mcpc

Name: mcpc
Author: apify

Use the mcpc CLI to work with MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers from the shell - connect to a server as a persistent session, then list and call tools, read resources, get prompts, and run async tasks. Use --json for scripting and code mode. Reach for this whenever interacting with MCP servers, calling MCP tools, or accessing MCP resources programmatically.

Installation

1
Make sure Claude is on your device and in your terminal.
Skills load from ~/.claude/skills/ when Claude Code starts up — so you need it on your machine first. If you don't have it yet, install it once with the command below, then run claude in any terminal to verify.
One-time setup
```
npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
```
Already have it? Skip ahead.

Paste into Claude Code or into your terminal.

Install

git clone ht••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••• •• ••••• •• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •• •• •• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

This copies the whole skill folder into ~/.claude/skills/mcpc-apify/ — the SKILL.md plus any scripts, reference docs, or templates the skill ships with. Safe default: works for every skill.

Faster alternative (instruction-only skills)

Skips the clone and grabs only the SKILL.md file. Don't use this if the skill ships Python scripts, reference markdowns, or asset templates — they won't be downloaded and the skill will fail when it tries to load them.

Quick install (SKILL.md only)

mkdir -p ~/.•••••••••••••••••••••••• •• •••• ••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Restart Claude Code.
Quit and reopen Claude Code (or any other agent that loads from ~/.claude/skills/). New skills are picked up on startup.
Just ask Claude.
Skills auto-activate when your request matches the skill's description — no slash command needed. Trigger phrases live in the skill's own frontmatter; you can read them in the “What this skill does” section above.

Prefer to read the source first? Open on GitHub.

When Claude uses it

What this skill does

mcpc: MCP command-line client

mcpc maps every MCP operation to a shell command. For agents this is often more efficient than function calling: discover the right tool on demand, then generate shell commands (ideally with --json) instead of carrying tool definitions in context.

Mental model

Connect once to a server — this creates a persistent, named @session. A background bridge process keeps the connection (and its state) alive.
Run commands against the @session: list/call tools, read resources, get prompts, run async tasks. There is no one-shot mcpc <url> tools-list — connect first.
Default output is human-readable; add --json for machine-readable, MCP-spec shaped output that composes with jq and shell pipelines (code mode).

Everything is self-documenting — when unsure, ask the CLI:

mcpc --help                       # all commands + global options
mcpc help connect                 # help for one command
mcpc @apify tools-call foo --help # that tool's details + schema

First steps

mcpc                                   # list sessions + auth profiles (start here)
mcpc connect mcp.apify.com @apify      # connect, create the @apify session
mcpc @apify                            # server info, capabilities, tools overview
mcpc @apify tools-list                 # list tools
mcpc @apify tools-call <tool> q:="hi"  # call a tool

Connecting

Server formats accepted by connect:

mcp.example.com — remote HTTP server (https:// is added automatically)
localhost:8080 or 127.0.0.1:8080 — local HTTP server (http:// is the default for localhost and 127.0.0.1)
~/.vscode/mcp.json:filesystem — a single entry from a config file (file:entry)
~/.vscode/mcp.json — connect every entry in a config file
(no server) — auto-discover standard configs and connect all of them

mcpc connect mcp.apify.com @apify        # remote server, explicit session name
mcpc connect mcp.apify.com               # auto-name the session → @apify
mcpc connect ./.vscode/mcp.json:fs @fs   # one config entry (stdio or http)
mcpc connect                             # discover standard configs + connect everything

@session is optional — omit it to auto-generate a name from the server (mcp.apify.com → @apify). A matching session (same server + auth) is reused.
Stdio (command-based) entries launch a local process on connect — only connect to configs you trust. Bulk connects skip stdio entries unless you pass --stdio.
login / logout only accept an MCP server URL (a bare host or full http(s):// URL) — not config files or auto-discovery.

Sessions

mcpc                     # list all sessions and their state
mcpc @apify              # session details, capabilities, tools (also reports the
                         # negotiated protocol version and stateful vs stateless)
mcpc restart @apify      # restart (after server updates, or to recover an 'expired' session)
mcpc close @apify        # tear the session down

Session states:

🟢 live — ready to use
🟡 connecting / reconnecting — transient; retry in a moment
🟡 disconnected — bridge alive but the server has gone quiet; retry to reconnect
🟡 crashed — bridge process died; auto-restarts on next use
🔴 unauthorized — auth failed; run mcpc login <server> then mcpc restart @session
🔴 expired — server dropped the session; run mcpc restart @session

Discovering and inspecting tools

mcpc @apify tools-list                  # compact list with inline param signatures
mcpc @apify tools-list --full           # full JSON schemas
mcpc @apify tools-get <tool>            # one tool's details + schema
mcpc @apify tools-call <tool> --help    # shortcut for tools-get: that tool's details + schema

mcpc grep "search"                      # search tools + instructions across ALL sessions
mcpc @apify grep "actor" --resources    # search one session
# grep filters: --tools/--resources/--prompts/--instructions, -E regex, -s case-sensitive, -m <n> max
# grep exits 0 on match, 1 on no matches (grep convention)

Prefer progressive discovery: grep to find the right tool, then tools-get for its schema. This keeps token use low instead of dumping every tool definition.

For scripts and CI, pin a tool's schema to catch breaking changes early:

mcpc --json @apify tools-get <tool> > expected.json          # snapshot the schema
mcpc @apify tools-call <tool> --schema expected.json <args>  # fail fast if it drifted
# also on tools-get; --schema-mode strict | compatible (default) | ignore

Calling tools (passing arguments)

Arguments go after the tool name. Three interchangeable styles:

# 1) key:=value — values are auto-parsed as JSON, falling back to string
mcpc @apify tools-call search query:="hello world" limit:=10 enabled:=true
mcpc @apify tools-call search config:='{"nested":"value"}' items:='[1,2,3]'
mcpc @apify tools-call search id:='"123"'          # force a string with JSON quotes

# 2) inline JSON — when the first arg starts with { or [
mcpc @apify tools-call search '{"query":"hello","limit":10}'

# 3) stdin — auto-detected when piped and no positional args are given
echo '{"query":"hello"}' | mcpc @apify tools-call search

JSON output (code mode)

Add --json for machine-readable output: results on stdout, errors on stderr, shaped strictly per the MCP spec.

mcpc --json @apify tools-list | jq -r '.[].name'
mcpc --json @apify tools-call search query:="test" | jq -r '.content[0].text'

# chain tools across calls/sessions
mcpc --json @apify tools-call search-actors keywords:="scraper" \
  | jq -r '.content[0].text | fromjson | .items[0].id' \
  | xargs -I{} mcpc --json @apify tools-call get-actor actorId:="{}"

mcpc --json with no command returns { "sessions": [...], "profiles": [...] }.

Resources and prompts

mcpc @apify resources-list
mcpc @apify resources-read "file:///path/to/file"   # -o <file> to save (binary-safe), --raw to pipe
mcpc @apify resources-templates-list
mcpc @apify resources-subscribe <uri> <file>        # keep local <file> in sync with the resource
mcpc @apify resources-unsubscribe <uri>             # stop syncing, keep the file

mcpc @apify prompts-list
mcpc @apify prompts-get <name> arg1:=value1         # same argument syntax as tools-call (values coerced to strings)

Async tasks (long-running tools)

mcpc @apify tools-call <tool> --task <args>     # run as a task with a progress spinner; Ctrl+C (or
                                                # ESC) leaves it running and prints the task ID.
                                                # Falls back to a normal sync call if the server has no task support.
mcpc @apify tools-call <tool> --detach <args>   # start and return the task ID immediately
mcpc @apify tasks-list
mcpc @apify tasks-get <taskId>                  # status
mcpc @apify tasks-result <taskId>               # block until the final result is ready
mcpc @apify tasks-cancel <taskId>

Authentication

# OAuth — interactive browser login, saved as a reusable profile
mcpc login mcp.apify.com                    # "default" profile
mcpc login mcp.apify.com --profile work     # a named profile (multiple accounts per server)
mcpc connect mcp.apify.com @apify --profile work
mcpc logout mcp.apify.com

# Bearer token — not stored as a profile; kept per-session
mcpc connect mcp.apify.com @s -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"
mcpc @s tools-list

# Machine-to-machine (CI/CD, daemons) — client-credentials grant, no browser needed
mcpc login mcp.example.com --grant client-credentials --client-id my-svc --client-secret s3cr3t

With no auth flags, mcpc uses the default profile if one exists, otherwise it connects anonymously. Use --no-profile to force an anonymous connection, or --profile <name> to require a specific one.

Proxy for AI isolation

Expose an authenticated session as a local MCP server, so sandboxed AI code can use it without ever seeing your real credentials:

# Human: authenticated session + proxy listening on :8080
mcpc connect mcp.apify.com @ai-proxy --profile ai-access --proxy 8080

# AI in a sandbox limited to localhost: no access to the original tokens
mcpc connect localhost:8080 @sandboxed
mcpc @sandboxed tools-list

A proxy does not make an untrusted server safe — stdio servers still touch your system, and HTTP servers still hold your credentials. Only connect to servers you trust.

Server-published skills (experimental)

Distinct from this guide: some MCP servers publish their own agent skills (draft MCP extension, SEP-2640). Read them with:

mcpc @apify skills-list
mcpc @apify skills-get <name> --raw    # print the SKILL.md markdown (pipe to a file or an LLM)

(mcpc help --skill documents mcpc itself; skills-list / skills-get fetch skills from the server.)

Global flags worth knowing

--json                  # machine-readable, MCP-spec-shaped output (code mode)
--verbose               # protocol-level debug logging (JSON-RPC, transport)
--profile <name>        # OAuth profile to use ("default" if omitted)
--timeout <seconds>     # request timeout in seconds (default: 60)
--max-chars <n>         # truncate human-readable output to n chars (ignored with --json)
--insecure              # skip TLS verification (self-signed certs only)

(--no-profile, --stdio, --proxy, and -H are options of connect, not global flags.)

mcpc also has experimental --x402 auto-payment for paid MCP tools — see mcpc help x402.

Debugging

mcpc --verbose @apify tools-call <tool>   # protocol-level detail (JSON-RPC, transport)
mcpc @apify logs                          # bridge log; -n <N>, --follow, --since 1h
mcpc @apify ping                          # round-trip health check
mcpc @apify logging-set-level debug       # ask the server to log more (server-side level)
mcpc clean                                # tidy stale sessions/logs (also: mcpc clean all)

Exit codes

0 — success
1 — client error (invalid arguments, unknown command); grep also exits 1 on no matches
2 — server error (tool failed, resource not found)
3 — network error
4 — authentication error

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