Pare

Dev tools, optimized for agents. Up to 95% fewer tokens, 100% structured output.

Pare is a collection of MCP servers that wrap popular developer tools with structured, token-efficient, schema-validated output optimized for AI coding agents.

The Problem

AI coding agents waste tokens on output designed for humans — ANSI colors, progress bars, download indicators, help suggestions, decorative formatting. This is expensive and error-prone to parse.

Tool Command	Raw Tokens	Pare Tokens	Reduction
`docker build` (multi-stage, 11 steps)	373	20	95%
`git log --stat` (5 commits, verbose)	4,992	382	92%
`npm install` (487 packages, warnings)	241	41	83%
`vitest run` (28 tests, all pass)	196	39	80%
`cargo build` (2 errors, help text)	436	138	68%
`pip install` (9 packages, progress bars)	288	101	65%
`cargo test` (12 tests, 2 failures)	351	190	46%
`npm audit` (4 vulnerabilities)	287	185	36%

Token counts estimated at ~4 chars/token. Savings are highest on verbose, human-formatted output — build logs, install progress, test runners, and detailed history. For compact diagnostic tools like eslint or tsc (one line per issue), Pare's value is structured reliability over token savings: agents get typed JSON they can consume directly instead of regex-parsing human text.

How It Works

Every Pare tool returns dual output:

content — Human-readable text (for MCP clients that display it)
structuredContent — Typed, schema-validated JSON (for agents)

Pare uses MCP's structuredContent + outputSchema spec features to deliver type-safe, validated structured output that agents can consume directly.

Available Servers (62 tools)

Package	Tools	Wraps
`@paretools/git`	status, log, diff, branch, show, add, commit, push, pull, checkout	git
`@paretools/test`	run, coverage	pytest, jest, vitest, mocha
`@paretools/npm`	install, audit, outdated, list, run, test, init	npm
`@paretools/docker`	ps, build, logs, images, run, exec, compose-up, compose-down, pull	docker, docker compose
`@paretools/build`	tsc, build, esbuild, vite-build, webpack	tsc, esbuild, vite, webpack
`@paretools/lint`	lint, format-check, prettier-format, biome-check, biome-format	eslint, prettier, biome
`@paretools/python`	pip-install, mypy, ruff-check, pip-audit, pytest, uv-install, uv-run, black	pip, mypy, ruff, pytest, uv, black
`@paretools/cargo`	build, test, clippy, run, add, remove, fmt, doc, check	cargo
`@paretools/go`	build, test, vet, run, mod-tidy, fmt, generate	go, gofmt

Quick Start

Claude Code (recommended):

claude mcp add --transport stdio pare-git -- npx -y @paretools/git
claude mcp add --transport stdio pare-test -- npx -y @paretools/test

Claude Code / Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf / Cline / Roo Code / Gemini CLI (mcpServers format):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pare-git": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@paretools/git"]
    },
    "pare-test": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@paretools/test"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code / GitHub Copilot (.vscode/mcp.json)

{
  "servers": {
    "pare-git": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@paretools/git"]
    },
    "pare-test": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@paretools/test"]
    }
  }
}

Zed (settings.json)

{
  "context_servers": {
    "pare-git": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@paretools/git"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

OpenAI Codex (.codex/config.toml)

[mcp_servers.pare-git]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@paretools/git"]

[mcp_servers.pare-test]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@paretools/test"]

Continue.dev (.continue/mcpServers/pare.yaml)

name: Pare Tools
version: 0.0.1
schema: v1
mcpServers:
  - name: pare-git
    type: stdio
    command: npx
    args: ["-y", "@paretools/git"]
  - name: pare-test
    type: stdio
    command: npx
    args: ["-y", "@paretools/test"]

Windows (all JSON clients)

On Windows, wrap npx with cmd /c:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pare-git": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "@paretools/git"]
    }
  }
}

Example: `git status`

Raw git output (~118 tokens):

On branch main
Your branch is ahead of 'origin/main' by 2 commits.
  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)

Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
        modified:   src/index.ts
        new file:   src/utils.ts

Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
        modified:   README.md

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        temp.log

Pare structured output (~59 tokens):

{
  "branch": "main",
  "upstream": "origin/main",
  "ahead": 2,
  "staged": [
    { "file": "src/index.ts", "status": "modified" },
    { "file": "src/utils.ts", "status": "added" }
  ],
  "modified": ["README.md"],
  "deleted": [],
  "untracked": ["temp.log"],
  "conflicts": [],
  "clean": false
}

50% fewer tokens. Zero information lost. Fully typed. Savings scale with output verbosity — test runners and build logs see 80–92% reduction.

Telling Agents to Use Pare

Add a snippet to your project's agent instruction file so AI agents prefer Pare tools over raw CLI commands:

CLAUDE.md (Claude Code)

## MCP Tools

When Pare MCP tools are available (prefixed with mcp\_\_pare-\*), prefer them over
running raw CLI commands via Bash. Pare tools return structured JSON with ~85%
fewer tokens than CLI output.

- Git: mcp**pare-git**status, log, diff, branch, show, add, commit, push, pull, checkout
- Tests: mcp**pare-test**run, mcp**pare-test**coverage (pytest, jest, vitest, mocha)
- Builds: mcp**pare-build**tsc, build, esbuild, vite-build, webpack
- Linting: mcp**pare-lint**lint, format-check, prettier-format, biome-check, biome-format
- npm: mcp**pare-npm**install, audit, outdated, list, run, test, init
- Docker: mcp**pare-docker**ps, build, logs, images, run, exec, compose-up, compose-down, pull
- Python: mcp**pare-python**pip-install, mypy, ruff-check, pip-audit, pytest, uv-install, uv-run, black
- Cargo: mcp**pare-cargo**build, test, clippy, run, add, remove, fmt, doc, check
- Go: mcp**pare-go**build, test, vet, run, mod-tidy, fmt, generate

AGENTS.md (OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, Claude Code)

## MCP Servers

This project uses Pare MCP servers (62 tools) for structured, token-efficient dev tool output.
Prefer Pare MCP tools over raw CLI commands for git, testing, building, linting, npm, docker, python, cargo, and go.
Pare tools return typed JSON, saving tokens and preventing parsing errors.

.cursor/rules/pare.mdc (Cursor)

---
description: Use Pare MCP tools for structured dev tool output
globs: ["**/*"]
alwaysApply: true
---

When Pare MCP tools are available, prefer them over running CLI commands in the
terminal. Pare tools (pare-git, pare-test, pare-build, pare-lint, pare-npm,
pare-docker, pare-python, pare-cargo, pare-go — 62 tools total) return
structured JSON with up to 95% fewer tokens than raw CLI output.

.github/copilot-instructions.md (GitHub Copilot)

## Tool Preferences

This project uses Pare MCP servers (@paretools/\*) for structured dev tool output.
When available, prefer Pare tools (pare-git, pare-test, pare-build, pare-lint, pare-npm, pare-docker, pare-python, pare-cargo, pare-go) over raw CLI commands.

GEMINI.md / .windsurfrules / .clinerules / .amazonq/rules/

When Pare MCP tools are available, prefer them over raw CLI commands.
Pare tools return structured JSON with fewer tokens than CLI output.

- pare-git: status, log, diff, branch, show, add, commit, push, pull, checkout
- pare-test: run, coverage (pytest, jest, vitest, mocha)
- pare-build: tsc, build, esbuild, vite-build, webpack
- pare-lint: lint, format-check, prettier-format, biome-check, biome-format
- pare-npm: install, audit, outdated, list, run, test, init
- pare-docker: ps, build, logs, images, run, exec, compose-up, compose-down, pull
- pare-python: pip-install, mypy, ruff-check, pip-audit, pytest, uv-install, uv-run, black
- pare-cargo: build, test, clippy, run, add, remove, fmt, doc, check
- pare-go: build, test, vet, run, mod-tidy, fmt, generate

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
`npx` not found / ENOENT on Windows	Use `cmd /c npx` wrapper (see Windows config above)
Slow first start	Run `npx -y @paretools/git` once to cache, or install globally: `npm i -g @paretools/git`
Node.js version error	Pare requires Node.js >= 20
NVM/fnm PATH issues	Use absolute path to `npx`: e.g., `~/.nvm/versions/node/v22/bin/npx`
MCP connection timeout	Set `MCP_TIMEOUT=30000` for Claude Code, or increase `initTimeout` in client config
Too many tools filling context	Only install the Pare servers relevant to your project — you don't need all 9

Contributing

Each server is a self-contained package. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide.

License

MIT

build

Quick Install

Pare

The Problem

How It Works

Available Servers (62 tools)

Quick Start

Example: `git status`

Telling Agents to Use Pare

Troubleshooting

Contributing

License

Reviews

build

Quick Install

Pare

The Problem

How It Works

Available Servers (62 tools)

Quick Start

Example: git status

Telling Agents to Use Pare

Troubleshooting

Contributing

License

Reviews

Example: `git status`