mcp-management

MCP is an open protocol enabling AI agents to connect to external tools and data sources. This skill provides scripts and utilities to discover, analyze, and execute MCP capabilities from configured servers without polluting the main context window.

Key Benefits:

• Progressive disclosure of MCP capabilities (load only what's needed)
• Intelligent tool/prompt/resource selection based on task requirements
• Multi-server management from single config file
• Context-efficient: subagents handle MCP discovery and execution
• Persistent tool catalog: automatically saves discovered tools to JSON for fast reference

Use this skill when:

1. Discovering MCP Capabilities: Need to list available tools/prompts/resources from configured servers
2. Task-Based Tool Selection: Analyzing which MCP tools are relevant for a specific task
3. Executing MCP Tools: Calling MCP tools programmatically with proper parameter handling
4. MCP Integration: Building or debugging MCP client implementations
5. Context Management: Avoiding context pollution by delegating MCP operations to subagents

1. Configuration Management

MCP servers configured in .claude/.mcp.json.

Gemini CLI Integration (recommended): Create symlink to .gemini/settings.json:

```bash

mkdir -p .gemini && ln -sf .claude/.mcp.json .gemini/settings.json

```

See [references/configuration.md](references/configuration.md) and [references/gemini-cli-integration.md](references/gemini-cli-integration.md).

2. Capability Discovery

```bash

npx tsx scripts/cli.ts list-tools # Saves to assets/tools.json

npx tsx scripts/cli.ts list-prompts

npx tsx scripts/cli.ts list-resources

```

Aggregates capabilities from multiple servers with server identification.

3. Intelligent Tool Analysis

LLM analyzes assets/tools.json directly - better than keyword matching algorithms.

4. Tool Execution

Primary: Gemini CLI (if available)

```bash

gemini -y -m gemini-2.5-flash -p "Take a screenshot of https://example.com"

```

Secondary: Direct Scripts

```bash

npx tsx scripts/cli.ts call-tool memory create_entities '{"entities":[...]}'

```

Fallback: mcp-manager Subagent

See [references/gemini-cli-integration.md](references/gemini-cli-integration.md) for complete examples.

Pattern 1: Gemini CLI Auto-Execution (Primary)

Use Gemini CLI for automatic tool discovery and execution. See [references/gemini-cli-integration.md](references/gemini-cli-integration.md) for complete guide.

Quick Example:

```bash

gemini -y -m gemini-2.5-flash -p "Take a screenshot of https://example.com"

```

Benefits: Automatic tool discovery, natural language execution, faster than subagent orchestration.

Pattern 2: Subagent-Based Execution (Fallback)

Use mcp-manager agent when Gemini CLI unavailable. Subagent discovers tools, selects relevant ones, executes tasks, reports back.

Benefit: Main context stays clean, only relevant tool definitions loaded when needed.

Pattern 3: LLM-Driven Tool Selection

LLM reads assets/tools.json, intelligently selects relevant tools using context understanding, synonyms, and intent recognition.

Pattern 4: Multi-Server Orchestration

Coordinate tools across multiple servers. Each tool knows its source server for proper routing.

scripts/mcp-client.ts

Core MCP client manager class. Handles:

• Config loading from .claude/.mcp.json
• Connecting to multiple MCP servers
• Listing tools/prompts/resources across all servers
• Executing tools with proper error handling
• Connection lifecycle management

scripts/cli.ts

Command-line interface for MCP operations. Commands:

• list-tools - Display all tools and save to assets/tools.json
• list-prompts - Display all prompts
• list-resources - Display all resources
• call-tool - Execute a tool

Note: list-tools persists complete tool catalog to assets/tools.json with full schemas for fast reference, offline browsing, and version control.

Method 1: Gemini CLI (recommended)

```bash

npm install -g gemini-cli

mkdir -p .gemini && ln -sf .claude/.mcp.json .gemini/settings.json

gemini -y -m gemini-2.5-flash -p "Take a screenshot of https://example.com"

```

Method 2: Scripts

```bash

cd .claude/skills/mcp-management/scripts && npm install

npx tsx cli.ts list-tools # Saves to assets/tools.json

npx tsx cli.ts call-tool memory create_entities '{"entities":[...]}'

```

Method 3: mcp-manager Subagent

See [references/gemini-cli-integration.md](references/gemini-cli-integration.md) for complete guide.

See [references/mcp-protocol.md](references/mcp-protocol.md) for:

• JSON-RPC protocol details
• Message types and formats
• Error codes and handling
• Transport mechanisms (stdio, HTTP+SSE)
• Best practices

Execution Priority

1. Gemini CLI (Primary): Fast, automatic, intelligent tool selection

- Check: command -v gemini

- Execute: gemini -y -m gemini-2.5-flash -p ""

- Best for: All tasks when available

1. Direct CLI Scripts (Secondary): Manual tool specification

- Use when: Need specific tool/server control

- Execute: npx tsx scripts/cli.ts call-tool

1. mcp-manager Subagent (Fallback): Context-efficient delegation

- Use when: Gemini unavailable or failed

- Keeps main context clean

Integration with Agents

The mcp-manager agent uses this skill to:

• Check Gemini CLI availability first
• Execute via gemini command if available
• Fallback to direct script execution
• Discover MCP capabilities without loading into main context
• Report results back to main agent

This keeps main agent context clean and enables efficient MCP integration.