MCP-CLI

SkillAI & models

This skill gives your AI a way to use the tools connected to it from the command line. Once added, your AI can see which tools are available and call them to work with files, APIs, and data sources.

Instructions available. Your AI can read the instructions. Execution depends on the setup they require.

Account requirements not reviewed. Check the skill instructions before use; ahel provides instructions and does not run this skill.

Add the skill, then ask your AI to list the tools it can reach. From there, ask it to call the ones you need.

Then ask your AI: use the MCP-CLI skill

What your AI can do with it

List the connected tools your AI can use
Call those tools from the command line
Work with files through connected tools
Send requests to APIs
Get information from external data sources

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by github/awesome-copilot in skills/mcp-cli/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

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

Signals

GitHub stars: 40k
Forks: 5k
Last commit: Oct 2026

Advanced

Item type: skill
Key: mcp-cli
Source: github.com/github/awesome-copilot

github.com/github/awesome-copilot

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