MCP Host

Squadron can run as an MCP server, exposing its own missions, runs, agents, and documentation as tools for any Model Context Protocol client — Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and any other MCP-compatible AI assistant.

This lets you drive Squadron from inside your editor or AI tool: kick off missions, browse run history, inspect agent configs, and read the docs without leaving the client.


mcp_host {
  enabled = true
  port    = 8090
  secret  = vars.mcp_host_secret  # optional — enables Bearer token auth
}

Attribute	Type	Default	Description
`enabled`	bool	`false`	Must be `true` to start the host server
`port`	number	`8090`	Port the MCP host listens on (1024–65535)
`secret`	string	—	When set, all requests must include this as a Bearer token or `?token=` query param

The host server only starts when Squadron runs in serve mode. squadron mission and squadron chat do not start it.

Looking for the other direction — pulling tools from external MCP servers into your agents? See MCP Tools.

Authentication

When secret is set, clients must authenticate via one of:

Authorization header: Authorization: Bearer <secret>
Query parameter: ?token=<secret>

Requests without a valid token receive a 401 Unauthorized response. If secret is omitted, the server is open (suitable for local-only use).

Available tools

The host exposes Squadron itself as a collection of tools:

Documentation

Tool	Description
`list_version`	Get the squadron version
`list_doc_pages`	List all available documentation pages
`get_doc_page`	Get the contents of a documentation page by path

Missions & runs

Tool	Description
`list_missions`	List all missions defined in config
`get_mission_config`	Get the full configuration of a mission
`run_mission`	Start a mission with optional inputs (returns mission ID)
`list_runs`	List recent mission runs with optional filtering by name
`get_run_details`	Get high-level details of a run including task summaries
`get_run_config`	Get the config snapshot used for a specific run
`get_run_task_details`	Get detailed task info including subtasks and outputs

Agents & plugins

Tool	Description
`list_agents`	List all agents defined in config
`get_agent_config`	Get the full configuration of an agent
`list_plugins`	List all plugins defined in config
`list_plugin_tools`	List all tools provided by a plugin
`get_plugin_tool`	Get detailed info about a plugin tool including its schema

Config operations

Tool	Description
`verify_config`	Validate config files on disk without applying changes
`reload_config`	Re-read and apply config changes from disk
`list_vars`	List all configuration variables (secrets masked)
`get_var`	Get a single configuration variable (secrets masked)

The host speaks the Streamable HTTP transport — the current MCP spec. Both GET (for server→client streaming) and POST (for client→server requests) are served at the same endpoint: /mcp.

Client setup

Claude Code

Claude Code supports Streamable HTTP natively:


claude mcp add squadron --transport http http://localhost:8090/mcp

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop only runs stdio MCP servers directly. Use the mcp-remote bridge to forward stdio over the wire. Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:


{
  "mcpServers": {
    "squadron": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "http://localhost:8090/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

With authentication, pass the token via the --header flag:


{
  "mcpServers": {
    "squadron": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "http://localhost:8090/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_SECRET"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Fully quit Claude Desktop (Cmd+Q) and reopen after editing the config — it only loads MCP settings on startup.

Cursor, Continue, and other clients

Any MCP client that supports Streamable HTTP can connect directly to http://localhost:8090/mcp. Check your client’s docs for the exact config format — the URL and (optionally) the Bearer token are all you need.

Running


# variables.hcl
variable "mcp_host_secret" {
  secret = true
}
 
# mcp_host.hcl
mcp_host {
  enabled = true
  port    = 8090
  secret  = vars.mcp_host_secret
}


squadron engage -c ./config
# MCP host is now available at http://localhost:8090/mcp