# Install mcphost with Homebrew, Nix, zypper CLI host for LLMs to interact with tools via MCP. Version 0.34.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:mcphost ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install mcphost ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#mcphost ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/mc/mcphost/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install mcphost ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: mcphost from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:mcphost - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.34.0 - **Source summary:** CLI host for LLMs to interact with tools via MCP - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - mcphost (cli) - mcphost (alias) ## Build dependencies - go ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.34.0 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/mark3labs/mcphost - Upstream latest detected: v0.34.0 (current) - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. ## Project history and usage MCPHost is a command-line host application that lets large language models use external tools through the Model Context Protocol. In package terms it is a local, installable MCP client/host: the user configures MCP servers once, chooses a model provider, and interacts with tools from a terminal. ### Project history The project was created publicly on GitHub in December 2024, soon after MCP became a common protocol for connecting tools to LLM clients. Its README describes MCPHost as a CLI that supports interactive chat, non-interactive prompts, YAML-based scripts, configurable MCP servers, hooks, multiple model providers, and multiple MCP transports. MCPHost's configuration story evolved around home-directory YAML or JSON files. The current README says it prefers `.mcphost.yml` or `.mcphost.json`, while retaining `.mcp.yml` and `.mcp.json` for backwards compatibility, which reflects the fast-moving naming conventions of early MCP tooling. ### Adoption history By July 2026, GitHub metadata showed about 1.6k stars and more than 200 forks, enough to make it one of the better-known standalone terminal hosts for MCP workflows. Its release history on GitHub starts with v0.4.3 in January 2025 and reaches v0.34.0 by February 2026. The project's adoption comes from users who want a model-and-tool terminal rather than a specific desktop app. The README documents providers such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Ollama, and OpenAI-compatible endpoints, which helped it fit mixed local and hosted model setups. ### How it is used A typical user installs `mcphost`, places MCP server definitions in `~/.mcphost.yml` or a compatible JSON/YAML file, and starts an interactive session with `mcphost`. The same binary can also run one-shot prompts with `-p`, choose models with `--model`, override provider URLs and API keys with flags, or execute script files with YAML front matter. For MCP configuration, the README documents local, remote, and builtin server types mapped to stdio, streamable HTTP, and in-process transports. It also supports environment-variable substitution in config files, which is the documented way to keep API keys out of committed configuration. ### Why package nerds care MCPHost is package-nerd interesting because it packages the host side of MCP as a single CLI rather than requiring a GUI client. That makes it useful in shell scripts, CI jobs, demos, and reproducible examples where a Homebrew or Nix install is easier to explain than editor-specific setup. Its backwards-compatible config filenames also show a common early-ecosystem pattern: tools stabilized around MCP names while retaining older generic `.mcp` files so existing users did not have to rewrite local setups. ### Timeline - 2024-12: GitHub repository created. - 2025-01: v0.4.3 release published. - 2025: README documents preferred `.mcphost` config files plus backwards-compatible `.mcp` config files. - 2026-02: v0.34.0 release published. ### Related projects - MCPHost is related to MCP server packages such as MCP Toolbox for Databases and to inspection/interaction tools such as mcptools. It also overlaps with MCP-aware coding clients and agent CLIs, but its niche is hosting model conversations and MCP servers directly from the terminal. ### Sources - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: ~/.mcphost.yml, ~/.mcphost.json, ~/.mcp.yml, ~/.mcp.json - Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.mcphost.yml, %USERPROFILE%\.mcphost.json, %USERPROFILE%\.mcp.yml, %USERPROFILE%\.mcp.json ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** mcphost - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - mcphost: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/mc/mcphost/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - zypper - mcphost - 0.34.0-8.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: mcphost from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | A CLI host application for the Model Context Protocol (MCP) | https://github.com/mark3labs/mcphost - zypper - mcphost-bash-completion - 0.34.0-8.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: mcphost-bash-completion from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Bash Completion for mcphost | https://github.com/mark3labs/mcphost - zypper - mcphost-fish-completion - 0.34.0-8.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: mcphost-fish-completion from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Fish Completion for mcphost | https://github.com/mark3labs/mcphost - zypper - mcphost-zsh-completion - 0.34.0-8.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: mcphost-zsh-completion from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | ZSH Completion for mcphost | https://github.com/mark3labs/mcphost ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [MCP tool packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/mcp-tools/) - Mentions MCP or Model Context Protocol. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [go](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/go/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [mcpm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mcpm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, ai-tools, cli, developer-tools, mcp. - [neo4j-mcp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/neo4j-mcp/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, ai-tools, cli, developer-tools, mcp. - [mcptools](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mcptools/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, cli, developer-tools, mcp. - [slack-mcp-server](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/slack-mcp-server/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, cli, developer-tools, mcp. - [context7-mcp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/context7-mcp/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, cli, developer-tools, llm, mcp. - [gitea-mcp-server](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gitea-mcp-server/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, ai-tools, cli, developer-tools, mcp. - [github-mcp-server](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/github-mcp-server/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, ai-tools, cli, developer-tools, mcp. - [hyper-mcp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/hyper-mcp/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, cli, developer-tools, mcp. - [mcp-atlassian](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mcp-atlassian/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: ai, ai-tools, cli, developer, developer-tools. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/mcphost.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/mcphost.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph