MCP CLI — Agent Skill by GitHub

From the author

Interface for MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers via CLI. Use when you need to interact with external tools, APIs, or data sources through MCP servers, list available MCP servers/tools, or call MCP tools from command line.

— the description by AungMyoKyaw

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

mcp-cli provides a terminal-based interface to discover, inspect, and execute tools hosted on Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. It allows users to bridge external systems like filesystems, databases, and APIs directly into their command-line workflows, supporting JSON-based input and output for seamless integration with other shell utilities.

What it does

Lists all configured MCP servers and their available tools.
Displays detailed tool parameters and JSON schemas.
Executes MCP tools directly from the command line with custom arguments.
Supports searching for specific tools using glob patterns.
Provides JSON output flags for integration with shell pipelines and tools like jq.
Handles complex input arguments via stdin or file redirection.

When to use it

When you need to interact with MCP-enabled external systems from a terminal.
When debugging or testing MCP tool inputs and outputs.
When building shell scripts that require data from MCP-connected services.
When you need to quickly inspect the schema of an MCP tool.

Advantages

Enables command-line access to diverse MCP-based data sources.
Supports standard shell piping for complex automation tasks.
Provides clear visibility into tool schemas and parameter requirements.
Simplifies the testing of MCP server integrations.

Usage examples

“List all available MCP servers and tools.”: The CLI outputs a list of all connected servers and the tools they expose.
“Get the JSON schema for the read_file tool in the filesystem server.”: The CLI displays the required JSON structure for calling the read_file tool.
“Call a tool with specific arguments from the command line.”: The tool executes with the provided JSON arguments and returns the result.
“Use the CLI in a shell pipeline to process data.”: The output is piped into other tools like jq to extract specific information from the tool response.

Install

Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/github/mcp-cli/download
Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:
```
mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip mcp-cli.zip -d .agents/skills
```

Documentation by AungMyoKyaw

MCP-CLI

Access MCP servers through the command line. MCP enables interaction with external systems like GitHub, filesystems, databases, and APIs.

Commands

Command	Output
`mcp-cli`	List all servers and tool names
`mcp-cli <server>`	Show tools with parameters
`mcp-cli <server>/<tool>`	Get tool JSON schema
`mcp-cli <server>/<tool> '<json>'`	Call tool with arguments
`mcp-cli grep "<glob>"`	Search tools by name

Add -d to include descriptions (e.g., mcp-cli filesystem -d)

Workflow

Discover: mcp-cli → see available servers and tools
Explore: mcp-cli <server> → see tools with parameters
Inspect: mcp-cli <server>/<tool> → get full JSON input schema
Execute: mcp-cli <server>/<tool> '<json>' → run with arguments

Examples

# List all servers and tool names
mcp-cli

# See all tools with parameters
mcp-cli filesystem

# With descriptions (more verbose)
mcp-cli filesystem -d

# Get JSON schema for specific tool
mcp-cli filesystem/read_file

# Call the tool
mcp-cli filesystem/read_file '{"path": "./README.md"}'

# Search for tools
mcp-cli grep "*file*"

# JSON output for parsing
mcp-cli filesystem/read_file '{"path": "./README.md"}' --json

# Complex JSON with quotes (use heredoc or stdin)
mcp-cli server/tool <<EOF
{"content": "Text with 'quotes' inside"}
EOF

# Or pipe from a file/command
cat args.json | mcp-cli server/tool

# Find all TypeScript files and read the first one
mcp-cli filesystem/search_files '{"path": "src/", "pattern": "*.ts"}' --json | jq -r '.content[0].text' | head -1 | xargs -I {} sh -c 'mcp-cli filesystem/read_file "{\"path\": \"{}\"}"'

Options

Flag	Purpose
`-j, --json`	JSON output for scripting
`-r, --raw`	Raw text content
`-d`	Include descriptions

Exit Codes

0: Success
1: Client error (bad args, missing config)
2: Server error (tool failed)
3: Network error

Files

ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer853 B
LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer1.0 KiB
SKILL.md2.5 KiB

LICENSE

MIT License

Copyright GitHub, Inc.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

Requirements and compatibility

Written for: GitHub Copilot

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs an MCP server

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

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Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download mcp-cli.zip