MCP Server CLI

CLI commands for running PraisonAI as an MCP server

MCP Server CLI Commands

PraisonAI provides comprehensive CLI commands for running and managing MCP servers.

The MCP server host ships as the standalone praisonai-mcp package. Every praisonai mcp serve … example below also runs as praisonai-mcp serve … — both forms are equivalent for host commands. See The Three MCP Layers for how the host fits.

Primary Command

praisonai-mcp <subcommand> [options]   # standalone console script
praisonai mcp <subcommand> [options]   # equivalent (umbrella)

Subcommands

serve

Start the MCP server.

# STDIO transport (default, for Claude Desktop)
praisonai-mcp serve
praisonai mcp serve                 # equivalent

# HTTP Stream transport
praisonai-mcp serve --transport http-stream

# With all options
praisonai mcp serve \
  --transport http-stream \
  --host 127.0.0.1 \
  --port 8080 \
  --endpoint /mcp \
  --api-key YOUR_KEY \
  --name praisonai \
  --response-mode batch \
  --session-ttl 3600 \
  --log-level info

Options:

Option	Description	Default
--transport	stdio or http-stream	stdio
--host	Server host	127.0.0.1
--port	Server port	8080
--endpoint	MCP endpoint path	/mcp
--api-key	API key for authentication (single wildcard-scoped key)	None
--keys-file	JSON file of per-key scopes for least-privilege access	None
--name	Server name	praisonai
--response-mode	batch or stream	batch
--cors-origins	Comma-separated CORS origins	*
--allowed-origins	Comma-separated allowed origins	localhost
--session-ttl	Session TTL in seconds	3600
--no-termination	Disable client session termination	False
--resumability	Enable SSE resumability	True
--log-level	debug, info, warning, error	warning
--json	Output in JSON format	False
--debug	Enable debug mode	False

Use --keys-file for per-team, least-privilege scoped keys. See Scoped API keys for the JSON format, the operation→scope map, and the insufficient_scope response.

list-tools

List all available MCP tools.

praisonai mcp list-tools

Example Output:

Available MCP Tools (75):

  • praisonai.chat.completion
    Generate chat completion.

  • praisonai.agent.chat
    Chat with a PraisonAI agent.

  • praisonai.images.generate
    Generate images from text prompt.
  ...

list-resources

List all available MCP resources.

praisonai mcp list-resources

Example Output:

Available MCP Resources (7):

  • praisonai://memory/sessions
    List all memory sessions.

  • praisonai://workflows
    List available workflows in current directory.
  ...

list-prompts

List all available MCP prompts.

praisonai mcp list-prompts

Example Output:

Available MCP Prompts (7):

  • deep-research
    Generate a deep research prompt for comprehensive topic analysis

  • code-review
    Generate a code review prompt for analyzing code quality
  ...

config-generate

Generate client configuration for MCP clients.

# Claude Desktop config
praisonai mcp config-generate --client claude-desktop

# Cursor config
praisonai mcp config-generate --client cursor

# VSCode config
praisonai mcp config-generate --client vscode

# Windsurf config
praisonai mcp config-generate --client windsurf

# Save to file
praisonai mcp config-generate --client claude-desktop --output config.json

# HTTP Stream config
praisonai mcp config-generate --client claude-desktop --transport http-stream --port 8080

Options:

Option	Description	Default
--client	Client type	claude-desktop
--output	Output file path	stdout
--transport	Transport type	stdio
--host	Server host (for http-stream)	127.0.0.1
--port	Server port (for http-stream)	8080

doctor

Check MCP server health and configuration.

praisonai mcp doctor

Example Output:

PraisonAI MCP Server Health Check

Protocol Version: 2025-11-25
Supported Versions: 2025-11-25, 2025-03-26, 2024-11-05

Registered Components:
  • Tools: 75
  • Resources: 7
  • Prompts: 7

Environment:
  ✓ OPENAI_API_KEY
  ○ ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
  ○ GOOGLE_API_KEY

Dependencies:
  ✓ starlette
  ✓ uvicorn
  ✓ praisonaiagents

✓ MCP server is ready to run

Deprecated Commands

The following commands are deprecated and will be removed in a future version:

# DEPRECATED - use 'praisonai mcp serve' instead
praisonai serve mcp

# DEPRECATED - use 'praisonai mcp serve' instead
praisonai serve tools

These commands will show a deprecation warning and redirect to praisonai mcp serve.

Examples

Start STDIO Server for Claude Desktop

praisonai mcp serve --transport stdio

Start HTTP Server with Authentication

praisonai mcp serve \
  --transport http-stream \
  --port 8080 \
  --api-key mysecretkey

Start Server with Custom Origins

praisonai mcp serve \
  --transport http-stream \
  --allowed-origins "http://localhost:3000,https://myapp.com"

Generate and Apply Claude Desktop Config

# Generate config
praisonai mcp config-generate --client claude-desktop --output ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

# Or manually copy the output
praisonai mcp config-generate --client claude-desktop

Debug Mode

praisonai mcp serve --transport http-stream --debug --log-level debug

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
OPENAI_API_KEY	OpenAI API key for chat/image tools
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	Anthropic API key
GOOGLE_API_KEY	Google API key

Exit Codes

Code	Description
0	Success
1	Error

See Also

• PraisonAI MCP Server - Full MCP server documentation
• MCP Transports - Transport protocol details
• Custom MCP Server - Building custom MCP servers