❯ mcptocli

Background Mode

Local MCP servers are normally started on every command and shut down after. For repeated use, keep the server running in the background.

Single-client mode

mcp time up
mcp time get-current-time 'America/New_York'   # instant
mcp time get-current-time 'Europe/London'       # instant
mcp time down

The server runs via stdio in the background. One client at a time, lowest latency.

Shared mode

mcp time up --share

This starts the server in HTTP mode on a local port. Multiple clients can connect to the same server simultaneously:

  • Another terminal running mcp time ...
  • Claude Desktop
  • A notebook
  • Any MCP client that speaks HTTP
mcp time get-current-time 'America/New_York'   # auto-detects the running server
mcp time down                                   # stop when done

Tip: Shared mode is ideal when you want one persistent server session shared across tools — for example, a database server where you want to keep the connection alive.

Checking status

mcp ls
time (up)  uvx mcp-server-time
notion     https://mcp.notion.com/mcp

Servers that are running show (up) in the listing.