ChatCLI <-> MCP Manager <-> MCP Server (stdio | sse | http)
                              |
                         External tools
                         (filesystem, search, DB, ...)

# stdio server (everything after -- is the server's command line)
chatcli mcp add filesystem -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/Documents
chatcli mcp add github --env GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxx -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-github

# remote servers (SSE / streamable HTTP)
chatcli mcp add --transport http notion https://mcp.notion.com/mcp
chatcli mcp add --transport sse asana https://mcp.asana.com/sse

# authenticated remote servers — raw header (Claude Code compatible)…
chatcli mcp add --transport sse private https://api.company.com/sse --header "X-API-Key: your-key"

# …or typed auth with the secret kept in the environment (expanded per request)
chatcli mcp add --transport http secure https://api.example.com/mcp --bearer '${MCP_TOKEN}'
chatcli mcp add --transport sse corp https://mcp.corp.com/sse --basic 'user:${LDAP_PASS}'
chatcli mcp add --transport sse api https://mcp.x.com/sse --auth-header 'X-API-Key: ${KEY}'

chatcli mcp list            # table of configured servers
chatcli mcp get <name>      # full JSON of one server
chatcli mcp remove <name>   # delete

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "filesystem",
      "transport": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-filesystem", "/workspace"],
      "enabled": true
    },
    {
      "name": "web-search",
      "transport": "sse",
      "url": "http://localhost:8080/sse",
      "enabled": true,
      "overrides": ["@webfetch", "@websearch"]
    },
    {
      "name": "database",
      "transport": "stdio",
      "command": "/usr/local/bin/mcp-postgres",
      "args": ["--connection-string", "postgresql://localhost/mydb"],
      "env": {
        "PGPASSWORD": "secret"
      },
      "enabled": true
    }
  ]
}

CHATCLI_MCP_ENABLED=true
CHATCLI_MCP_CONFIG=~/.chatcli/mcp_servers.json

chatcli server --mcp-config ~/.chatcli/mcp_servers.json

Original name: read_file
Name in ChatCLI: mcp_read_file
Description: [MCP:filesystem] Reads a file from the filesystem

MCP server "web-tools" CONNECTED + overrides: ["@webfetch", "@websearch"]
  LLM sees:       mcp_web_fetch, mcp_web_search, @coder, ...
  LLM does NOT see: @webfetch, @websearch  (hidden)

MCP server "web-tools" DISCONNECTED (crash, network, etc.)
  LLM sees:       @webfetch, @websearch, @coder, ...  (automatically restored)
  Log:            "MCP server 'web-tools' disconnected, restoring built-in overrides"

apiVersion: platform.chatcli.io/v1alpha1
kind: Instance
metadata:
  name: my-chatcli
spec:
  provider: CLAUDEAI
  model: claude-sonnet-4-6
  mcp:
    enabled: true
    servers:
      - name: filesystem
        transport: stdio
        command: npx
        args: ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-filesystem", "/workspace"]
        enabled: true
      - name: github
        transport: stdio
        command: npx
        args: ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-github"]
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: "ghp_xxxxx"
        enabled: true
      - name: remote-search
        transport: sse
        url: "http://mcp-search:8080/sse"
        enabled: true
        overrides: ["@webfetch", "@websearch"]  # hides built-ins when connected

spec:
  mcp:
    enabled: true
    existingConfigMap: "my-mcp-servers"

statuses := mcpMgr.GetServerStatus()
for _, s := range statuses {
    fmt.Printf("Server: %s, Connected: %v, Tools: %d\n",
        s.Name, s.Connected, s.ToolCount)
}

if mcpMgr.IsMCPTool("mcp_read_file") {
    result, err := mcpMgr.ExecuteTool(ctx, "read_file", args)
}

Prompt: "mcp_read_file: [MCP:filesystem] Reads a file from the filesystem"

Model: <tool_call name="@tools" args='{"cmd":"describe","args":{"name":"mcp_read_file"}}' />
→ returns server, description and full JSON Schema

Model invokes with args → real execution

🔌 MCP tool catalog updated (http-toolkit: +12/-0) — new tools are available to the agent

> /mcp status

╭── 🔌 MCP SERVERS
│  ● filesystem    connected     3 tools  (2m 15s)
│  ● web-search    connected     2 tools  (2m 15s)
│  ○ database      disconnected
│    ↳ start MCP server "mcp-postgres": exec: not found
│
│  Total: 3 servers, 5 tools available
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────

> /mcp logs filesystem

╭── 📜 MCP LOGS — filesystem
│  Server starting on /workspace
│  Loaded 12 file watchers
│  Tool list: read_file, write_file, list_dir
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────

{
  "name": "prom-alerts",
  "transport": "sse",
  "url": "https://prom-alerts.internal/sse",
  "enabled": true,
  "channels": ["alerts/critical", "alerts/error"]
}

{
  "rules": [
    {
      "name": "ci-investigator",
      "server": "ci-monitor",
      "channel": "ci-pipeline",
      "contentRegex": "(?i)fail|broken",
      "mode": "confirm",
      "prompt": "Investigate this CI failure: {{content}}",
      "rateLimit": "5m"
    }
  ]
}