apify · jancurn · Apr 8, 2026 · Mar 18, 2026 · Apr 5, 2026 · Apr 5, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Added
 
+- `connect` command now auto-generates session name when `@session` is omitted (e.g., `mcpc connect mcp.apify.com` creates `@apify`). If a session for the same server already exists with matching auth settings, it is reused instead of creating a duplicate.
 - `--max-chars <chars>` global option to truncate large tool/prompt/resource output
 - `tools-call <tool> --help` shows tool parameter schema (shortcut for `tools-get`)
 - "Did you mean?" suggestions for unknown commands, including reversed names (e.g., `list-tools` → `tools-list`)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -111,7 +111,8 @@ Usage: mcpc [<@session>] [<command>] [options]
 Universal command-line client for the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
 
 Commands:
-  connect <server> <@session>  Connect to an MCP server and start a new named @session
+  connect <server> [@session]  Connect to an MCP server and start a named @session (name
+                               auto-generated if omitted)
   close <@session>             Close a session
   restart <@session>           Restart a session (losing all state)
   shell <@session>             Open interactive shell for a session
@@ -299,7 +300,7 @@ By default, `grep` searches only tools. Use `--resources` or `--prompts` to sear
 (combine with `--tools` to include tools too). Sessions that are crashed or unavailable are shown
 with their status rather than silently skipped.
 
-The `grep` command is useful for **dynamic tool discovery**, 
+The `grep` command is useful for **dynamic tool discovery**,
 also called [Tool search tool](https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/advanced-tool-use) by Anthropic
 or [Dynamic context discovery](https://cursor.com/blog/dynamic-context-discovery) by Cursor.
 Rather than loading all tools into AI agent's context, the agent can use `grep` to discover the right tool
@@ -358,9 +359,9 @@ Still, sessions can fail due to network disconnects, bridge process crash, or se
 
 **Session states:**
 
-| State                 | Meaning                                                                                            |
-| --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
-| 🟢**`live`**          | Bridge process running and server responding                                                       |
+| State                | Meaning                                                                                            |
+| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| 🟢**`live`**         | Bridge process running and server responding                                                       |
 | 🟡**`connecting`**   | Initial bridge startup in progress (`mcpc connect`)                                                |
 | 🟡**`reconnecting`** | Bridge crashed or lost auth; auto-reconnecting in the background                                   |
 | 🟡**`disconnected`** | Bridge process running but server unreachable; auto-recovers when server responds                  |
@@ -786,10 +787,10 @@ mcpc x402 sign <base64-payment-required> --amount 1.00 --expiry 3600 --json
 
 **Options:**
 
-| Option              | Description                                                      |
-| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
-| `--amount <usd>`    | Override the payment amount in USD (e.g. `0.50` for $0.50)       |
-| `--expiry <seconds>`| Override the payment expiry in seconds from now (e.g. `3600`)    |
+| Option               | Description                                                   |
+| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `--amount <usd>`     | Override the payment amount in USD (e.g. `0.50` for $0.50)    |
+| `--expiry <seconds>` | Override the payment expiry in seconds from now (e.g. `3600`) |
 
 The command outputs the signed `PAYMENT-SIGNATURE` header value and an MCP config snippet
 that can be used directly with other MCP clients.
@@ -860,7 +861,7 @@ The bridge process manages the full MCP session lifecycle:
 | 🔔 [**Notifications**](#list-change-notifications) | ✅ Supported                      |
 | 📄 [**Pagination**](#pagination)                   | ✅ Supported                      |
 | 🏓 [**Ping**](#ping)                               | ✅ Supported                      |
-| ⏳ [**Async tasks**](#async-tasks)                  | ✅ Supported                      |
+| ⏳ [**Async tasks**](#async-tasks)                 | ✅ Supported                      |
 | 📁 **Roots**                                       | 🚧 Planned                        |
 | ❓ **Elicitation**                                 | 🚧 Planned                        |
 | 🔤 **Completion**                                  | 🚧 Planned                        |
@@ -1266,19 +1267,19 @@ See [CONTRIBUTING](./CONTRIBUTING.md) for development setup, architecture overvi
 <!-- Stars, contributors, commits, and activity as of March 2026. -->
 
 | Tool                                                                    | Lang   | Stars | Contrib / Commits | Active | Tools | Resources | Prompts | Tasks | Code mode | Sessions | OAuth | Stdio | HTTP | Tool search | x402 | LLM |
-| ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | ----: | -----------------: | ------ | ----- | --------- | ------- | ----- | --------- | -------- | ----- | ----- | ---- | ----------- | ---- | --- |
-| **[apify/mcpc](https://github.com/apify/mcpc)**                         | TS     |  ~420 |           7 / ~510 | ✅     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | ✅    | ✅        | ✅       | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | ✅   | —   |
-| [steipete/mcporter](https://github.com/steipete/mcporter)               | TS     | ~3.5k |          24 / ~570 | ✅     | ✅    | —         | —       | —     | ✅        | ✅       | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | —           | —    | —   |
-| [IBM/mcp-cli](https://github.com/IBM/mcp-cli)                           | Python | ~1.9k |          22 / ~790 | ✅     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | —     | ✅        | ✅       | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | —           | —    | ✅  |
-| [knowsuchagency/mcp2cli](https://github.com/knowsuchagency/mcp2cli)     | Python | ~1.8k |           5 / ~76  | ✅     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | —     | ✅        | ✅       | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
-| [f/mcptools](https://github.com/f/mcptools)                             | Go     | ~1.5k |          15 / ~170 | ⚠️     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | —     | ✅        | —        | —     | ✅    | ✅   | —           | —    | —   |
-| [philschmid/mcp-cli](https://github.com/philschmid/mcp-cli)             | TS     | ~1.1k |           2 / ~30  | ✅     | ✅    | —         | —       | —     | ✅        | ✅       | —     | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
-| [adhikasp/mcp-client-cli](https://github.com/adhikasp/mcp-client-cli)   | Python |  ~670 |          6 / ~110  | ⚠️     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | —     | —         | —        | —     | ✅    | —    | —           | —    | ✅  |
-| [thellimist/clihub](https://github.com/thellimist/clihub)               | Go     |  ~640 |           1 / ~60  | ✅     | ✅    | —         | —       | —     | —         | —        | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
-| [wong2/mcp-cli](https://github.com/wong2/mcp-cli)                       | JS     |  ~430 |           4 / ~63  | ⚠️     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | —     | —         | —        | ✅    | —     | ✅   | —           | —    | —   |
-| [mcpshim/mcpshim](https://github.com/mcpshim/mcpshim)                   | Go     |   ~54 |           1 / ~13  | ✅     | ✅    | —         | —       | —     | ✅        | ✅       | ✅    | —     | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
-| [evantahler/mcpx](https://github.com/evantahler/mcpx)                   | TS     |   ~28 |           1 / ~64  | ✅     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | ✅    | ✅        | —        | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
-| [EstebanForge/mcp-cli-ent](https://github.com/EstebanForge/mcp-cli-ent) | Go     |   ~15 |          ~2 / ~46  | ✅     | ✅    | —         | —       | —     | ✅        | ✅       | —     | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
+| ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | ----: | ----------------: | ------ | ----- | --------- | ------- | ----- | --------- | -------- | ----- | ----- | ---- | ----------- | ---- | --- |
+| **[apify/mcpc](https://github.com/apify/mcpc)**                         | TS     |  ~420 |          7 / ~510 | ✅     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | ✅    | ✅        | ✅       | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | ✅   | —   |
+| [steipete/mcporter](https://github.com/steipete/mcporter)               | TS     | ~3.5k |         24 / ~570 | ✅     | ✅    | —         | —       | —     | ✅        | ✅       | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | —           | —    | —   |
+| [IBM/mcp-cli](https://github.com/IBM/mcp-cli)                           | Python | ~1.9k |         22 / ~790 | ✅     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | —     | ✅        | ✅       | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | —           | —    | ✅  |
+| [knowsuchagency/mcp2cli](https://github.com/knowsuchagency/mcp2cli)     | Python | ~1.8k |           5 / ~76 | ✅     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | —     | ✅        | ✅       | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
+| [f/mcptools](https://github.com/f/mcptools)                             | Go     | ~1.5k |         15 / ~170 | ⚠️     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | —     | ✅        | —        | —     | ✅    | ✅   | —           | —    | —   |
+| [philschmid/mcp-cli](https://github.com/philschmid/mcp-cli)             | TS     | ~1.1k |           2 / ~30 | ✅     | ✅    | —         | —       | —     | ✅        | ✅       | —     | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
+| [adhikasp/mcp-client-cli](https://github.com/adhikasp/mcp-client-cli)   | Python |  ~670 |          6 / ~110 | ⚠️     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | —     | —         | —        | —     | ✅    | —    | —           | —    | ✅  |
+| [thellimist/clihub](https://github.com/thellimist/clihub)               | Go     |  ~640 |           1 / ~60 | ✅     | ✅    | —         | —       | —     | —         | —        | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
+| [wong2/mcp-cli](https://github.com/wong2/mcp-cli)                       | JS     |  ~430 |           4 / ~63 | ⚠️     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | —     | —         | —        | ✅    | —     | ✅   | —           | —    | —   |
+| [mcpshim/mcpshim](https://github.com/mcpshim/mcpshim)                   | Go     |   ~54 |           1 / ~13 | ✅     | ✅    | —         | —       | —     | ✅        | ✅       | ✅    | —     | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
+| [evantahler/mcpx](https://github.com/evantahler/mcpx)                   | TS     |   ~28 |           1 / ~64 | ✅     | ✅    | ✅        | ✅      | ✅    | ✅        | —        | ✅    | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
+| [EstebanForge/mcp-cli-ent](https://github.com/EstebanForge/mcp-cli-ent) | Go     |   ~15 |          ~2 / ~46 | ✅     | ✅    | —         | —       | —     | ✅        | ✅       | —     | ✅    | ✅   | ✅          | —    | —   |
 
 **Legend:** ✅ = supported, ⚠️ = stale (no commits in 3+ months), **Contrib / Commits** = contributors / total commits, **Tasks** = [async tasks](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/latest/server/utilities/tasks), **x402** = [x402 payment protocol](https://www.x402.org/) support, **LLM** = requires/uses an LLM.
 

diff --git a/src/cli/commands/sessions.ts b/src/cli/commands/sessions.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import { createServer } from 'net';
 import {
   OutputMode,
   isValidSessionName,
+  generateSessionName,
+  normalizeServerUrl,
   validateProfileName,
   isProcessAlive,
   getServerHost,
@@ -30,6 +32,7 @@ import {
   updateSession,
   consolidateSessions,
   getSession,
+  loadSessions,
 } from '../../lib/sessions.js';
 import {
   startBridge,
@@ -80,6 +83,115 @@ async function checkPortAvailable(host: string, port: number): Promise<boolean>
   });
 }
 
+/**
+ * Find an existing session that matches the given server target and authentication settings.
+ * Used when auto-generating session names to reuse existing sessions instead of creating duplicates.
+ *
+ * @returns The matching session name (with @ prefix), or undefined if no match found
+ */
+async function findMatchingSession(
+  parsed: { type: 'url'; url: string } | { type: 'config'; file: string; entry: string },
+  options: { profile?: string; headers?: string[]; noProfile?: boolean }
+): Promise<string | undefined> {
+  const storage = await loadSessions();
+  const sessions = Object.values(storage.sessions);
+
+  if (sessions.length === 0) return undefined;
+
+  // Determine the effective profile name for comparison
+  const effectiveProfile = options.noProfile ? undefined : (options.profile ?? 'default');
+
+  for (const session of sessions) {
+    if (!session.server) continue;
+
+    // Match server target
+    if (parsed.type === 'url') {
+      if (!session.server.url) continue;
+      // Compare normalized URLs
+      try {
+        const existingUrl = normalizeServerUrl(session.server.url);
+        const newUrl = normalizeServerUrl(parsed.url);
+        if (existingUrl !== newUrl) continue;
+      } catch {
+        continue;
+      }
+    } else {
+      // Config entry: match by command (stdio transport)
+      // Config entries produce stdio configs with command/args, so we can't easily
+      // compare them. Instead, just compare generated session names for config targets.
+      // This is handled by the caller (resolveSessionName) via name-based dedup.
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    // Match profile
+    const sessionProfile = session.profileName ?? 'default';
+    if (effectiveProfile !== sessionProfile) continue;
+
+    // Match header keys (values are redacted, so we only compare key sets)
+    const existingHeaderKeys = Object.keys(session.server.headers || {}).sort();
+    const newHeaderKeys = (options.headers || [])
+      .map((h) => h.split(':')[0]?.trim() || '')
+      .filter(Boolean)
+      .sort();
+    if (existingHeaderKeys.join(',') !== newHeaderKeys.join(',')) continue;
+
+    // Found a match
+    return session.name;
+  }
+
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the session name when @session is omitted from `mcpc connect`.
+ * Finds an existing matching session or generates a new unique name.
+ *
+ * @returns Session name with @ prefix
+ */
+export async function resolveSessionName(
+  parsed: { type: 'url'; url: string } | { type: 'config'; file: string; entry: string },
+  options: {
+    outputMode: OutputMode;
+    profile?: string;
+    headers?: string[];
+    noProfile?: boolean;
+  }
+): Promise<string> {
+  // First, check if an existing session matches this server + auth settings
+  const existingName = await findMatchingSession(parsed, options);
+  if (existingName) {
+    return existingName;
+  }
+
+  // Generate a new session name
+  const candidateName = generateSessionName(parsed);
+
+  // Check if the candidate name is already taken by a different server
+  const storage = await loadSessions();
+  if (!(candidateName in storage.sessions)) {
+    if (options.outputMode === 'human') {
+      console.log(chalk.cyan(`Using session name: ${candidateName}`));
+    }
+    return candidateName;
+  }
+
+  // Name is taken - try suffixed variants
+  for (let i = 2; i <= 99; i++) {
+    const suffixed = `${candidateName}-${i}`;
+    if (isValidSessionName(suffixed) && !(suffixed in storage.sessions)) {
+      if (options.outputMode === 'human') {
+        console.log(chalk.cyan(`Using session name: ${suffixed}`));
+      }
+      return suffixed;
+    }
+  }
+
+  throw new ClientError(
+    `Cannot auto-generate session name: too many sessions for this server.\n` +
+      `Specify a name explicitly: mcpc connect ${parsed.type === 'url' ? parsed.url : `${parsed.file}:${parsed.entry}`} @my-session`
+  );
+}
+
 /**
  * Creates a new session, starts a bridge process, and instructs it to connect an MCP server.
  * If session already exists with crashed bridge, reconnects it automatically

diff --git a/src/cli/index.ts b/src/cli/index.ts
@@ -432,11 +432,13 @@ Run "mcpc" without arguments to show active sessions and OAuth profiles.
 Full docs: ${docsUrl}`
   );
 
-  // connect command: mcpc connect <server> @<name>
+  // connect command: mcpc connect <server> [@<name>]
   program
     .command('connect [server] [@session]')
-    .usage('<server> <@session>')
-    .description('Connect to an MCP server and start a new named @session')
+    .usage('<server> [@session]')
+    .description(
+      'Connect to an MCP server and start a named @session (name auto-generated if omitted)'
+    )
     .option('-H, --header <header>', 'HTTP header (can be repeated)')
     .option('--profile <name>', 'OAuth profile to use ("default" if skipped)')
     .option('--no-profile', 'Skip OAuth profile (connect anonymously)')
@@ -449,6 +451,13 @@ Full docs: ${docsUrl}`
 ${chalk.bold('Server formats:')}
   mcp.apify.com                 Remote HTTP server (https:// added automatically)
   ~/.vscode/mcp.json:puppeteer  Config file entry (file:entry)
+
+${chalk.bold('Session name:')}
+  If @session is omitted, a name is auto-generated from the server hostname
+  (e.g. mcp.apify.com → @apify) or config entry name. If a matching session
+  already exists (same server URL, OAuth profile, and HTTP header names), it
+  is reused (restarted if not live). Header values are not compared — they
+  are stored securely in OS keychain.
 ${jsonHelp('`InitializeResult` extended with `tools` and `_mcpc` metadata', '`{ protocolVersion, capabilities, serverInfo, instructions?, tools?, _mcpc }`', `${SCHEMA_BASE}#initializeresult`)}`
     )
     .action(async (server, sessionName, opts, command) => {
@@ -457,11 +466,6 @@ ${jsonHelp('`InitializeResult` extended with `tools` and `_mcpc` metadata', '`{
           'Missing required argument: server\n\nExample: mcpc connect mcp.apify.com @myapp'
         );
       }
-      if (!sessionName) {
-        throw new ClientError(
-          'Missing required argument: @session\n\nExample: mcpc connect mcp.apify.com @myapp'
-        );
-      }
       const globalOpts = getOptionsFromCommand(command);
       const parsed = parseServerArg(server);
 
@@ -479,6 +483,16 @@ ${jsonHelp('`InitializeResult` extended with `tools` and `_mcpc` metadata', '`{
         );
       }
 
+      // Auto-generate session name if not provided
+      if (!sessionName) {
+        sessionName = await sessions.resolveSessionName(parsed, {
+          outputMode: globalOpts.outputMode,
+          ...(globalOpts.profile && { profile: globalOpts.profile }),
+          ...(headers && { headers }),
+          ...(globalOpts.noProfile && { noProfile: globalOpts.noProfile }),
+        });
+      }
+
       if (parsed.type === 'config') {
         // Config file entry: pass entry name as target with config file path
         await sessions.connectSession(parsed.entry, sessionName, {