How do I use Circus MCP?

1. Click on "Install Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@Circus MCP list all managed processes" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

Circus MCP

by aether-platform

Overview Schema Related Servers Score Discussions

Python

Local

Circus MCP

PyPI version Python 3.10+ License: MIT

Cut 75-80% of AI agent debugging tokens in development cycle. Process management via MCP — structured tools replace shell commands.

75-80% Token Reduction for AI Agent Debugging in Development Cycle

AI agents debugging processes via raw shell commands (supervisorctl, ps, journalctl) burn most of their tokens on unstructured output parsing, repeated commands, and inter-step reasoning. Circus MCP replaces this with structured, bounded MCP tool responses.

	Raw Commands	Circus MCP	Reduction
Tool calls per investigation	8-12	3-5	60-70%
Tokens per investigation	2,900-9,400	935-1,535	~75%
With retries (typical)	~10,000+	~2,000	~80%
Retry cost scaling	Exponential	Linear	—

Related MCP server: MCP of MCPs

Process Management via MCP

Circus MCP exposes process lifecycle operations as MCP tools. AI agents call structured tools instead of parsing shell output.

Tool	Parameters	Description
`list_processes`	—	List all managed processes
`get_process_status`	`name`	Process state and PID
`start_process`	`name`	Start a process
`stop_process`	`name`	Stop a process
`restart_process`	`name`	Restart a process
`add_process`	`name`, `command`, `numprocesses?`, `working_dir?`	Add a new process dynamically

Claude Code

claude mcp add circus-mcp -- uv run circus-mcp mcp

VS Code / Cursor

.vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "circus-mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "circus-mcp", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Circus MCP vs Supervisord MCP

	Circus MCP	Supervisord MCP
Dynamic process addition	Via API	Not supported (requires config file edit + reload)
Log retrieval	stdout + stderr in one call	Separate calls
System stats (CPU/memory)	Available	Not available
Idempotent operations	`ensure_started` / `ensure_stopped`	Throws error if already running
Transport	ZeroMQ (async)	HTTP XML-RPC (sync)
Best for	AI agent workflows	Existing Supervisord environments

Documentation

AI Token Reduction Solution — Token cost analysis, team-scale projections, research references
AI & MCP Technical Background — Architecture, MCP hosting, tenant isolation
Installation & CLI Reference — Setup, configuration, full command reference

License

MIT — see LICENSE. Built on Circus.

This server cannot be installed

license - permissive license

quality - not tested

maintenance

How are these scores calculated?

Maintenance

–Maintainers

–Response time

–Release cycle

–Releases (12mo)

Commit activity

Resources

GitHub Repository

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