Any MCP client

Any app or agent that speaks MCP can use your devices. Over stdio, it starts silan mcp, the same server the one-click apps start, and Silan asks you once before the app may act. Over HTTP, it calls the engine’s /mcp listener with a key and asks you nothing. Status: supported. The stdio way is proven with a plain MCP client on a Mac with no phone. The HTTP way is proven on an iPhone 11 (iOS 27) on a cable.

For developers on the Connections page: keys, then the addresses and the setup text for other apps below.

Setup

Over stdio, from the setup text

1. Open Connections in Silan’s sidebar and open the For developers fold. Setup’s Your AI tools shows the same text.

2. Under The setup text for other apps, press Copy. It is a complete mcpServers file:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "silan": {
         "type": "stdio",
         "command": "/Applications/Silan.app/Contents/Helpers/silan",
         "args": ["mcp"],
         "env": {}
       }
     }
   }

   Copying writes nothing on your Mac and holds no key.

3. Paste the silan entry where your app keeps its tool settings, beside any tools it has.

4. Pick the tool set with the arguments: ["mcp"] is the core set of 16 tools, ["mcp", "--profile", "testing"] the 27 of the testing set, ["mcp", "--profile", "full"] every tool, 45 on the current release. The SILAN_MCP_PROFILE variable is read only by the plugin launchers in the Silan repository, not by silan mcp itself.

5. Start the app again, then ask it to list your devices. On its first tool call Silan asks you. An app with a Developer ID signature gets wants to use your devices and the choices Allow, Allow this time and Don’t allow. A program Silan cannot check gets “” wants to use your devices, the line Silan can’t check who made this program, its full path, and only Don’t allow and Allow this time.

initialize, tools/list and ping need no answer from you. A tool call waits up to 45 seconds. With no answer it ends with a message that Silan is waiting for you, and a late Allow counts on the next try. Don’t allow answers the call with error -32001, and Silan refuses the app’s calls for 10 minutes with no question.

Over HTTP, with a key

For a client that speaks Streamable HTTP MCP, or a script on this Mac that should never see a question:

1. On Connections, under For developers, press New key. Give it a name, pick every device or some, and an expiry (30 days, 90 days, 1 year or never). Press Make key and copy the key: it shows once.
2. Point the client at http://127.0.0.1:47800/mcp with the header Authorization: Bearer silan_sk_.... The real port is in ~/Library/Application Support/Silan/engine.json. Add ?profile=testing or ?profile=full to the address for a bigger tool set.
3. Send initialize with Accept: application/json, text/event-stream. The answer carries an Mcp-Session-Id header. Send it back on every later call, and DELETE /mcp with it to end the session.

The same key also works on stdio: silan mcp --key silan_sk_..., or SILAN_API_KEY in the environment, sends silan mcp to the engine’s HTTP listener with no question.

Try it

A first call from any client, after initialize: tools/list. With the core set you get 16 tools, list_devices and observe first. Then call list_devices with no arguments. On stdio, Silan’s Allow sheet opens now. The answer is a JSON object with a devices list, empty when no device is attached. From a shell, with a key:

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SILAN_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H 'Accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"try","version":"1"}}}' \
  -D - http://127.0.0.1:47800/mcp

The headers end with 200 and an Mcp-Session-Id.

Limits

• Over stdio with no key, the testing set shows 27 tools: the five scenario tools are not served over XPC. Over HTTP with a key they are listed.
• Silan must be open on this Mac to ask you. With Silan closed, a stdio call ends at once with Open Silan on this Mac to allow .
• A program already running as you can read the engine’s local key file and skip the question. The Connections page says so.
• A risky step answers isError with code APPROVAL_REQUIRED until you say yes in Silan, then the same call works.
• Revoking a key or disconnecting an app stops it on MCP at once, and ends its open streams.

Proof

Proved on this Mac with no phone, 24 Oct 2026, by a Silan worker: the copied setup text was valid JSON with no key, and a plain stdio MCP client used it as pasted. list_devices gave {"devices":[]}. An unsigned Python got Allow this time only, and Don’t allow gave -32001 with a retry refused in 0.0 s. A key through silan mcp with SILAN_API_KEY worked, survived a restart and got 401 after Revoke. Run 20261024-042236-97156. Over HTTP on an iPhone 11 (iOS 27) on a cable, 14 Oct 2026: a session with the full tool list, a screenshot, and a launch that answered APPROVAL_REQUIRED. Run 20261014-154515-65263. Source: verify-silan feature map, connections and api.