CLI Reference¶

This document provides comprehensive reference for the MCP Template CLI tool.

Installation¶

pip install mcp-template

Usage¶

mcpp [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

The MCP Template CLI provides commands to deploy and manage Model Context Protocol servers.

Global Options¶

--verbose, -v - Enable verbose output
--backend TEXT - Backend type to use (default: docker)
--help - Show help message and exit

Commands¶

deploy¶

Deploy an MCP server template.

mcpp deploy [OPTIONS] TEMPLATE

Arguments: - TEMPLATE - Template name to deploy (required)

Options: - --config, -c PATH - Path to config file - --env, -e TEXT - Environment variables (KEY=VALUE), can be used multiple times - --set TEXT - Config overrides (key=value), can be used multiple times - --override TEXT - Template data overrides (key=value). Supports double underscore notation for nested fields, e.g., tools__0__custom_field=value - --transport TEXT - Transport protocol (http, stdio) - --no-pull - Don't pull latest Docker image - --dry-run - Show what would be deployed without actually deploying

Examples:

# Basic deployment
mcpp deploy demo

# Deploy with configuration file
mcpp deploy github --config github-config.json

# Deploy with config overrides
mcpp deploy filesystem --set allowed_dirs=/tmp --dry-run

# Deploy with template data overrides
mcpp deploy demo --override metadata__version=2.0 --transport stdio

# Deploy with environment variables
mcpp deploy demo --env PORT=8080 --env DEBUG=true

list¶

List available MCP server templates with deployment status.

mcpp list [OPTIONS]

Options: - --deployed - Show only deployed templates

This command shows all templates that can be deployed, along with their current deployment status and running instance count.

Examples:

# List all templates
mcpp list

# Show only deployed templates
mcpp list --deployed

list-tools¶

List available tools from a template or deployment.

mcpp list-tools [OPTIONS] TEMPLATE

Arguments: - TEMPLATE - Template name or deployment ID (required)

Options: - --method TEXT - Discovery method (default: auto) - --force-refresh - Force refresh cache - --format TEXT - Output format (table, json) (default: table)

This command discovers and displays tools available from MCP servers. The discovery method indicates how the tools were found.

Examples:

# List tools for a template
mcpp list-tools github

# List tools with cache refresh
mcpp list-tools demo-12345 --force-refresh

# List tools with JSON output
mcpp list-tools filesystem --method static --format json

list-templates¶

List available MCP server templates.

mcpp list-templates [OPTIONS]

This command shows all templates that can be deployed.

Examples:

mcpp list-templates

list-deployments¶

List running MCP server deployments.

mcpp list-deployments [OPTIONS]

This command shows all currently running MCP servers.

Examples:

mcpp list-deployments

stop¶

Stop a running MCP server deployment.

mcpp stop [OPTIONS] DEPLOYMENT_ID

Arguments: - DEPLOYMENT_ID - Deployment ID to stop (required)

Options: - --dry-run - Show what would be stopped

This command stops and removes the specified deployment.

Examples:

# Stop a deployment
mcpp stop demo-12345

# Preview what would be stopped
mcpp stop demo-12345 --dry-run

cleanup¶

Clean up stopped containers and unused resources.

mcpp cleanup [OPTIONS] [TEMPLATE]

Arguments: - TEMPLATE - Template to cleanup (or all if not specified) (optional)

Options: - --dry-run - Show what would be cleaned up - --force - Force cleanup without confirmation

This command removes stopped containers and cleans up resources.

Examples:

# Clean up all stopped containers
mcpp cleanup

# Clean up specific template
mcpp cleanup demo

# Preview cleanup
mcpp cleanup --dry-run

interactive¶

Start the interactive CLI mode.

mcpp interactive [OPTIONS]

This command launches an interactive shell for MCP server management. See Interactive CLI Guide for details.

Examples:

mcpp interactive

install-completion¶

Install shell completion for the CLI.

mcpp install-completion [OPTIONS]

This command installs shell completion for Bash, Zsh, Fish, or PowerShell.

Examples:

mcpp install-completion

Configuration¶

Configuration Files¶

Configuration can be provided via JSON or YAML files:

{
  "greeting": "Hello from config file",
  "port": 8080,
  "debug": true,
  "security": {
    "read_only": false,
    "max_file_size": "100MB"
  }
}

Environment Variables¶

Environment variables can be set using --env:

mcpp deploy demo --env PORT=8080 --env DEBUG=true

Configuration Overrides¶

Use --set for config schema properties:

mcpp deploy filesystem --set allowed_dirs=/tmp --set read_only=true

Template Data Overrides¶

Use --override for template data with double underscore notation:

mcpp deploy demo --override metadata__version=2.0 --override tools__0__custom_field=value

Configuration Priority¶

Configuration is merged in the following order (highest to lowest priority):

Command line overrides (--override, --set)
Environment variables (--env)
Configuration file (--config)
Template defaults

Error Handling¶

The CLI returns appropriate exit codes:

0 - Success
1 - General error
2 - Command line argument error

Use --verbose to see detailed error information.

Completion¶

The CLI supports shell completion for:

Commands and subcommands
Template names
Deployment IDs
Configuration options

Install completion with:

mcpp install-completion

Delete a deployment.

mcpp delete DEPLOYMENT_NAME [OPTIONS]

Arguments: - DEPLOYMENT_NAME - Name of the deployment to delete

Options: - --backend {docker,k8s,mock} - Deployment backend to use (default: docker)

Examples:

# Delete Docker deployment
mcpp delete demo-deployment

# Delete Kubernetes deployment
mcpp delete demo-deployment --backend k8s

status¶

Get status information for a deployment.

mcpp status DEPLOYMENT_NAME [OPTIONS]

Arguments: - DEPLOYMENT_NAME - Name of the deployment

Options: - --backend {docker,k8s,mock} - Deployment backend to use (default: docker)

Examples:

# Get Docker deployment status
mcpp status demo-deployment

# Get Kubernetes deployment status
mcpp status demo-deployment --backend k8s

tools¶

List available tools for a template or discover tools from a Docker image.

mcpp> tools TEMPLATE_NAME [OPTIONS]
mcpp> tools --image IMAGE_NAME [SERVER_ARGS...]

Arguments: - TEMPLATE_NAME - Template to discover tools for - IMAGE_NAME - Docker image name to discover tools from - SERVER_ARGS - Arguments to pass to the MCP server (when using --image)

Options: - --image IMAGE_NAME - Discover tools from Docker image instead of template - --no-cache - Ignore cached tool discovery results - --refresh - Force refresh of cached results - --config KEY=VALUE - Configuration values for dynamic discovery (can be used multiple times)

Examples:

# List tools for a template
mcpp> tools demo

# List tools with cache refresh
mcpp> tools demo --refresh

# List tools for dynamic template with config
mcpp> tools github --config github_token=your_token

# Discover tools from Docker image
mcpp> tools --image mcp/filesystem /tmp

# Discover tools with multiple config values
mcpp> tools github --config github_token=token --config log_level=DEBUG

Note: For templates with tool_discovery: "dynamic", if standard discovery methods fail, the command will automatically attempt to spin up the Docker image specified in the template configuration to discover tools dynamically.

config¶

Show configuration options for a template.

mcpp config TEMPLATE_NAME

Arguments: - TEMPLATE_NAME - Template to show configuration for

Examples:

# Show configuration options for demo template
mcpp config demo

connect¶

Show integration examples for LLMs and frameworks.

mcpp connect TEMPLATE_NAME [OPTIONS]

Arguments: - TEMPLATE_NAME - Template to show integration examples for

Options: - --llm {fastmcp,claude,vscode,curl,python} - Show specific LLM integration example

Examples:

# Show all integration examples
mcpp connect demo

# Show specific integration
mcpp connect demo --llm claude

Configuration File Format¶

The configuration file is a JSON file that can be used with the create and deploy commands:

Template Configuration (for create command)¶

{
  "id": "my-template",
  "name": "My Template",
  "description": "A custom MCP server template",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "author": "Your Name",
  "category": "General",
  "tags": ["custom", "example"],
  "docker_image": "dataeverything/mcp-my-template",
  "docker_tag": "latest",
  "ports": {
    "8080": 8080
  },
  "command": ["python", "server.py"],
  "transport": {
    "default": "stdio",
    "supported": ["stdio", "http"],
    "port": 8080
  },
  "capabilities": [
    {
      "name": "my_tool",
      "description": "Description of the tool"
    }
  ],
  "config_schema": {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "api_key": {
        "type": "string",
        "description": "API key for authentication"
      }
    }
  }
}

Deployment Configuration (for deploy command)¶

{
  "template_id": "demo",
  "deployment_name": "my-demo-deployment",
  "config": {
    "api_key": "your-api-key",
    "debug": true
  },
  "backend": "docker",
  "pull_image": false
}

Environment Variables¶

MCP_PLATFORM_DEFAULT_BACKEND - Default deployment backend (docker, k8s, mock)
MCP_PLATFORM_CONFIG_PATH - Default configuration file path
DOCKER_HOST - Docker daemon host (for Docker backend)

Exit Codes¶

0 - Success
1 - General error
2 - Invalid argument or configuration
3 - Template not found
4 - Deployment error
5 - Backend not available