xf-cli is a read-only XenForo frontend client and MCP server in Go.

It logs into a XenForo 2.x forum as a normal user, without XF-Api-Key, and exposes forum content through:

• a CLI with MCP-aligned subcommands
• an MCP stdio server for Claude, Codex, and other MCP clients

The current validation target is:

• https://www.rc-network.de

Implemented:

• browser-style login with username/password
• verified session reuse from ~/.config/xf-cli/session.json
• forum listing
• thread listing
• full thread reading across all pages
• thread-title search
• post-content search
• public profile reading
• user post and thread listing
• "my threads" and "threads I participated in"
• link normalization
• image and attachment resolution
• MCP over stdin / stdout

Not in scope:

• writing posts
• creating threads
• edits or deletes
• private messages
• XenForo REST API usage
• automatic .env loading

rc-network.de exposes the XenForo REST API, but it still requires XF-Api-Key. Normal browser session cookies do not unlock /api/....

So this project uses the authenticated frontend and parses HTML instead.

go build ./...

Install the CLI into your Go bin directory:

go install github.com/sttts/xf-cli@latest

Then use it directly:

xf-cli --help

Priority order:

1. -u / -p
2. XF_USERNAME / XF_PASSWORD
3. interactive prompt

Example:

export XF_USERNAME=sttts
export XF_PASSWORD='...'
xf-cli list_forums

.env is intentionally not auto-loaded.

This command does not only test credentials:

xf-cli login

A successful login writes the authenticated session to:

~/.config/xf-cli/session.json

That stored session is then reused by:

• later CLI commands
• xf-cli mcp

So the normal setup flow is:

1. run xf-cli login
2. confirm that session.json exists
3. use the other CLI commands or start the MCP server

Successful logins are stored in:

~/.config/xf-cli/session.json

On later runs, xf-cli tries to:

1. load the stored session
2. verify it against the forum frontend
3. reuse it if still valid
4. fall back to a fresh login if it expired

This applies to both:

• CLI commands such as list_threads
• MCP mode via xf-cli mcp

If no valid stored session exists, xf-cli needs credentials again.

Top-level commands:

• login
• list_forums
• list_threads
• read_thread
• search_threads
• search_posts
• read_profile
• list_user_posts
• list_user_threads
• list_my_threads
• list_threads_i_participated
• follow_link
• get_image
• mcp

Examples:

xf-cli login
xf-cli list_forums --json
xf-cli list_threads /forums/flugmodellbau-allgemein.31/ --limit=50
xf-cli read_thread /threads/eure-sch%C3%B6nsten-modelle.144946/ --json
xf-cli search_threads Fouga --limit=20
xf-cli search_posts Fouga --limit=20
xf-cli read_profile /members/sttts.31018/
xf-cli follow_link /threads/eure-sch%C3%B6nsten-modelle.144946/latest
xf-cli get_image /attachments/piper-tc-jpg.9277151/

List and search commands use logical paging:

• --limit=50 is the CLI default
• --limit=0 means: collect all pages
• if --page is unset, pages are collected until at least limit results are present
• responses include next_page and next_page_url
• pass --page=<next_page> to continue

read_thread is different:

• it always reads the complete thread
• there is no paging flag for it

-v is a counter:

• -v: request line
• -vv: request form data, status, headers, cookies
• -vvv: response body as well

Example:

xf-cli -v search_posts Fouga --limit=5
xf-cli -vv list_threads /forums/flugmodellbau-allgemein.31/ --limit=5
xf-cli -vvv read_thread /threads/eure-sch%C3%B6nsten-modelle.144946/

Run the stdio MCP server with:

xf-cli mcp

The server speaks MCP over stdin / stdout. It does not expose an HTTP transport.

The MCP server uses the same auth/session logic as the CLI.

Recommended setup:

1. create a session once:

xf-cli login

1. start the MCP server:

xf-cli mcp

If the stored session is still valid, MCP starts without prompting.

If the stored session is missing or expired, MCP needs credentials from:

• XF_USERNAME
• XF_PASSWORD

Example:

XF_USERNAME=sttts XF_PASSWORD='...' xf-cli mcp

Important:

• .env is not auto-loaded
• MCP must not depend on interactive prompts in normal client setup
• for reliable MCP startup, either create the session first with login, or pass XF_USERNAME / XF_PASSWORD in the environment of the MCP process

xf-cli is a local stdio MCP server. In Claude Desktop, configure it as a command-based server and pass credentials through environment variables if you do not want to rely on the persisted session.

Typical local setup:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xf-cli": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/xf-cli",
      "args": ["mcp"],
      "env": {
        "XF_USERNAME": "your-user",
        "XF_PASSWORD": "your-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you already created ~/.config/xf-cli/session.json with xf-cli login, the env block can often be omitted until the session expires.

For Claude clients that support local MCP stdio servers, use the same pattern:

• launch xf-cli mcp
• keep it on stdin / stdout
• provide XF_USERNAME / XF_PASSWORD in the server environment if no persisted session is available

The exact UI differs by Claude surface, but the important part is the same command:

/absolute/path/to/xf-cli mcp

Codex supports adding a local stdio MCP server directly.

Example:

codex mcp add xf-cli --env XF_USERNAME=your-user --env XF_PASSWORD=your-password -- /absolute/path/to/xf-cli mcp

Then verify it with:

codex mcp list

If you want to rely on the persisted session instead, first run:

xf-cli login

and then add the MCP server without the credential env vars.

Current MCP tools:

• list_forums
• list_threads
• read_thread
• search_threads
• search_posts
• read_profile
• list_user_posts
• list_user_threads
• list_my_threads
• list_threads_i_participated
• follow_link
• get_image

Unit and live tests:

make test

Live tests run against rc-network.de and require:

export XF_USERNAME=...
export XF_PASSWORD=...

The suite verifies:

• login
• session reuse
• forum and thread reads
• search tools
• user/profile tools
• link and image tools
• MCP tool registration and MCP tool calls

GitHub repository:

git@github.com:sttts/xf-cli.git