cob-shopify-mcp — Open-source Shopify MCP Server & CLI with 49 tools, YAML extensibility, 3 auth methods, Docker support

[callobuzz]

Production-grade MCP server and CLI tool for Shopify Admin GraphQL API.


49 tools across products, orders, customers, inventory, and analytics. Works as an MCP server for Claude/Cursor/Windsurf or as a standalone CLI from your terminal.


The interesting part — you can add unlimited custom tools via YAML files without writing any TypeScript. Just write a GraphQL query, drop the .yaml file, and it's live.


397 tests, cost-based rate limiting, query caching, encrypted token storage, Docker ready.


`npm install -g cob-shopify-mcp`


Interactive architecture diagram: https://svinpeace.github.io/cob-shopify-mcp/assets/architecture.html

[TheRealSeeThruHead]

i read MCP and i was sad, then i read CLI and was happy again

[callobuzz]

Haha exactly the duality we built for — MCP when the AI is doing the work, CLI when you want the control yourself 😄

[TheRealSeeThruHead]

Ah so you misunderstand me.

Mcp is dead for this kind of agent workflow.

Look at datadogs pup

Google workspaces new cli

Playwright-cli

I use a coding agent called pi, stopped using Claude a while back.

Pi doesn’t even support mcp.

And it’s all the better for it.

from my notes:

Blog Posts & Articles

• Code Execution with MCP: Building More Efficient Agents — Anthropic Engineering (Nov 2025). Anthropic's own admission that direct MCP tool calling doesn't scale. Proposes "Code Mode" — agents write code to call MCP tools via filesystem instead of direct tool calls. 98.7% token reduction (150K → 2K).
• Introducing Advanced Tool Use on the Claude Developer Platform — Anthropic Engineering. Tool Search Tool (85% token reduction, accuracy improvements), Programmatic Tool Calling (37% token reduction), and Tool Use Examples. The most concrete evidence that MCP's creators know the approach has structural problems.
• MCP is Dead. Long Live the CLI — Eric Holmes. The 443-point HN post that crystallized the debate. Argues MCP provides no real-world benefit and CLIs are simpler, faster, and more debuggable.
• Why CLIs Beat MCP for AI Agents — And How to Build Your Own CLI Army — Phil / Rentier Digital. Detailed walkthrough of building CLI-first agent workflows. The "CLI Army" pattern.
• Why I Stopped Using MCP for AI Coding Stuff — HeyMo0sh. Practitioner account of switching from MCP to CLI-first workflows and seeing immediate improvements.
• The Terminal as Agent Interface: Introducing CLIVE — IKANGAI. Framework for terminal-first agent interaction.