mcp-cli
mcp-cli is a Bun/TypeScript command-line tool that discovers and invokes Model Context Protocol (MCP) server tools. It supports MCP servers over stdio or HTTP, loads tool schemas on-demand, provides shell-friendly JSON output, and can use a per-server daemon/connection pooling via Unix sockets.
Score Breakdown
⚙ Agent Friendliness
🔒 Security
mcp-cli supports injecting Authorization headers via config and environment-variable substitution, which can be secure if users avoid logging. However, the excerpt does not describe TLS enforcement details (e.g., cert validation) beyond using HTTPS URLs in examples, nor does it detail how secrets are masked in logs. Tool filtering can reduce blast radius but is not a substitute for server-side authorization.
⚡ Reliability
Best When
You want lightweight, scriptable access to MCP tools from the command line (including agent workflows) and can manage MCP server configuration locally.
Avoid When
You need standardized HTTP endpoints, webhook delivery, or strong platform-level authz enforced by mcp-cli itself rather than by the underlying MCP servers.
Use Cases
- • Discover MCP servers and list available tool schemas
- • Inspect tool input schemas (info) before invocation
- • Invoke MCP tools from shell scripts and CI using JSON in/out
- • Chain multiple tool calls using pipes and jq
- • Filter/allow/disable tools per MCP server via configuration
- • Use with AI coding agents that can run shell commands
Not For
- • Building a long-running MCP gateway service (it’s a CLI, not a server)
- • Providing a direct REST/GraphQL API to your application users
- • Use as a security boundary for untrusted MCP servers (it orchestrates them)
- • Environments that require strict network egress controls without reviewing configured remote servers
Interface
Authentication
Authentication is delegated to MCP server configuration (e.g., headers for HTTP transports). No first-class OAuth flow is provided by mcp-cli itself.
Pricing
No pricing model described (CLI tool).
Agent Metadata
Known Gotchas
- ⚠ Remember correct subcommands (use 'call' and 'info'; 'server tool' or 'run' are not valid)
- ⚠ When passing complex JSON, prefer stdin/heredoc to avoid shell-escaping issues
- ⚠ Tool filtering is applied globally—an agent may not see tools that are disabled/filtered in config
- ⚠ Remote HTTP servers require correct header configuration; missing env vars can fail unless MCP_STRICT_ENV=false
Alternatives
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Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-30.