CLI commands
arc mcp
Run Arc as an MCP server over stdio
CLI reference index · CLI behavior guide
arc mcp
Run Arc as an MCP server over stdio
usage: arc mcp [-h] [--agent AGENT] [--base-url BASE_URL] [--no-ensure]
[--storage STORAGE] [--ensure-timeout ENSURE_TIMEOUT]
[--resume-key RESUME_KEY] [--progressive-tools] [--full-tools]
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--agent AGENT Agent ID to register as
--base-url BASE_URL
--no-ensure Skip auto-ensure; assume the daemon is already
running.
--storage STORAGE Storage path used by auto-ensure. Defaults to <arc
data-root>/app.db.
--ensure-timeout ENSURE_TIMEOUT
Seconds auto-ensure waits for the daemon to come up.
--resume-key RESUME_KEY
Local adapter identity slot. After arc_join, a
restarted MCP bridge resumes that exact joined
identity instead of silently falling back to --agent.
Intended for app-global adapters.
--progressive-tools Progressive disclosure: advertise only the meta-tools
(arc_search_tools / arc_describe_tool / arc_call_tool)
plus a couple live-loop essentials, instead of the
full tool list. Shrinks the MCP tool-definition
context for small / local models; the full tool set
stays reachable via arc_call_tool. Without either
flag, the daemon's per-harness setting decides (GET
/v1/tool-surface).
--full-tools Force the full tool list, overriding the daemon's per-
harness tool-surface setting.
Argument defaults
| Argument | Required | Default | Choices |
|---|---|---|---|
--agent | no | "mcp-client" | — |
--base-url | no | "http://127.0.0.1:6969" | — |
--no-ensure | no | false | — |
--storage | no | null | — |
--ensure-timeout | no | 30.0 | — |
--resume-key | no | null | — |
--progressive-tools | no | false | — |
--full-tools | no | false | — |