mcps - MCP CLI Manager

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A powerful command-line interface for managing and interacting with Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.

Features

• 🔌 Server Management: Easily add, remove, list, and update MCP servers (Stdio, SSE, and HTTP modes)
• 🛠️ Tool Discovery: List available tools from any configured server
• 🚀 Tool Execution: Call tools directly from the CLI with automatic argument parsing
• 🔄 Daemon Mode: Maintain persistent connections to MCP servers for better performance
• 📊 Table Output: Clear server status and tool listings
• 🔍 Tool Filtering: Filter tools by keywords with simple mode
• 🚨 Verbose Logging: Optional detailed logging for debugging

Installation

npm install -g @maplezzk/mcps

Quick Start

# 1. Add a server
mcps add fetch --command uvx --args mcp-server-fetch

# 2. Start the daemon
mcps start

# 3. Check server status
mcps status

# 4. List available tools
mcps tools fetch

# 5. Call a tool
mcps call fetch fetch url="https://example.com"

Usage Guide

1. Daemon Mode

mcps supports a daemon mode that maintains persistent connections to MCP servers, significantly improving performance for frequent calls.

Start Daemon:

# Normal mode
mcps start

# Verbose mode (show connection process for each server and disabled servers)
mcps start --verbose

Output example:

Starting daemon in background...
[Daemon] Connecting to 7 server(s)...
[Daemon] - chrome-devtools... Connected ✓
[Daemon] - fetch... Connected ✓
[Daemon] - gitlab-mr-creator... Connected ✓
[Daemon] Connected: 7/7
Daemon started successfully on port 4100.

Restart Connections:

# Reset all connections
mcps restart

# Reset connection for a specific server
mcps restart my-server

Stop Daemon:

mcps stop

Check Daemon Status:

mcps status

Output example:

Daemon is running (v1.0.29)

Active Connections:
NAME                STATUS      TOOLS
─────────────────   ──────────  ──────
chrome-devtools     Connected   26
fetch               Connected   1
gitlab-mr-creator   Connected   30
Total: 3 connection(s)

2. Server Management

List all servers (configuration):

mcps ls

Output example:

NAME                TYPE    ENABLED  COMMAND/URL
─────────────────   ──────  ───────  ─────────────
chrome-devtools     stdio   ✓        npx -y chrome-devtools-mcp ...
fetch               stdio   ✓        uvx mcp-server-fetch
my-server           stdio   ✗        npx my-server
Total: 3 server(s)

Add Stdio Server:

# Add local Node.js server
mcps add my-server --command node --args ./build/index.js

# Use npx/uvx to add server
mcps add fetch --command uvx --args mcp-server-fetch

# Add server with environment variables
mcps add my-db --command npx --args @modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres --env POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING="${DATABASE_URL}"

Add SSE Server:

mcps add remote-server --type sse --url http://localhost:8000/sse

Add Streamable HTTP Server:

mcps add my-http-server --type http --url http://localhost:8000/mcp

Remove Server:

mcps rm my-server

Update Server:

# Refresh all server connections
mcps update

# Update specific server command
mcps update my-server --command new-command

# Update specific server arguments
mcps update my-server --args arg1 arg2

# Update both command and arguments
mcps update my-server --command node --args ./new-build/index.js

3. Tool Interaction

List available tools on a server:

# Detailed mode (show all information including nested object properties)
mcps tools chrome-devtools

# Simple mode (show only tool names)
mcps tools chrome-devtools --simple

# JSON output (raw tool schema)
mcps tools chrome-devtools --json

# Filter tools by keyword
mcps tools chrome-devtools --tool screenshot

# Multiple keywords + simple mode
mcps tools gitlab-mr-creator --tool file --tool wiki --simple

Detailed mode output example (with nested objects):

Available Tools for chrome-devtools:

- take_screenshot
  Take a screenshot of the page or element.
  Arguments:
    format*: string ["jpeg", "png", "webp"] (Type of format to save the screenshot as...)
    quality: number (Compression quality from 0-100)
    uid: string (The uid of an element to screenshot...)

- click
  Clicks on the provided element
  Arguments:
    uid*: string (The uid of an element...)

Simple mode output example:

$ mcps tools chrome-devtools -s
click
close_page
drag
emulate
evaluate_script
fill
...
take_screenshot
take_snapshot

Total: 26 tool(s)

Call Tools:

Syntax:

mcps call <server_name> <tool_name> [options] [arguments...]

• <server_name>: Name of the configured MCP server
• <tool_name>: Name of the tool to call
• [options]: Optional flags (--raw, --json)
• [arguments...]: Arguments passed as key=value pairs

Options:

Option	Description
-r, --raw	Treat all values as raw strings (disable JSON parsing)
-j, --json <value>	Load parameters from JSON string or file

Default Mode (Auto JSON Parsing):

By default, values are automatically parsed as JSON:

# String
mcps call fetch fetch url="https://example.com"

# Numbers and booleans are parsed
mcps call fetch fetch max_length=5000 follow_redirects=true
# Sends: { "max_length": 5000, "follow_redirects": true }

# JSON object
mcps call my-server createUser user='{"name": "Alice", "age": 30}'

# Mixed
mcps call my-server config debug=true timeout=5000 options='{"retries": 3}'

--raw Mode (String Values Only):

Use --raw to disable JSON parsing. All values remain as strings:

# IDs and codes stay as strings
mcps call my-db createOrder --raw order_id="12345" sku="ABC-001"
# Sends: { "order_id": "12345", "sku": "ABC-001" }

# SQL queries with special characters
mcps call alibaba-dms createDataChangeOrder --raw \
  database_id="36005357" \
  script="DELETE FROM table WHERE id = 'xxx';" \
  logic=true
# Sends: { "database_id": "36005357", "script": "...", "logic": "true" }

--json Mode (Complex Parameters):

For complex parameters, use --json to load from a JSON string or file:

# From JSON string
mcps call my-server createUser --json '{"name": "Alice", "age": 30}'

# From file
mcps call my-server createUser --json params.json

Configuration File

By default, the configuration file is stored at: ~/.mcps/mcp.json

You can change the storage location by setting the MCPS_CONFIG_DIR environment variable.

Configuration file example:

{
  "servers": [
    {
      "name": "fetch",
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-fetch"]
    },
    {
      "name": "my-server",
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["./build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "${API_KEY}"
      },
      "disabled": false
    }
  ]
}

Environment Variables

• MCPS_CONFIG_DIR: Configuration file directory (default: ~/.mcps)
• MCPS_PORT: Daemon port (default: 4100)
• MCPS_VERBOSE: Verbose logging mode (default: false)

Command Reference

Server Management

• mcps ls - List all servers
• mcps add <name> - Add a new server
• mcps rm <name> - Remove a server
• mcps update [name] - Update server configuration

Daemon

• mcps start [-v] - Start daemon (-v for detailed logging)
• mcps stop - Stop daemon
• mcps status - Check daemon status
• mcps restart [server] - Restart daemon or specific server

Tool Interaction

• mcps tools <server> [-s] [-j] [-t <name>...] - List available tools
  • -s, --simple: Show only tool names
  • -j, --json: Output raw JSON (for debugging)
  • -t, --tool: Filter tools by name (can be used multiple times)
• mcps call <server> <tool> [args...] - Call a tool

Performance

mcps optimizes performance through:

1. Daemon Mode: Maintains persistent connections, avoiding repeated startup overhead
2. Tool Caching: Caches tool counts during connection, avoiding repeated queries
3. Async Connections: Parallel initialization of multiple server connections

Typical performance:

• Start daemon: 10-15 seconds (first time, depends on server count)
• Check status: ~200ms
• Call tool: ~50-100ms

FAQ

Q: How to check the status of all servers?

mcps status  # Check active connections
mcps ls      # Check all configurations (including disabled)

Q: What if a server fails to connect?

# View detailed logs
mcps start --verbose

# Restart that server
mcps restart my-server

Q: How to temporarily disable a server? Set "disabled": true in the configuration file, or use mcps update to modify the configuration.

Q: How to quickly find tools when there are many?

# Filter tools by keyword
mcps tools my-server --tool keyword

# Show only names
mcps tools my-server --simple

License

ISC