Transform any Cobra CLI into an MCP server

Ophis automatically converts your Cobra commands into MCP tools with CLI commands for integration with Claude Desktop and VSCode.

go get github.com/njayp/ophis

package main

import (
    "os"
    "github.com/njayp/ophis"
)

func main() {
    rootCmd := createMyRootCommand()
    rootCmd.AddCommand(ophis.Command(nil))

    if err := rootCmd.Execute(); err != nil {
        os.Exit(1)
    }
}

# Claude Desktop
./my-cli mcp claude enable
# Restart Claude Desktop

# VSCode (requires Copilot in Agent Mode)
./my-cli mcp vscode enable

Your CLI commands are now available as MCP tools!

The ophis.Command(nil) adds these subcommands to your CLI:

mcp
├── start            # Start MCP server on stdio
├── tools            # Export available MCP tools as JSON
├── claude
│   ├── enable       # Add server to Claude Desktop config
│   ├── disable      # Remove server from Claude Desktop config
│   └── list         # List Claude Desktop MCP servers
└── vscode
    ├── enable       # Add server to VSCode config
    ├── disable      # Remove server from VSCode config
    └── list         # List VSCode MCP servers

Control which commands and flags are exposed as MCP tools using selectors. By default, all commands and flags are exposed (except hidden/deprecated).

config := &ophis.Config{
    Selectors: []ophis.Selector{
        {
            CmdSelector: ophis.AllowCmdsContaining("get", "list"),
            LocalFlagSelector: ophis.ExcludeFlags("token", "secret"),
            InheritedFlagSelector: ophis.NoFlags,  // Exclude persistent flags
        },
    },
}

rootCmd.AddCommand(ophis.Command(config))

See docs/config.md for detailed configuration options.

Ophis bridges Cobra commands and the Model Context Protocol:

1. Command Discovery: Recursively walks your Cobra command tree
2. Schema Generation: Creates JSON schemas from command flags and arguments (docs/schema.md)
3. Tool Execution: Spawns your CLI as a subprocess and captures output (docs/execution.md)

Build all examples:

make build

Example projects using Ophis:

• kubectl
• helm
• argocd
• make

Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md.