MCP Launchpad

MCP Launchpad

A lightweight CLI for discovering and executing tools from multiple MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers.

Installation

Prerequisite: uv - Python package and environment manager

uv tool install https://github.com/kenneth-liao/mcp-launchpad.git

Verify it works:

mcpl --help

Quick Reference

# Find tools
mcpl search "<query>"                    # Search all tools (returns 5 by default)
mcpl search "<query>" --limit 10         # Get more results
mcpl list                                # List all MCP servers
mcpl list <server>                       # List tools for a server

# Get tool details
mcpl inspect <server> <tool>             # Full schema
mcpl inspect <server> <tool> --example   # Schema + example call

# Execute tools
mcpl call <server> <tool> '{}'                        # No arguments
mcpl call <server> <tool> '{"param": "value"}'        # With arguments

# Troubleshooting
mcpl verify                              # Test all server connections
mcpl session status                      # Check daemon status
mcpl session stop                        # Restart daemon (auto-restarts on next call)

Configuration

Create mcp.json in your project directory (or ~/.claude/mcp.json for global config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-filesystem", "/path/to/allowed/dir"]
    }
  }
}

Validate with mcpl list. If you don't see your servers, restart your terminal and run mcpl list --refresh.

Adding More Servers

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-filesystem", "/path/to/dir"]
    },
    "github": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment variables use ${VAR} syntax and are loaded from ~/.claude/.env and ./.env.

Config Discovery

MCP Launchpad searches for config files in this order:

1. ./mcp.json - Project-level config
2. ./.claude/mcp.json - Project-level Claude config
3. ~/.claude/mcp.json - User-level config

When multiple config files are found, mcpl prompts you to select which ones to use. Your preferences are saved and can be changed later with mcpl config files --select.

Agent Integration

MCP Launchpad works with any AI agent that can run bash commands (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.).

Copy the root CLAUDE.md contents into your own CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md to teach your agent how to use mcpl. This can be done at the project level (./CLAUDE.md) or user level (~/.claude/CLAUDE.md).

Important: OAuth Authentication

Agents cannot complete OAuth flows because they require browser interaction. You must authenticate all OAuth-protected MCP servers before agents can use them:

mcpl auth login <server>    # Authenticate a specific server
mcpl list --refresh         # Prompts to authenticate each server that requires OAuth
mcpl auth status            # Verify all servers are authenticated

Tip: Add a section to your CLAUDE.md listing your connected MCP servers for better tool discovery.

What This Enables

With the instructions in place, your agent can:

• Search for tools across all your MCP servers
• Execute tools by calling mcpl via bash
• Discover capabilities dynamically as you add new MCP servers
• Handle errors gracefully with built-in troubleshooting guidance

Table of Contents

• Commands
• Session Daemon
• Advanced Topics
  • HTTP Server Configuration
  • SSE Transport Configuration
  • OAuth Authentication
  • Environment Variables
• Platform Notes
• Development

Commands

mcpl search <query>

Search for tools across all configured servers. Returns 5 results by default.

mcpl search "sentry errors"
mcpl search "issues" --limit 10   # Get more results

mcpl list [server]

List configured servers or tools for a specific server.

mcpl list           # List all servers
mcpl list github    # List tools for github server

mcpl call <server> <tool> [arguments]

Execute a tool on a server.

mcpl call github list_issues '{"owner": "acme", "repo": "api"}'

mcpl inspect <server> <tool>

Get the full schema for a specific tool.

mcpl inspect github list_issues --example   # Include example call

mcpl session status|stop

Manage the session daemon.

mcpl session status   # Show daemon status and connected servers
mcpl session stop     # Stop the session daemon

mcpl auth login|logout|status

Manage OAuth 2.1 authentication for HTTP servers.

mcpl auth login notion    # Authenticate with an OAuth-protected server
mcpl auth logout notion   # Remove stored authentication
mcpl auth logout --all    # Clear all stored tokens
mcpl auth status          # Show authentication status for all servers

mcpl enable|disable <server>

Enable or disable servers without modifying the config file.

mcpl disable slow-server    # Temporarily disable a server
mcpl enable slow-server     # Re-enable it

mcpl config

Show the current configuration and loaded servers.

mcpl config

mcpl config files

Manage which config files are active when multiple are available.

mcpl config files                    # View config files and their status
mcpl config files --select           # Interactive selection prompt
mcpl config files --activate 1       # Activate config by number
mcpl config files --deactivate 2     # Deactivate config by number
mcpl config files --all              # Activate all discovered configs
mcpl config files --reset            # Clear preferences (re-prompts on next run)

mcpl verify

Test that all configured servers can connect and respond.

mcpl verify

JSON Mode

Add --json for machine-readable output:

mcpl --json search "github"
mcpl --json call github list_repos '{}'

Session Daemon

MCP Launchpad uses a session daemon to maintain persistent connections to MCP servers, improving performance for repeated calls. The daemon starts automatically on first mcpl call.

Automatic Cleanup

Troubleshooting

mcpl session status                         # Check daemon status
mcpl session stop                           # Stop the daemon manually
mcpl call github list_repos '{}' --no-daemon  # Bypass daemon for debugging

If you encounter persistent issues, stopping and restarting the daemon usually resolves them.

Advanced Topics

HTTP Server Configuration

HTTP servers connect to remote MCP endpoints over HTTP.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "remote-api": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.example.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${API_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}

For OAuth-protected servers, see OAuth Authentication.

SSE Transport Configuration

Some legacy MCP servers use Server-Sent Events (SSE) instead of the newer Streamable HTTP transport:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "legacy-server": {
      "type": "sse",
      "url": "https://legacy.example.com/sse",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${API_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: SSE transport is provided for compatibility with older MCP servers. New servers should use standard HTTP transport.

OAuth Authentication

Some remote MCP servers (like Notion, Figma, and other cloud services) require OAuth authentication. MCP Launchpad handles this securely using OAuth 2.1 with PKCE.

Quick Start

When you connect to a server that requires authentication, mcpl will prompt you:

$ mcpl list notion --refresh
Server 'notion' requires OAuth authentication.
Would you like to authenticate now? [Y/n]

Or authenticate proactively:

mcpl auth login notion

This opens your browser for authorization. After you approve, tokens are stored securely.

Commands

Configuration

For servers that require pre-registered OAuth credentials:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "notion": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.notion.com/mcp",
      "oauth_client_id": "${NOTION_CLIENT_ID}",
      "oauth_client_secret": "${NOTION_CLIENT_SECRET}",
      "oauth_scopes": ["read", "write"]
    }
  }
}

Tokens are encrypted and stored locally in ~/.cache/mcp-launchpad/oauth/ using your system's keyring.

Troubleshooting

mcpl auth login notion                     # Basic authentication
mcpl auth login figma --scope "read write" # Request specific scopes
mcpl auth login custom --force             # Re-authenticate (replace existing tokens)
mcpl auth login server --client-id "id"    # Specific client ID

# Secure secret input (recommended)
echo "secret" | mcpl auth login server --client-secret-stdin

# Or via environment variable
export MCPL_CLIENT_SECRET="secret"

Environment Variables

Common settings you may need to configure:

Platform Notes

Windows (Experimental)

Windows support uses named pipes for IPC communication. While functional, it may have limitations compared to Unix sockets on macOS/Linux.

If you encounter issues:

1. Use --no-daemon flag to bypass the session daemon
2. Set MCPL_SESSION_ID explicitly if session detection is unreliable
3. Report issues at https://github.com/kenneth-liao/mcp-launchpad/issues

Development

Requires Python 3.13+

git clone https://github.com/kenneth-liao/mcp-launchpad.git
cd mcp-launchpad
uv sync --all-extras

# Run tests
uv run pytest

# Run tests with coverage
uv run pytest --cov=mcp_launchpad

# Type checking
uv run mypy mcp_launchpad

Features

• Unified Tool Discovery - Search across all configured MCP servers with BM25, regex, or exact matching
• Persistent Connections - Session daemon maintains server connections for faster repeated calls
• HTTP & Stdio Support - Connect to both local process-based servers and remote HTTP/Streamable MCP servers
• SSE Transport Support - Connect to legacy MCP servers using Server-Sent Events
• Multi-Config Management - Use multiple config files simultaneously with interactive selection
• OAuth 2.1 Authentication - Secure authentication for OAuth-protected MCP servers (Notion, Figma, etc.)
• Auto-Configuration - Reads from ./mcp.json (project-level) or ~/.claude/mcp.json (user-level)
• Cross-Platform - Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows (experimental)
• JSON Mode - Machine-readable output for scripting and automation

License

MIT