[riglar]

Why

The MCP docs told people to start the server with npx. That needs Node 22+, checks npm every time the server starts, can run a different version than the user's dcd, and bypasses the standalone binary the README tells people to install. A bare "command": "dcd" isn't a fix either: desktop apps (Claude Desktop, Cursor) opened from the Dock or Start menu don't read the shell rc that puts ~/.dcd/bin on PATH, so they fail with "command not found".

What

dcd mcp install [client] (new)

• Clients: claude-code, claude-desktop, cursor, vscode. Asks when left out (needs a TTY; otherwise errors with the list).
• Claude Code: runs claude mcp add --scope user devicecloud -- …, removing an older devicecloud entry first.
• VS Code: runs code --add-mcp '{…}' (adds it to the user profile).
• Claude Desktop / Cursor: merges an entry into claude_desktop_config.json / ~/.cursor/mcp.json and keeps everything else in the file. A file that isn't plain JSON is left alone, and the error shows the entry to add by hand.
• Always starts dcd by full path:
  • standalone binary: process.execPath;
  • npm install: node plus the script. It uses the node on PATH that is the same file (/opt/homebrew/bin/node), not Homebrew's versioned Cellar path that brew upgrade removes, and argv[1] as started, not resolved, so the npm bin link survives upgrades.
  • It refuses to run from source or from the npx cache, since those paths don't last.
• --read-only, --print (show what would be added, change nothing) and --json.
• Warns when not signed in.
• citty runs a parent's run after its subcommand, so dcd mcp's run now returns early when a subcommand is given. Plain dcd mcp still starts the server as before.

Install scripts

• install.sh and install.ps1 list dcd mcp install under "Get started" and print the binary's full path for hand-written configs.

README

• Leads with dcd login + dcd mcp install.
• Hand-written configs use the full path, with an explanation of why.
• Adds VS Code's own format (servers plus "type": "stdio"), which the old mcpServers example didn't cover.
• npx stays as the fallback for npm users.

CLAUDE.md: a note on the install command and the citty guard.

Testing

• pnpm typecheck, pnpm lint (0 errors), pnpm test:unit: 471 passing, 9 new in test/unit/mcp-install.test.ts.
• By hand, from dist/: --print for all four clients; a real write to a temporary Cursor config (other entries and keys kept, second run reports "Updated", a non-JSON file left untouched); --json; unknown client and no-TTY errors; dcd mcp --read-only still starts the server.
• claude mcp add / remove --scope and code --add-mcp flags checked against their --help. Not run for real against Claude Code or VS Code, and not tested on Windows. On Windows, claude and code are often .cmd shims, which a spawn without a shell can't find; the command then prints the line to run by hand.
• The standalone-binary path wasn't tested from a compiled binary (it's process.execPath).

Related: devicecloud-dev/dcd#1820 (the same setup as a dashboard config generator).

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[claude]

Code review

No issues found. Checked for bugs and CLAUDE.md compliance.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code