Coala Client#

Part of the coala ecosystem. CLI for chat with OpenAI-compatible LLMs (OpenAI, Gemini, Ollama) and MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. Supports importing CWL toolsets as MCP servers, importing skills, and an optional sandbox to run shell commands.

Config paths#

• MCP config and toolsets: ~/.config/coala/mcps/
  • mcp_servers.json — server definitions
  • <toolset>/ — per-toolset dirs with run_mcp.py and CWL files
• Skills: ~/.config/coala/skills/ (one subfolder per imported source)
• Env: ~/.config/coala/env (optional; key=value for providers and MCP env)

Quick start#

1. Init (first time)

   coala init — creates ~/.config/coala/mcps/mcp_servers.json and env.

2. Set API key

   e.g. export OPENAI_API_KEY=... or export GEMINI_API_KEY=.... Ollama needs no key.

3. Chat

   coala or coala chat — interactive chat with MCP tools.

   coala ask "question" — single prompt with MCP.

4. Options

   -p, --provider (openai|gemini|ollama|custom), -m, --model, --no-mcp, --sandbox.

MCP: CWL toolsets#

No API key needed for MCP import, list, or call — only for chat/ask with an LLM.

• Import (creates toolset under ~/.config/coala/mcps/<TOOLSET>/ and registers server):

  coala mcp-import <TOOLSET> <SOURCES...> or alias coala mcp ...

  SOURCES: local .cwl files, a .zip, or http(s) URLs to a .cwl or .zip.

  Requires the coala package where the MCP server runs (for run_mcp.py).

• List

  coala mcp-list — list server names.

  coala mcp-list <SERVER_NAME> — print each tool’s schema (name, description, inputSchema).

• Call

  coala mcp-call <SERVER>.<TOOL> --args '<JSON>'

  Example: coala mcp-call gene-variant.ncbi_datasets_gene --args '{"data": [{"gene": "TP53", "taxon": "human"}]}'

Skills#

• Import (into ~/.config/coala/skills/, one subfolder per source):

  coala skill <SOURCES...>

  SOURCES: GitHub tree URL (e.g. https://github.com/owner/repo/tree/main/skills), zip URL, or local zip/dir.

• In chat

  /skill — list installed skills.

  /skill <name> — load skill from ~/.config/coala/skills/<name>/ (e.g. SKILL.md) into context.

Chat commands#

• /help, /exit, /quit, /clear
• /tools — list MCP tools
• /servers — list connected MCP servers
• /skill — list skills; /skill <name> — load a skill
• /model — show model info
• /switch <provider> — switch provider

MCP on/off#

• All off: coala --no-mcp (or coala ask "..." --no-mcp).
• One server off: remove its entry from ~/.config/coala/mcps/mcp_servers.json.
• On: default when --no-mcp is not used; add or restore servers in mcp_servers.json.

Providers and env#

Set provider via -p or env PROVIDER. Set keys and URLs per provider (e.g. OPENAI_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY, OLLAMA_BASE_URL). Optional: put vars in ~/.config/coala/env.

coala config — print current config paths and provider/model info.