arcade-mcp/libs/arcade-mcp-server/docs/api/cli.md

arcade mcp Command

The arcade mcp command is the recommended way to run MCP servers. It automatically discovers tools in your project, creates a server, and runs it with your chosen transport.

Installation

uv pip install arcade-mcp

The arcade-mcp package includes the CLI and the arcade-mcp-server library.

Command Line Options

usage: arcade mcp [-h] [--host HOST] [--port PORT]
                  [--tool-package PACKAGE] [--discover-installed]
                  [--show-packages] [--reload] [--debug]
                  [--env-file ENV_FILE] [--name NAME] [--version VERSION]
                  [--cwd CWD]
                  [transport]

Run Arcade MCP Server

positional arguments:
  transport             Transport type: stdio, http (default: http)

optional arguments:
  -h, --help           show this help message and exit
  --host HOST          Host to bind to (HTTP mode only, default: 127.0.0.1)
  --port PORT          Port to bind to (HTTP mode only, default: 8000)
  --tool-package PACKAGE, --package PACKAGE, -p PACKAGE
                       Specific tool package to load (e.g., 'github' for arcade-github)
  --discover-installed, --all
                       Discover all installed arcade tool packages
  --show-packages      Show loaded packages during discovery
  --reload             Enable auto-reload on code changes (HTTP mode only)
  --debug              Enable debug mode with verbose logging
  --env-file ENV_FILE  Path to environment file
  --name NAME          Server name
  --version VERSION    Server version
  --cwd CWD            Working directory to run from

Basic Usage

# Run HTTP server (default)
arcade mcp

# Run stdio server (for Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.)
arcade mcp stdio

# Run with debug logging
arcade mcp --debug

# Run with hot reload (development mode)
arcade mcp --reload --debug

Tool Discovery

The CLI discovers tools in three ways:

1. Auto-Discovery (Default)

Automatically finds Python files with @tool decorated functions in:

• Current directory (*.py)
• tools/ subdirectory
• arcade_tools/ subdirectory

Example file structure:

my_project/
├── hello.py          # Contains @tool functions
├── tools/
│   └── math.py      # More @tool functions
└── arcade_tools/
    └── utils.py     # Even more @tool functions

2. Package Loading

Load specific arcade packages installed in your environment:

# Load arcade-github package
arcade mcp --tool-package github

# Load custom package (tries arcade_ prefix first)
arcade mcp -p mycompany_tools

3. Discover All Installed

Find and load all arcade packages in your Python environment:

# Load all arcade packages
arcade mcp --discover-installed

# Show what's being loaded
arcade mcp --discover-installed --show-packages

Example Tool File

Create any Python file with @tool decorated functions:

from arcade_mcp_server import tool

@tool
def hello(name: str) -> str:
    """Say hello to someone."""
    return f"Hello, {name}!"

@tool
def add(a: int, b: int) -> int:
    """Add two numbers."""
    return a + b

Then run:

arcade mcp  # Auto-discovers and loads these tools

Alternative: Direct Python Usage

While we recommend using arcade mcp, you can also run the server module directly:

python -m arcade_mcp_server [options]

This provides the same functionality but without the benefits of the Arcade CLI ecosystem (like arcade configure for client setup).