pi-mcp-adapter

Overview

Pi MCP Adapter addresses the problem of verbose tool definitions that consume excessive context tokens. Instead of loading all MCP server tools upfront, this adapter implements a proxy approach that only connects servers when specific tools are actually needed. It automatically reads standard MCP configuration files from multiple locations including ~/.config/mcp/mcp.json and project-specific .mcp.json files. The adapter supports multiple lifecycle modes: lazy (default), eager, and keep-alive, with configurable idle timeouts and direct tools option for frequently used servers.

Try asking AI

After installing, here are 5 things you can ask your AI assistant:

• mcp

  Proxy tool to access MCP servers on-demand, avoiding context bloat

  Try:Search for a screenshot toolTry:Take a screenshot of the current pageTry:Get UI messages from dashboard session
• chrome_devtools_take_screenshot

  Take a screenshot of the page or element using Chrome DevTools

  Try:Take a full page screenshotTry:Capture the viewport as PNG

Comparable tools

Installation

pi install npm:pi-mcp-adapter

{
  "pi": {
    "mcpServers": {
      "pi-mcp-adapter": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["pi-mcp-adapter"]
      }
    }
  }
}

FAQ

How does this reduce token usage?

Instead of including full MCP tool definitions (which can be 10k+ tokens), the adapter uses a single proxy tool (~200 tokens) and only connects to actual servers when specific tools are needed.

What MCP configuration files does it support?

The adapter automatically reads ~/.config/mcp/mcp.json, .mcp.json, and Pi-specific overrides (~/.pi/agent/mcp.json and .pi/mcp.json) with a clear precedence order.

Compare pi-mcp-adapter with