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MCP (External Tool Servers)

codewhale can load additional tools via MCP (Model Context Protocol). MCP servers are local processes that the TUI starts and communicates with over stdio.

Browsing note:

  • web.run is the canonical built-in browsing tool.
  • web_search remains available as a compatibility alias for older prompts and integrations.

Server mode note:

  • codewhale-tui serve --mcp runs the MCP stdio server.
  • codewhale-tui serve --http runs the runtime HTTP/SSE API (separate mode).
  • The codewhale dispatcher exposes codewhale mcp-server as an equivalent stdio entrypoint used by the split CLI.

Bootstrap MCP Config

Create a starter MCP config at your resolved MCP path:

codewhale-tui mcp init

codewhale-tui setup --mcp performs the same MCP bootstrap alongside skills setup.

Common management commands:

codewhale-tui mcp list
codewhale-tui mcp tools [server]
codewhale-tui mcp add <name> --command "<cmd>" --arg "<arg>"
codewhale-tui mcp add <name> --url "http://localhost:3000/mcp"
codewhale-tui mcp enable <name>
codewhale-tui mcp disable <name>
codewhale-tui mcp remove <name>
codewhale-tui mcp validate

In-TUI Manager

Inside the interactive TUI, /mcp opens a compact manager for the resolved MCP config path. It shows each configured server, whether it is enabled or disabled, its transport, command or URL, timeout values, connection errors, and discovered tools/resources/prompts when discovery has been run.

Supported in-TUI actions:

/mcp init
/mcp init --force
/mcp add stdio <name> <command> [args...]
/mcp add http <name> <url>
/mcp enable <name>
/mcp disable <name>
/mcp remove <name>
/mcp validate
/mcp reload

/mcp validate and /mcp reload reconnect for UI discovery and refresh the manager snapshot. Config edits made from the TUI are written immediately, but the model-visible MCP tool pool is not hot-reloaded; the manager marks this as restart-required until the TUI is restarted.

Config File Location

Default path:

  • ~/.deepseek/mcp.json

Overrides:

  • Config: mcp_config_path = "/path/to/mcp.json"
  • Env: DEEPSEEK_MCP_CONFIG=/path/to/mcp.json

codewhale-tui mcp init (and codewhale-tui setup --mcp) writes to this resolved path.

The interactive /config editor also exposes mcp_config_path. Changing it in the TUI updates the path used by /mcp, and requires a restart before the model-visible MCP tool pool is rebuilt.

After editing the file or changing mcp_config_path, restart the TUI.

Tool Naming

Discovered MCP tools are exposed to the model as:

  • mcp_<server>_<tool>

Example: a server named git with a tool named status becomes mcp_git_status.

The command palette includes MCP entries grouped by server. It shows disabled and failed servers instead of hiding them, and uses the same runtime tool names shown to the model.

Resource and Prompt Helpers

The CLI also exposes helper tools when MCP is enabled:

  • list_mcp_resources (optional server filter)
  • list_mcp_resource_templates (optional server filter)
  • mcp_read_resource / read_mcp_resource (aliases)
  • mcp_get_prompt

Minimal Example

{
  "timeouts": {
    "connect_timeout": 10,
    "execute_timeout": 60,
    "read_timeout": 120
  },
  "servers": {
    "example": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["./path/to/your-mcp-server.js"],
      "env": {},
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}

You can also use mcpServers instead of servers for compatibility with other clients.

Running DeepSeek as an MCP Server

You can register your local DeepSeek binary as an MCP server so other DeepSeek sessions (or any MCP client) can call its tools.

Quick Setup

codewhale-tui mcp add-self

This resolves the current binary path, generates a config entry that runs codewhale-tui serve --mcp, and writes it to your MCP config file. The default server name is codewhale.

Options:

  • --name <NAME> — custom server name (default: codewhale)
  • --workspace <PATH> — workspace directory for the server

Manual Config

Equivalent manual entry in ~/.deepseek/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "codewhale": {
      "command": "/path/to/codewhale",
      "args": ["serve", "--mcp"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

The codewhale-tui binary supports serve --mcp directly. The codewhale dispatcher offers the equivalent codewhale mcp-server stdio entrypoint. Use whichever is on your PATH (run which codewhale or which codewhale-tui to find the full path). The mcp add-self command automatically resolves the correct binary.

Prerequisites

  • The binary referenced in command must exist and be executable.
  • The MCP server runs as a child process via stdio — no network ports required.
  • Each MCP client session spawns its own server process.

Tool Naming

Tools from a self-hosted DeepSeek server follow the standard naming convention:

  • mcp_deepseek_<tool> (if the server is named codewhale)

For example, the shell tool becomes mcp_deepseek_shell.

MCP Server vs HTTP/SSE API vs ACP

codewhale-tui serve --mcp codewhale-tui serve --http codewhale-tui serve --acp
Protocol MCP stdio HTTP/SSE JSON-RPC ACP stdio
Use case Tool server for MCP clients Runtime API for apps Editor agent for Zed/custom ACP clients
Config ~/.deepseek/mcp.json entry Direct URL connection Editor agent_servers custom command
Lifecycle Spawned per client session Long-running daemon Spawned per editor agent session

Use mcp add-self when you want DeepSeek tools available to other MCP clients. Use serve --http when building applications that consume the API directly. Use serve --acp when an editor wants to talk to DeepSeek as an ACP agent.

Verification

After adding, test the connection:

codewhale-tui mcp validate
codewhale-tui mcp tools codewhale

Server Fields

Per-server settings:

  • command (string, required)
  • args (array of strings, optional)
  • env (object, optional)
  • connect_timeout, execute_timeout, read_timeout (seconds, optional)
  • disabled (bool, optional)
  • enabled (bool, optional, default true)
  • required (bool, optional): startup/connect validation fails if this server cannot initialize.
  • enabled_tools (array, optional): allowlist of tool names for this server.
  • disabled_tools (array, optional): denylist applied after enabled_tools.

Safety Notes

MCP tools now flow through the same tool-approval framework as built-in tools. Read-only MCP helpers (resource/prompt listing and reads) can run without prompts in suggestive approval modes, while side-effectful MCP tools require approval.

You should still only configure MCP servers you trust, and treat MCP server configuration as equivalent to running code on your machine.

Troubleshooting

  • Run codewhale-tui doctor to confirm the MCP config path it resolved and whether it exists.
  • In the TUI, run /mcp validate to refresh the visible server/tool snapshot.
  • If the MCP config is missing, run codewhale-tui mcp init --force to regenerate it.
  • If tools don’t appear, verify the server command works from your shell and that the server supports MCP tools/list.