NetsCLI MCP server

A network scanner written in Rust. CLI, terminal UI, desktop app, and MCP server. One library behind all four.

Documentation · Install · Changelog

Why this exists

The terminal UI came first. I wanted to understand how the newer TUIs work, the ones coding agents like Claude Code have put real effort into. Autocomplete, command history, in-place progress, and a UI that does not take over the terminal, so scrollback and copying text keep working. Building one seemed like the way to learn it, and a network scanner gave it something to do.

The MCP server came next. I thought it would be interesting to let an agent work with a network that way. Ask which device just joined, or whether port 22 is open on some host, instead of shelling out to another tool and parsing output that was written for a person to read.

Then the CLI, for programmatic use. A script or a cron job wants one command and JSON back, not an interactive session.

The desktop app came last. Some people would rather have a GUI than a terminal, and honestly I sometimes prefer it myself over running the commands locally.

Three of them are the same binary. netscli <command> is the CLI, netscli on its own opens the terminal UI, and netscli serve starts the MCP server. The desktop app is a separate download over the same core.

Screenshots

Install

# macOS / Linux
brew tap fstubner/tap && brew install netscli

# Windows
winget install netscli        # CLI, TUI and MCP server
winget install netscli-gui    # desktop app

# Any platform, via cargo
cargo install netscli

Desktop installers for Windows, macOS and Linux are attached to every release.

Scoop, the AUR, the one-line install scripts, packet-capture builds and signature verification are all covered in the install guide.

Usage

netscli discover                     # find hosts on the local subnet
netscli scan 192.168.1.10 -p 22,80,443
netscli inspect example.com          # ping + scan + resolve
netscli dns example.com              # all record types
netscli arp                          # ARP table with vendor lookup
netscli interfaces

Every command that returns a result takes --json or --yaml, so results pipe straight into jq, and the ones that return a list also take --csv and --md.

Run netscli with no arguments for the terminal UI: slash commands with autocomplete, command history, scrollback and /export.

Full command reference: CLI · TUI · desktop app

MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "netscli": {
      "command": "netscli",
      "args": ["serve"]
    }
  }
}

That form needs netscli installed. To skip the install, use npx as the command ("command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "netscli", "serve"]), or open an .mcpb bundle from the latest release in a client that supports them.

Nine tools by default: discover, scan, ping, DNS, ARP, inspect, sweep, interfaces and mDNS. Packet-capture builds add four more. Details and the full schemas are in the MCP guide.

Documentation

Page	Covers
Overview	What it does, the interface model, safety limits
Installation	Every install route, per platform
CLI	Commands, flags, structured output
Terminal UI	Slash commands and session behaviour
Desktop app	Tabs, filters, exports
MCP server	Tools, schemas, agent setup
Interface coverage	Which capabilities each interface exposes
Operations	What each scan actually does
Result model	Shape of the JSON and YAML output
Packet capture	Requirements and the pcap builds
Core library	Using netscli-core directly

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Building from source, the desktop app dev loop, packet-capture builds and the repository layout are all in CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.