MCP Command [EXPERIMENT]

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) command allows you to start an MCP server that exposes Cycode's scanning capabilities to AI systems and applications. This enables AI models to interact with Cycode CLI tools via a standardized protocol.

Starting the MCP Server

To start the MCP server, use the following command:

cycode mcp

By default, this starts the server using the stdio transport, which is suitable for local integrations and AI applications that can spawn subprocesses.

Available Options

Option	Description
-t, --transport	Transport type for the MCP server: stdio, sse, or streamable-http (default: stdio)
-H, --host	Host address to bind the server (used only for non stdio transport) (default: 127.0.0.1)
-p, --port	Port number to bind the server (used only for non stdio transport) (default: 8000)
--help	Show help message and available options

MCP Tools

The MCP server provides the following tools that AI systems can use:

Tool Name	Description
cycode_secret_scan	Scan files for hardcoded secrets
cycode_sca_scan	Scan files for Software Composition Analysis (SCA) - vulnerabilities and license issues
cycode_iac_scan	Scan files for Infrastructure as Code (IaC) misconfigurations
cycode_sast_scan	Scan files for Static Application Security Testing (SAST) - code quality and security flaws
cycode_status	Get Cycode CLI version, authentication status, and configuration information

Usage Examples

Basic Command Examples

Start the MCP server with default settings (stdio transport):

cycode mcp

Start the MCP server with explicit stdio transport:

cycode mcp -t stdio

Start the MCP server with Server-Sent Events (SSE) transport:

cycode mcp -t sse -p 8080

Start the MCP server with streamable HTTP transport on custom host and port:

cycode mcp -t streamable-http -H 0.0.0.0 -p 9000

Learn more about MCP Transport types in the MCP Protocol Specification – Transports.

Configuration Examples

Using MCP with Cursor/VS Code/Claude Desktop/etc (mcp.json)

Follow this guide to configure the MCP server in your VS Code/GitHub Copilot. Keep in mind that in settings.json, there is an mcp object containing a nested servers sub-object, rather than a standalone mcpServers object.

For stdio transport (direct execution):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cycode": {
      "command": "cycode",
      "args": ["mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CYCODE_CLIENT_ID": "your-cycode-id",
        "CYCODE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-cycode-secret-key",
        "CYCODE_API_URL": "https://api.cycode.com",
        "CYCODE_APP_URL": "https://app.cycode.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

For stdio transport with pipx installation:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cycode": {
      "command": "pipx",
      "args": ["run", "cycode", "mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CYCODE_CLIENT_ID": "your-cycode-id",
        "CYCODE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-cycode-secret-key",
        "CYCODE_API_URL": "https://api.cycode.com",
        "CYCODE_APP_URL": "https://app.cycode.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

For stdio transport with uvx installation:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cycode": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["cycode", "mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CYCODE_CLIENT_ID": "your-cycode-id",
        "CYCODE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-cycode-secret-key",
        "CYCODE_API_URL": "https://api.cycode.com",
        "CYCODE_APP_URL": "https://app.cycode.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

For SSE transport (Server-Sent Events):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cycode": {
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8000/sse"
    }
  }
}

For SSE transport on custom port:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cycode": {
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8080/sse"
    }
  }
}

For streamable HTTP transport:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cycode": {
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Running MCP Server in Background

For SSE transport (start server first, then configure client):

# Start the MCP server in the background
cycode mcp -t sse -p 8000 &

# Configure in mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cycode": {
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8000/sse"
    }
  }
}

For streamable HTTP transport:

# Start the MCP server in the background
cycode mcp -t streamable-http -H 127.0.0.2 -p 9000 &

# Configure in mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cycode": {
      "url": "http://127.0.0.2:9000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting MCP

If you encounter issues with the MCP server, you can enable debug logging to get more detailed information about what's happening. There are two ways to enable debug logging:

1. Using the -v or --verbose flag:

cycode -v mcp

2. Using the CYCODE_CLI_VERBOSE environment variable:

CYCODE_CLI_VERBOSE=1 cycode mcp

The debug logs will show detailed information about:

• Server startup and configuration
• Connection attempts and status
• Tool execution and results
• Any errors or warnings that occur

This information can be helpful when:

• Diagnosing connection issues
• Understanding why certain tools aren't working
• Identifying authentication problems
• Debugging transport-specific issues