mcp2cli

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Turn any MCP server or OpenAPI spec into a CLI. Use this skill when the user wants to interact with an MCP server or OpenAPI/REST API via command line, discover available tools/endpoints, call API operations, or generate a new skill from an API. Triggers include "mcp2cli", "call this MCP server", "use this API", "list tools from", "create a skill for this API", or any task involving MCP tool invocation or OpenAPI endpoint calls without writing code.

3installs

Sourceknowsuchagency/mcp2cli

Added on2026-03-09

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add knowsuchagency/mcp2cli mcp2cli

SKILL.md Content

View Translation Comparison →

mcp2cli

Turn any MCP server or OpenAPI spec into a CLI at runtime. No codegen.

Install

bash

# Run directly (no install needed)
uvx mcp2cli --help

# Or install
pip install mcp2cli

Core Workflow

Connect to a source (MCP server or OpenAPI spec)
Discover available commands with
```
--list
```
Inspect a specific command with
```
<command> --help
```
Execute the command with flags

bash

# MCP over HTTP
mcp2cli --mcp https://mcp.example.com/sse --list
mcp2cli --mcp https://mcp.example.com/sse create-task --help
mcp2cli --mcp https://mcp.example.com/sse create-task --title "Fix bug"

# MCP over stdio
mcp2cli --mcp-stdio "npx @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp" --list
mcp2cli --mcp-stdio "npx @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp" read-file --path /tmp/hello.txt

# OpenAPI spec (remote or local, JSON or YAML)
mcp2cli --spec https://petstore3.swagger.io/api/v3/openapi.json --list
mcp2cli --spec ./openapi.json --base-url https://api.example.com list-pets --status available

CLI Reference

mcp2cli [global options] <subcommand> [command options]

Source (mutually exclusive, one required):
  --spec URL|FILE       OpenAPI spec (JSON or YAML, local or remote)
  --mcp URL             MCP server URL (HTTP/SSE)
  --mcp-stdio CMD       MCP server command (stdio transport)

Options:
  --auth-header K:V     HTTP header sent with requests (repeatable)
  --base-url URL        Override base URL from spec
  --env KEY=VALUE       Env var for stdio server process (repeatable)
  --cache-key KEY       Custom cache key
  --cache-ttl SECONDS   Cache TTL (default: 3600)
  --refresh             Bypass cache
  --list                List available subcommands
  --pretty              Pretty-print JSON output
  --raw                 Print raw response body
  --toon                Encode output as TOON (token-efficient for LLMs)
  --version             Show version

Subcommands and flags are generated dynamically from the source.

Patterns

Authentication

bash

# API key header
mcp2cli --spec ./spec.json --auth-header "Authorization:Bearer tok_..." list-items

# Multiple headers
mcp2cli --mcp https://mcp.example.com/sse \
  --auth-header "x-api-key:sk-..." \
  --auth-header "x-org-id:org_123" \
  search --query "test"

POST with JSON body from stdin

bash

echo '{"name": "Fido", "tag": "dog"}' | mcp2cli --spec ./spec.json create-pet --stdin

Env vars for stdio servers

bash

mcp2cli --mcp-stdio "node server.js" --env API_KEY=sk-... --env DEBUG=1 search --query "test"

Caching

Specs and MCP tool lists are cached in

~/.cache/mcp2cli/

(1h TTL). Local files are never cached.

bash

mcp2cli --spec https://api.example.com/spec.json --refresh --list    # Force refresh
mcp2cli --spec https://api.example.com/spec.json --cache-ttl 86400 --list  # 24h TTL

TOON output (token-efficient for LLMs)

bash

mcp2cli --mcp https://mcp.example.com/sse --toon list-tags

Best for large uniform arrays — 40-60% fewer tokens than JSON.

Generating a Skill from an API

When the user asks to create a skill from an MCP server or OpenAPI spec, follow this workflow:

Discover all available commands:

bash

uvx mcp2cli --mcp https://target.example.com/sse --list

Inspect each command to understand parameters:

bash

uvx mcp2cli --mcp https://target.example.com/sse <command> --help

Test key commands to verify they work:

bash

uvx mcp2cli --mcp https://target.example.com/sse <command> --param value

Create a SKILL.md that teaches another AI agent how to use this API via mcp2cli. Include:
- The source flag (
```
--mcp
```
  ,
```
--mcp-stdio
```
  , or
```
--spec
```
  ) and URL
- Any required auth headers
- Common workflows with example commands
- The
```
--list
```
  and
```
--help
```
  discovery pattern for commands not covered

The generated skill should use mcp2cli as its execution layer — the agent runs

uvx mcp2cli ...

commands rather than making raw HTTP/MCP calls.

mcp2cli

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

mcp2cli

Install

Core Workflow

CLI Reference

Patterns

Authentication

POST with JSON body from stdin

Env vars for stdio servers

Caching

TOON output (token-efficient for LLMs)

Generating a Skill from an API