The MCP server

For agents that would rather call tools than run shell commands, alto mcp serves the same commands over the Model Context Protocol, on standard input and output.

claude mcp add alto -- alto mcp

Any MCP client that starts servers as a command works the same way: the command is alto mcp, with no arguments.

The tools

Tool	Does
run	Runs a command in a terminal you can see and returns its output and exit status as JSON
wait	Waits for a state (idle, working, needs-you, done, prompt) or for text to appear
read_screen	What the terminal shows now, with the cursor, for full-screen programs
send_keys	Types text, then keys by name (Enter, C-c, S-Tab)
work	The work panes linked to this conversation
list_sessions	Sessions here or on another device, with what each is doing
use	Act on a given session from now on, or start one

Every tool acts on the conversation’s work pane unless it’s given a session (and device), or use chose one. The full arguments are in the MCP tool reference.

Who’s typing

Input from MCP tools is an agent’s, like alto run from an agent: it waits while you type, is refused while the pane is paused, and is marked as typed by the agent.