mcpli

name	mcpli
description	CLI tool for interacting with MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. Use when invoking MCP tools, managing MCP servers, or working with MCP-based APIs. Triggers on "MCP server", "mcpli", "invoke MCP tool", or any MCP server interaction.

mcpli

CLI that turns MCP servers into native commands with tab completion.

Core Commands

Add a server

mcpli add <name> <url> [--header "key: value"]...

Headers support environment variable expansion with ${VAR_NAME}:

mcpli add myserver https://example.com/mcp/ \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}'

List servers and tools

mcpli list              # List all configured servers
mcpli list <server>     # List tools for a server

Discover tools

mcpli <server> --help           # See all tools on a server
mcpli <server> <tool> --help    # See tool description and usage

Invoke a tool

mcpli <server> <tool> [json-arguments]

Examples:

mcpli myserver get_status                           # No arguments
mcpli myserver search '{"query": "hello"}'          # With JSON arguments
mcpli myserver create_item '{"name": "test", "count": 5}'

Manage servers

mcpli update <server>   # Refresh cached tool definitions
mcpli remove <server>   # Remove a configured server

Workflow

1. Add server with mcpli add (fetches and caches tools)
2. Discover tools with mcpli <server> --help
3. Check tool parameters with mcpli <server> <tool> --help
4. Invoke tools with mcpli <server> <tool> '{...}'

Gotchas

• Argument names are snake_case. MCP tools use from_latitude, not fromLatitude. Don't guess — the exact property names are in mcpli <server> <tool> --help.

Notes

• Tool definitions are cached locally after add; use update to refresh
• Config stored at ~/.config/mcpli/config.json
• Arguments must be valid JSON (use single quotes around JSON to avoid shell escaping issues)