Run shortcuts from the command line

List your kept shortcuts and run one again without AI, for 0 tokens, by hand, in a scheduled task or in a script.

On this page

A shortcut is a task that worked once, kept with its inputs. The command line calls it a recipe, so the commands are recipes and recipe. No AI runs it, so it uses 0 tokens. See Shortcuts for how to keep one.

List your shortcuts

# every shortcut kept on this computer, the most used first
mcpdelta recipes

You get three lines per shortcut. Here is an example:

smoke_tests  Open the main pages of a site and check each one answers
  tickets · used 3 times
  mcpdelta recipe smoke_tests site=https://example.com

The first line is its name and what it does. The second lists the connectors it uses and how many times it was used and worked, or not run again yet. acts live is added when it makes each change at once, in order. The third line is the command to run it, with the inputs it was kept with. With no shortcut kept, the command says where to keep one.

The command lists your own shortcuts. The shortcuts folder of a project is not read from the command line: not yet.

Run a shortcut

# run it with the inputs it was kept with
mcpdelta recipe smoke_tests
# change an input: key=value
mcpdelta recipe smoke_tests site=https://example.org

Give only inputs the shortcut has. An unknown input, or one not written key=value, stops with exit code 64. For an unknown input, the message lists the inputs the shortcut has. A value is read as JSON when the kept input was not text, such as a number or a list. An input you leave out keeps the value it was kept with.

A shortcut runs exactly as a task does. It is checked before the first call, its object changes are applied all or nothing and read back, and it is kept in your history as a new task. The output is what the task returned, then what it changed, with a line such as Applied d_a1b2c3 · 3 call(s) · 0.8 s · read back ✓. That id is the one mcpdelta undo takes. See History and undo.

An input marked secret is never kept with the shortcut, so you give it yourself. What you type on the command line can stay in your shell history.

Approval

Your command stands for your click. Ordinary changes go ahead. Deleting or sending follows the connector’s mode, so ask-final, the suggested one, asks. A readonly connector refuses every change. A shortcut that came from elsewhere asks before every change until you trust its exact version.

When a change asks, a card opens on your screen on a Mac, or a page in your browser elsewhere. The command waits about 40 seconds. If nobody answers, it prints Waiting for the user's approval and nothing is changed. Unattended, use a mode that does not ask for what the shortcut does. See Modes and payments.

In a scheduled task or in CI

# every weekday at 08:00, in a crontab: cron has a short PATH, so give the full path to mcpdelta
0 8 * * 1-5 /full/path/to/mcpdelta recipe smoke_tests site=https://example.com

The machine needs Delta MCP’s data folder with the same connectors and shortcuts, and each connector signed in. By default the folder is ~/.mcpdelta. For the command itself, see the Command line overview.

Exit code 1 means the task stopped on an error, or a problem was found before any call. Exit code 0 also covers a run that is waiting for approval or was refused by a readonly connector. A script should read the output as well as the code.

Each run is counted in mcpdelta gain as run again without AI. For writing shortcuts in code, see Shortcuts in code.

Updated 7 October 2026 Something missing or wrong? Open an issue