mcporter
Use when you need to access MCP servers without installing them directly in Claude Code. MCPorter provides CLI access to any MCP server via npx, enabling tool discovery, direct calls, and ad-hoc connections. Use for accessing external MCP capabilities like browser automation, API integrations, or any MCP-based tooling.
When & Why to Use This Skill
MCPorter is a powerful CLI utility and runtime designed for the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It enables developers to discover, inspect, and execute tools from any MCP server directly via the command line using npx, eliminating the need for manual installation. By providing a bridge for both stdio and HTTP-based servers, it simplifies the integration of external capabilities—such as browser automation and API services—into Claude Code and other agentic workflows, while offering advanced features like TypeScript code generation and daemon management.
Use Cases
- Ad-hoc Tool Execution: Quickly run and test MCP tools using npx without the overhead of permanent installation or complex configuration.
- Server Discovery & Schema Inspection: Automatically discover local MCP servers and inspect their full JSON schemas to understand required arguments and tool capabilities.
- Automated Testing & Scripting: Integrate MCP tool calls into CLI-based automation scripts or CI/CD pipelines to validate tool responses and behavior.
- TypeScript Development: Generate standalone CLI wrappers, TypeScript types, or client wrappers from existing MCP servers to accelerate the development of type-safe integrations.
- Remote & Dynamic Connections: Connect to remote HTTP MCP endpoints or launch ad-hoc stdio servers for immediate access to specialized tools like Chrome DevTools or Firecrawl.
| name | mcporter |
|---|---|
| description | Use when you need to access MCP servers without installing them directly in Claude Code. MCPorter provides CLI access to any MCP server via npx, enabling tool discovery, direct calls, and ad-hoc connections. Use for accessing external MCP capabilities like browser automation, API integrations, or any MCP-based tooling. |
<command name="List tools from a specific server">
npx mcporter list server_name
</command>
<command name="List tools with full JSON schema">
npx mcporter list server_name --schema
</command>
<command name="Call a tool (colon syntax)">
npx mcporter call server_name.tool_name arg1:value1 arg2:value2
</command>
<command name="Call a tool (function syntax)">
npx mcporter call 'server_name.tool_name(arg1: "value1", arg2: "value2")'
</command>
<command name="Ad-hoc connection to HTTP MCP server">
npx mcporter list --http-url https://mcp-server-url --name custom_name
</command>
<command name="Ad-hoc connection to stdio MCP server">
npx mcporter call --stdio "npx -y some-mcp-server@latest" server.tool_name
</command>
Access any MCP server without configuration using stdio or http flags
<pattern name="Run MCP server via npx and call tool">
npx mcporter call --stdio "npx -y mcp-server-name@latest" server.tool_name arg:value
</pattern>
<pattern name="Discover tools from npx MCP server">
npx mcporter list --stdio "npx -y mcp-server-name@latest" --name my_server
</pattern>
<pattern name="Connect to remote HTTP MCP endpoint">
npx mcporter call --http-url https://mcp.example.com/mcp server.tool_name
</pattern>
For stateful servers that need persistent connections (like Chrome DevTools)
npx mcporter daemon status
npx mcporter daemon start
npx mcporter daemon stop
npx mcporter generate-cli "npx -y some-mcp-server@latest"
<command name="Generate TypeScript types">
npx mcporter emit-ts server_name --out types/server.d.ts
</command>
<command name="Generate TypeScript client wrapper">
npx mcporter emit-ts server_name --mode client --out clients/server.ts
</command>
Results wrap in CallResult with helper methods
Plain text output
Markdown formatted output
Parsed JSON output
Raw content array
<flags>
<flag name="--json">Output as JSON</flag>
<flag name="--output json">Alternative JSON output flag</flag>
</flags>
npx mcporter call --stdio "npx -y chrome-devtools-mcp@latest" chrome-devtools.tool_name
Browser automation, screenshots, DOM inspection, console access
<server name="firecrawl">
<use_case>Web crawling and scraping</use_case>
</server>
<server name="linear">
<use_case>Linear issue tracking integration</use_case>
</server>
MCPorter provides "Did you mean...?" suggestions for typos
<issue name="Timeout errors">
<solution>Set MCPORTER_CALL_TIMEOUT environment variable</solution>
<solution>Use --timeout flag</solution>
</issue>
<issue name="Debug logging">
npx mcporter --log-level debug call server.tool
</issue>
Discover available servers: npx mcporter list
Inspect server tools: npx mcporter list server_name
View tool schema if needed: npx mcporter list server_name --schema
Call the tool: npx mcporter call server_name.tool_name args