> Every mcpdelta command at a glance: diagnose, use, restore, undo and more. What each one does, its options, and which one to use when. # The mcpdelta command line Every mcpdelta command at a glance: diagnose, use, restore, undo and more. What each one does, its options, and which one to use when. The `mcpdelta` command is Delta MCP in a terminal. It takes the same steps as the app: see what your MCP servers cost, switch them over, set modes, read the history, undo a task and run a shortcut again. `use` and `restore` show their plan first and ask. `policy`, `money ask`, `undo`, `recipe` and `compile --enable` act at once. ## Running it Type `mcpdelta` followed by a command. This prints the list of commands: ``` mcpdelta --help ``` Putting `mcpdelta` on your path from the installed app: not yet. ## Every command | Command | What it does | Arguments and options | | --- | --- | --- | | **diagnose** | Shows what your MCP servers cost in every conversation. | `--json`, `--list`, `--timeout ` | | **use** | Moves servers behind Delta MCP. Shows the plan, then asks. | `…` or `--all`; `--yes`, `--dry-run` | | **restore** | Puts servers back direct, exactly as before. | `…` or `--all`; `--yes`, `--dry-run` | | **status** | Lists the servers behind Delta MCP and what each may change on its own. | none | | **policy** | Sets the mode of one connector. | ``, then `ask`, `ask-final`, `auto` or `readonly` | | **money** | Shows the payments switch, or sets it back to ask. Nothing reads this switch yet. | `ask` | | **journal** | Prints the last entries of the journal. | `n`, 20 by default | | **gain** | Shows what Delta MCP did in place of your AI. What is measured on this machine is kept apart from what is modeled. | days (7 by default), or `tout` (or `all`) | | **recipes** | Lists your shortcuts: what your AIs did once and you kept. | none | | **recipe** | Runs a shortcut again without AI, for 0 tokens. | ``, then `key=value`… | | **undo** | Puts back what a task changed. | ``, the id of a task | | **refresh** | Lists the tools of your connectors again for the next conversation: every remote one, and a local one with no list yet or a newer npm version. It calls no tool. | `…` | | **compile** | Compiles a server into documents and checks the round trip of each document type on real objects. It only reads. | ``, `--in `, `--sample `, `--enable` or `--disable` | | **gate** | The MCP server your AI apps launch. Not for you to run. | `--client ` | `mcpdelta --help` prints this list, and `mcpdelta --version` prints the version. ## Which one for what - **See what your servers cost, switch them, put them back:** `diagnose`, `use`, `restore`. See [Switch and put back](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/cli-switch). - **Choose what your AI may change:** `status`, `policy`, `money`. See [Modes and payments](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/cli-modes). - **Read what was done, undo it, see the gain:** `journal`, `undo`, `gain`. See [History and undo](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/cli-history). - **Run a kept task without AI:** `recipes`, `recipe`. See [Shortcuts](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/cli-shortcuts). - **Check how a server reads as documents:** `compile`. See [The text form](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/cli-text-form). ## Exit codes | Code | Meaning | | --- | --- | | 0 | Done. Also when you declined the question, used `--dry-run`, or there was nothing to do. | | 1 | A command failed: `undo` or `recipe` stopped on an error, `policy` named an unknown connector, `money auto` was refused, or something unexpected happened. The message goes to stderr. | | 5 | Some work did not complete: a switch step failed, a connector could not be read, or `compile --enable` found no document type that round-trips. | | 64 | Usage error: unknown command, missing or wrong arguments. With no command at all, the help is printed and the code is 64. | ## Good to know The messages the command prints are in French in this version, and numbers use French formatting. This documentation shows them in English. Colors are used only in a terminal, and not when `NO_COLOR` is set. Only `diagnose` has `--json`. Delta MCP keeps its data in `~/.mcpdelta`, or in the folder `MCPDELTA_HOME` points to. A script needs that folder to hold the same connectors and shortcuts as the machine you set them up on. Next: [Switch and put back](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/cli-switch), or the [Quickstart](https://www.mcpdelta.com/docs/quickstart) for the app.