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Start the Builder MCP server and speak the JSON-RPC stdio transport defined by the Model Context Protocol. This page covers the synopsis, how to register the server with Claude Desktop, the tools the server exposes, and the security boundary you take on by enabling it.

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Synopsis

gavai mcp

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Subcommands

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Flags

Run gavai mcp --help for the authoritative flag list. The CLI is the source of truth.

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Behavior

gavai mcp is designed to be spawned by an MCP host — Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, or any other client that supports stdio-based MCP servers — not run interactively. The process reads JSON-RPC requests on stdin and writes responses to stdout. The server reuses the credentials stored at ~/.config/gavai/credentials.json. Run gavai login at least once on the machine before registering the server with any host.

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Register with an MCP host

The fastest path is the install subcommand:
gavai mcp install claude-desktop
The CLI writes the correct entry into Claude Desktop’s config file. Restart Claude Desktop after running it.

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Tools exposed

The server registers fourteen tools with the host: list_tenants, get_tenant, get_tenant_app, patch_tenant_app, publish_tenant_version, list_block_types, get_block_schema, list_components, get_component_schema, get_component_examples, get_tenant_theme, publish_tenant_theme, and patch_tenant_theme. Each tool’s input schema is discoverable through the standard MCP tools/list call. See Builder MCP reference for the per-tool documentation.

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Security

The MCP server runs with the same permissions as your CLI session token. Any tool call the host makes — patch, publish, theme update — executes against the active workspace with your credentials.
Treat the connected workspace as if it were production. Use a dedicated test workspace for experimentation, and run gavai logout to invalidate the local session when you no longer need MCP access.

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Exit codes

See CLI overview — exit codes for the full table.