's capabilities before deciding to use it
Make one-off calls to an MCP server without permanent integration
Access MCP functionality without polluting the context window
Test or debug MCP servers
Use MCP servers that aren't pre-configured

Prerequisites

The mcp CLI must be installed at ~/.local/bin/mcp. If not present:

# Clone and build
cd /tmp && git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/f/mcptools.git
cd mcptools && CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o ~/.local/bin/mcp ./cmd/mcptools

Always ensure PATH includes the binary:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Discovery Workflow

Step 1: Discover Available Tools

mcp tools <server-command>

Examples:

# Filesystem server
mcp tools npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /path/to/allow

# Memory/knowledge graph server
mcp tools npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-memory

SKILL.md on GitHub