Modern CLI MCP Server

Documentation · Tools

MCP server exposing 107 modern CLI tools to AI/LLM agents. Provides structured JSON-RPC access to filesystem, Git forges, containers, Kubernetes, and data transformation tools—all optimized for AI consumption with JSON output.

Features

• 107 Tools in 15 Groups: Filesystem, search, Git (GitHub/GitLab), containers, Kubernetes, data processing
• AI-Optimized Output: JSON by default for structured parsing
• Access Control: .agentignore files to control which files AI agents can access
• Zero Config: Nix bundles all dependencies—no manual tool installation

Quick Start

Claude Desktop / Claude Code

Add to your MCP configuration:

Option 1: Nix (Recommended)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "modern-cli": {
      "command": "nix",
      "args": ["run", "github:NacoSolutions/modern-cli-mcp", "--"]
    }
  }
}

Option 2: Docker

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "modern-cli": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "ghcr.io/nacosolutions/modern-cli-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Option 3: Binary

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "modern-cli": {
      "command": "/path/to/modern-cli-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Available Tools (70+)

Filesystem

Tool	Description
eza	Modern ls with icons and git integration
bat	Cat with syntax highlighting
fd	Fast find alternative
duf	Disk usage viewer (JSON)
dust	Directory size analyzer
trash_*	Safe file deletion

Search

Tool	Description
rg	Ripgrep for fast content search (JSON)
fzf_filter	Fuzzy filtering
ast_grep	AST-based code search (JSON)
web_search	DuckDuckGo web search (JSON)

Git Forges

Tool	Description
gh_repo	GitHub repository operations (JSON)
gh_issue	GitHub issues (JSON)
gh_pr	GitHub pull requests (JSON)
gh_search	Search repos, issues, PRs, code (JSON)
gh_release	GitHub releases (JSON)
gh_workflow	GitHub Actions workflows (JSON)
gh_run	GitHub Actions runs (JSON)
gh_api	Direct GitHub API access (JSON)
glab_issue	GitLab issues (JSON)
glab_mr	GitLab merge requests (JSON)
glab_pipeline	GitLab CI/CD pipelines (JSON)

Containers

Tool	Description
podman	Container operations (JSON)
dive	Image layer analysis
skopeo	Registry operations (JSON)
crane	Low-level registry tool (JSON)
trivy	Security vulnerability scanner (JSON)

Kubernetes

Tool	Description
kubectl_get	Get resources (JSON)
kubectl_describe	Describe resources
kubectl_logs	Pod logs
kubectl_apply	Apply manifests
kubectl_delete	Delete resources
kubectl_exec	Execute in pods
stern	Multi-pod log aggregation (JSON)
helm	Chart management (JSON)
kustomize	Manifest building

Data Transformation

Tool	Description
jq	JSON processor
yq	YAML/JSON/XML processor
gron	JSON→greppable format
htmlq	jq for HTML
pup	HTML parser (JSON)
miller	Multi-format processor
dasel	Universal data selector

Network

Tool	Description
http	HTTP requests (xh)
dns	DNS lookups (doggo)
usql	Universal SQL client

System

Tool	Description
procs	Process viewer (JSON)
tokei	Code statistics (JSON)
hyperfine	Benchmarking (JSON)

Diff/Git

Tool	Description
delta	Syntax-highlighted diffs
difft	Structural diff
git_diff	Git diff with highlighting

Utilities

Tool	Description
tldr	Command cheatsheets
grex	Regex generator
ouch_*	Archive handling
pueue_*	Task queue

Installation

Nix with Flakes (Recommended)

Flakes are enabled by default in Determinate Nix. For standard Nix, enable with --experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' or add to ~/.config/nix/nix.conf:

experimental-features = nix-command flakes

Run directly (no installation):

nix run github:NacoSolutions/modern-cli-mcp

Install to profile:

nix profile install github:NacoSolutions/modern-cli-mcp

Add to flake.nix:

{
  inputs.modern-cli-mcp.url = "github:NacoSolutions/modern-cli-mcp";

  # Use in outputs
  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, modern-cli-mcp }: {
    # Add to packages, devShells, etc.
  };
}

Nix with FlakeHub

FlakeHub provides versioned flake references with semantic versioning.

Add to flake.nix via CLI:

fh add NacoSolutions/modern-cli-mcp

Or manually:

{
  inputs.modern-cli-mcp.url = "https://flakehub.com/f/NacoSolutions/modern-cli-mcp/*.tar.gz";
}

Run specific version:

nix run "https://flakehub.com/f/NacoSolutions/modern-cli-mcp/0.2.tar.gz"

Nix without Flakes (Classic)

For Nix installations without flakes enabled, the repository includes a default.nix via flake-compat:

Build from tarball:

nix-build https://github.com/NacoSolutions/modern-cli-mcp/archive/main.tar.gz -A defaultNix.default
./result/bin/modern-cli-mcp

Or clone and build locally:

git clone https://github.com/NacoSolutions/modern-cli-mcp
cd modern-cli-mcp
nix-build
./result/bin/modern-cli-mcp

Install to profile:

nix-env -if https://github.com/NacoSolutions/modern-cli-mcp/archive/main.tar.gz -A defaultNix.default

Docker

docker pull ghcr.io/nacosolutions/modern-cli-mcp
docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/nacosolutions/modern-cli-mcp

From Source (Cargo)

Requires CLI tools to be installed separately in PATH:

cargo install --git https://github.com/NacoSolutions/modern-cli-mcp

Development

With Nix (Recommended)

# Enter dev shell
nix develop

# Available commands (run 'menu' for full list)
build         # Build release binary
run           # Run the server
test          # Run tests
check         # Cargo check
clippy        # Lint with clippy
fmt           # Format code
flake-check   # Nix flake checks

Without Nix

# Requires Rust toolchain and CLI tools installed separately
cargo build --release
cargo run
cargo test

Architecture

src/
├── main.rs           # Entry point, MCP server setup
└── tools/
    ├── mod.rs        # Tool registration and routing
    └── executor.rs   # Tool execution logic

The server wraps CLI tools with structured JSON input/output. Each tool:

1. Validates parameters via JSON Schema
2. Constructs the appropriate command
3. Executes and captures output
4. Returns structured results

Configuration

The Nix package bundles all CLI tools. When running via cargo, ensure tools are in PATH.

Environment Variables

• RUST_LOG - Logging level (default: info)

.agentignore

Control which files AI agents can access using .agentignore files. Uses gitignore syntax but operates independently—tools respect .agentignore only, not .gitignore.

Pattern sources (in order of precedence):

1. ~/.config/agent/ignore - Global patterns for all projects
2. .agentignore - Per-directory patterns (walked up from working directory)

Example .agentignore:

# Secrets and credentials
*.secret
.env*
secrets/
credentials.json

# Large generated files
node_modules/
target/
*.min.js

# Sensitive data
*.pem
*.key

Behavior:

• Blocked paths return an error: Path is blocked by .agentignore: /path/to/file
• Search tools (fd, rg, ast-grep) automatically apply ignore patterns
• Patterns in child directories extend (not replace) parent patterns

License

MIT