Model Context Protocol

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open protocol that lets models safely call tools exposed by external processes or services. Kimi Code CLI acts as an MCP client to integrate these external tools, exposing them to the agent alongside built-in tools (Read, Bash, Grep, etc.).

Integration scope

Kimi Code CLI connects to MCP servers via stdio (local subprocess) or HTTP. Once connected, MCP tools behave the same as built-in tools: they are available to the agent, subject to permission rules, and go through the approval flow.

Configuration and login

MCP server configurations live in mcp.json in two layers:

• User-level: ~/.kimi-code/mcp.json (or $KIMI_CODE_HOME/mcp.json), shared across projects
• Project-level: .kimi-code/mcp.json in the current workspace

Project entries override user-level entries with the same name.

The easiest entry point is running /mcp-config in the TUI, which guides you through adding, editing, or removing servers. To check connection status, run /mcp.

The top-level shape of mcp.json is:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/tmp"]
    },
    "linear": {
      "url": "https://mcp.linear.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Entries with command are stdio servers; entries with url are HTTP servers, so you usually do not need to write a transport field. HTTP servers can provide static credentials through headers or bearerTokenEnvVar. When OAuth is required, run /mcp-config login <server-name> to complete browser authorization.

Optional fields:

Field	Type	Applies to	Description
env	Record<string, string>	stdio	Environment variables injected into the subprocess
cwd	string	stdio	Working directory for the subprocess
headers	Record<string, string>	HTTP	Static headers appended to every request
enabled	boolean	both	Set to false to disable the server without removing the entry
startupTimeoutMs	number	both	Connection timeout in milliseconds, default 30000
toolTimeoutMs	number	both	Per-tool-call timeout in milliseconds
enabledTools	string[]	both	Allowlist: only expose the tools in this list
disabledTools	string[]	both	Blocklist: exclude the tools in this list

Note

Stdio entries in a project-level .kimi-code/mcp.json execute local commands when the session starts. Only enable project-level MCP servers in repositories you trust.

Tool naming and permissions

MCP tools are exposed using the naming convention mcp__<server>__<tool>. Permission matching supports * and ** wildcards, so mcp__github__* covers every tool from the github server.

Calls that do not match any rule trigger an approval request. Choosing "Approve for this session" in the approval prompt auto-approves subsequent matching calls.

You can also pre-load permanent rules in the [[permission.rules]] array of tables in config.toml:

[[permission.rules]]
decision = "allow"
pattern = "mcp__github__*"

[[permission.rules]]
decision = "deny"
pattern = "mcp__filesystem__write_file"

The full syntax of the pattern field and the accepted values of other fields such as decision, scope, and reason are documented in Config files.

Security

• Only integrate MCP servers from trusted sources
• Check that the tool name and arguments are reasonable in approval requests
• Keep manual approval for high-risk tools, and avoid broad mcp__* wildcard allowlisting

Note

In YOLO mode, MCP tool calls are auto-approved like any other tool. Only use this mode when you fully trust the integrated MCP servers.