🔗Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Boxxy Terminal natively supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard that allows you to securely connect your AI agents to external tools, databases, and APIs.
With MCP, you can give =BoxxyClaw= access to:
- Live, version-specific documentation (e.g., Context7)
- Your local file system or Git repositories
- External APIs (e.g., Slack, Jira, GitHub)
- Custom scripts or internal company tools
🔗Adding an MCP Server
To add a new MCP server:
- Open Boxxy =Preferences= (
Ctrl+,). - Navigate to the =MCP= tab on the left sidebar.
- Click Add MCP Server....
You will be presented with a configuration dialog where you can define your server's connection details. Boxxy supports two transport methods:
🔗1. Stdio (Local Commands)
Use this for tools that run locally on your machine, such as Node.js packages or native binaries.
- Name: A recognizable name for your server (e.g.,
GitHub Local). - Transport: Select
Stdio (Command). - Command: The executable to run (e.g.,
npx,python, or a path like/usr/local/bin/my-tool). - Args: Comma-separated arguments to pass to the command (e.g.,
-y, @modelcontextprotocol/server-github). - Env (KEY=VAL,...): Comma-separated environment variables required by the tool (e.g.,
GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_token_here).
🔗2. HTTP Streamable (Remote Servers)
Use this for modern, cloud-hosted MCP servers that support high-concurrency streaming.
- Name: A recognizable name for your server (e.g.,
Context7 Docs). - Transport: Select
HTTP (Streamable). - URL: The full endpoint URL (e.g.,
https://mcp.context7.com/mcp). - Headers (KEY=VAL,...): Comma-separated HTTP headers, typically used for authentication (e.g.,
Authorization=Bearer YOUR_API_KEY_HERE).
🔗Managing Your Servers
Once added, your servers will appear in the MCP list in Preferences.
- Toggle: You can quickly enable or disable a server using the switch next to its name.
- Edit: Click the pencil icon to modify the command, arguments, or API keys without having to delete and recreate the server.
- Delete: Click the trash icon to permanently remove the server configuration.
🔗How it Works (Under the Hood)
Boxxy is designed to be blazingly fast. To ensure your terminal boots instantly, Boxxy uses a "Lazy Boot" strategy for MCP servers.
When you add a server, Boxxy fetches its list of available tools and caches them. When you open a new terminal pane, the agent immediately knows what tools are available, but it doesn't actually start the background processes (like npx) until you ask it to use one of those tools.
This means you can configure dozens of heavy MCP servers without experiencing any startup lag! Furthermore, Boxxy implements strict lifecycle management, guaranteeing that when you close a pane or exit the app, all local MCP child processes are instantly terminated to prevent "zombie" processes from lingering on your system.