Umbraco MCP Server — CLI Guide

This MCP server runs as a CLI tool. The CLI handles authentication and configuration, then exposes tools that talk directly to the Umbraco Management API.

Detecting the CLI Command

Determine the CLI command in a single check:

# One command to detect context — check for local build AND .env together
ls dist/index.js .env 2>/dev/null

• If dist/index.js exists: use node dist/index.js
• Otherwise: use npx @umbraco-cms/mcp-dev@latest

All examples below use <cli> as a placeholder — substitute the correct command.

Quick Reference

# List all tools
<cli> --list-tools

# Describe a specific tool's schema
<cli> --describe-tool <tool-name>

# Call a tool directly (requires auth via .env)
<cli> --call <tool-name> --call-args '{"key":"value"}'

# Generate context documentation
<cli> --generate-context > CONTEXT.md

# Debug resolved configuration
<cli> --debug-config

Authentication

Never pass secrets as CLI arguments. Use a .env file.

Create a .env file:

UMBRACO_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
UMBRACO_CLIENT_SECRET=your-secret
UMBRACO_BASE_URL=https://localhost:44391

Introspection commands (--list-tools, --describe-tool, --generate-context) do not require auth.

Tool Filtering

Available slices: read, list, create, update, delete, search, tree, publish, move, copy.

Exclude takes precedence over include. Filters combine.

Runtime Modes

Readonly mode

<cli> --umbraco-readonly

Mutation tools are completely removed — the LLM won't see them at all.

Dry-run mode

<cli> --umbraco-dry-run

Read tools execute normally. Mutation tools return a preview without calling the API.

Introspection Commands

These print output and exit immediately — they do not start the MCP server.

Introspection respects all filtering. --list-tools with UMBRACO_READONLY=true shows exactly what the LLM would see.

Efficient CLI Usage

Every CLI call costs time and tokens. The CLI has built-in filtering so you don't need to fetch everything and grep locally. Follow these principles:

1. Filter server-side, not locally. Instead of --list-tools | grep document, use the filtering flags:

# Bad — fetches all tools then filters locally
<cli> --list-tools | grep document

# Good — server returns only what you need
<cli> --list-tools --umbraco-include-tool-collections document

You can combine filters to narrow further:

<cli> --list-tools --umbraco-include-tool-collections document --umbraco-include-slices read,search

2. Use search tools before tree traversal. When looking for a specific item by name, prefer search-document over walking the tree with get-document-root → get-document-by-id. Search is one call instead of two.

3. Batch independent shell commands. Combine checks that don't depend on each other:

# Bad — two separate calls
ls dist/index.js
ls .env

# Good — one call
ls dist/index.js .env 2>/dev/null

4. Use `--describe-tool` before guessing parameters. If you're unsure what a tool accepts, describe it first rather than making a call that might fail.

For more workflow examples, read references/workflow-patterns.md.

Input Sanitization

The SDK validates all string inputs before tool handlers run:

• Rejects control characters, path traversal (../), embedded query params, percent-encoded strings
• Validates UUID format where expected
• Returns clear error messages for agent self-correction