Getting started

This guide takes you from zero to calling your first MCP tool. It should take about 5 minutes.

Installing mcp

Homebrew (macOS and Linux):

brew install avelino/mcp/mcp

Pre-built binary:

Download the latest binary for your platform from GitHub Releases, make it executable, and move it to your $PATH:

chmod +x mcp-*
sudo mv mcp-* /usr/local/bin/mcp

Docker:

docker pull ghcr.io/avelino/mcp

To use it like a native command, create an alias:

alias mcp='docker run --rm -v ~/.config/mcp:/root/.config/mcp ghcr.io/avelino/mcp'

Add the alias to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.config/fish/config.fish) to make it permanent. If your servers need environment variables (API tokens, etc.), pass them with -e:

alias mcp='docker run --rm -v ~/.config/mcp:/root/.config/mcp -e GITHUB_TOKEN ghcr.io/avelino/mcp'

From source (requires Rust):

# Install Rust if needed: curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
cargo install --path .

Verify it works:

mcp --help

You should see:

mcp — CLI that turns MCP servers into terminal commands

Usage:
  mcp --list                          List configured servers
  mcp <server> --list                 List tools from a server
  mcp <server> --info                 List tools with input schemas
  mcp <server> <tool> [json]          Call a tool
  mcp search <query>                  Search MCP registry
  mcp add <name>                      Add server from registry
  mcp add --url <url> <name>          Add HTTP server manually
  mcp remove <name>                   Remove server from config

Adding your first server

The fastest way to get started is adding a server from the MCP registry. Let's add the filesystem server — it lets you read, write, and search files through MCP.

mcp add filesystem

You'll see something like:

✓ Server "filesystem" added to /home/you/.config/mcp/servers.json

Run to test:
  mcp filesystem --list

Listing available tools

Now see what tools the server provides:

mcp filesystem --list

Output:

[
  {
    "name": "read_file",
    "description": "Read the complete contents of a file"
  },
  {
    "name": "write_file",
    "description": "Create a new file or overwrite an existing file"
  },
  {
    "name": "list_directory",
    "description": "List directory contents"
  }
]

Calling a tool

Call a tool by passing its name and a JSON object with the arguments:

mcp filesystem read_file '{"path": "/etc/hostname"}'

Output:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "my-machine\n"
    }
  ]
}

That's it. You just called an MCP tool from your terminal.

What's next?

• Tutorial — Walk through more realistic examples: HTTP servers, authentication, piping, and scripting.

• Configuration — Learn the full config file format.

• Supported services — Setup guides for Sentry, Slack, Grafana, and more.