mcporter

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Inspect and call MCP server tools from the command line with MCPorter. Use when a task needs an MCP tool (search, docs, integrations) or when checking which MCP servers and tools are available.

2installs

Sourcezlliang/skills

Added on2026-08-12

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add zlliang/skills mcporter

SKILL.md Content

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MCPorter (

mcporter

)

MCPorter is a CLI for working with MCP servers. Use it to discover configured servers, read their tool signatures, and call tools directly from the shell.

The two commands that matter most are

list

(discover and inspect) and

call

(invoke). Always

list

before you

call

so arguments match the real schema.

For exact flags, run

mcporter <command> --help

. MCPorter discovers servers from its config — the global config at

~/.mcporter/mcporter.json

, a project config at

./config/mcporter.json

, or an explicit

--config <path>

— plus editor imports (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, etc.). Use

mcporter config list

or

mcporter list --verbose

to see where each server comes from.

Workflow

bash

# 1. See configured servers and their health
mcporter list

# 2. Read one server's tools as TypeScript-like signatures
mcporter list <server>

# 3. Call a tool using the signature from step 2
mcporter call '<server>.<tool>(arg: "value", count: 5)'

list

— discover and inspect

bash

mcporter list                             # All servers, with live status
mcporter list <server>                    # Tools for one server, as signatures
mcporter list <server> --schema           # Raw JSON schema for each tool
mcporter list <server> --json             # Machine-readable, full tool metadata
mcporter list <server> --all-parameters   # Reveal hidden optional params

Single-server output reads like a TypeScript header: a doc comment per tool, a

function name(...)

signature with required params first and optional ones marked

, plus an

Examples:

block written in the function-call syntax below. Optional params beyond the first few are hidden unless you pass

--all-parameters

or

--schema

.

ts

function web_search_exa(query: string, numResults?: number);

call

— invoke a tool

Recommended: function-call syntax. It mirrors the signature from

mcporter list

, is self-documenting, handles nested objects/arrays, and avoids shell-flag ambiguity. Wrap the whole argument in single quotes.

bash

mcporter call 'exa.web_search_exa(query: "best React state libraries", numResults: 5)'
mcporter call 'linear.create_comment(issueId: "ENG-123", body: "Looks good!")'

Named arguments are preferred; unlabeled values map to schema order.
Use
```
--output json
```
for structured results; connection/auth/offline/http failures emit a
```
{ server, tool, issue }
```
envelope for scripting.

bash

mcporter call 'exa.web_search_exa(query: "...")' --output json

Other argument styles (when the recommended one is awkward)

bash

# Shell-friendly key/value pairs (good in scripts)
mcporter call linear.list_issues team=ENG limit:5

# Prebuilt JSON payload (or `--json -` to read from stdin)
mcporter call linear.create_issue --json '{"title":"Bug","team":"ENG"}'

# Read a long string argument from a file
mcporter call linear.create_comment issueId=LNR-123 body=@comment.md

Ad-hoc servers (not in config)

Point

list

/

call

at an endpoint directly, no config edit needed:

bash

mcporter list https://mcp.linear.app/mcp
mcporter call 'https://www.shadcn.io/api/mcp.getComponent(component: "vortex")'
mcporter list --stdio "bun run ./server.ts" --env TOKEN=xyz

Bare domains assume

https://

; plain

http://

needs

--allow-http

. Persist a tried endpoint with

--persist <config>

to make its short name reusable.

Notes

Pass secrets via environment variables, e.g.

LINEAR_API_KEY=… mcporter call 'linear.search_documentation(query: "automations")'

.

Other commands exist (

auth

,

config

,

resource

,

daemon

,

generate-cli

,

emit-ts

); run

mcporter --help

when you need them.

mcporter

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

MCPorter (
`mcporter`
)

Workflow

`list`
— discover and inspect

`call`
— invoke a tool

Other argument styles (when the recommended one is awkward)

Ad-hoc servers (not in config)

Notes

mcporter

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

MCPorter (mcporter)

Workflow

list — discover and inspect

call — invoke a tool

Other argument styles (when the recommended one is awkward)

Ad-hoc servers (not in config)

Notes

MCPorter (
`mcporter`
)

`list`
— discover and inspect

`call`
— invoke a tool