CoinMarketCap MCP Skill

Use this skill to run CoinMarketCap MCP operations through uxc.

Reuse the uxc skill for shared protocol discovery, output parsing, and generic auth/binding flows.

Prerequisites

• uxc is installed and available in PATH.
• Network access to https://mcp.coinmarketcap.com/mcp.
• A CoinMarketCap MCP API key is available.

Core Workflow

1. Confirm endpoint and protocol with help-first probing:
   • uxc https://mcp.coinmarketcap.com/mcp -h
   • expected unauthenticated behavior today: 401 Unauthorized with Token not found
2. Configure credential/binding for repeatable auth:
   • uxc auth credential set coinmarketcap-mcp --auth-type api_key --header "X-CMC-MCP-API-KEY={{secret}}" --secret-env COINMARKETCAP_MCP_API_KEY
   • uxc auth credential set coinmarketcap-mcp --auth-type api_key --header "X-CMC-MCP-API-KEY={{secret}}" --secret-op op://Engineering/coinmarketcap/mcp-api-key
   • uxc auth binding add --id coinmarketcap-mcp --host mcp.coinmarketcap.com --path-prefix /mcp --scheme https --credential coinmarketcap-mcp --priority 100
3. Use fixed link command by default:
   • command -v coinmarketcap-mcp-cli
   • If missing, create it: uxc link coinmarketcap-mcp-cli https://mcp.coinmarketcap.com/mcp
   • coinmarketcap-mcp-cli -h
4. Inspect operation schema before execution:
   • coinmarketcap-mcp-cli get_crypto_quotes_latest -h
   • coinmarketcap-mcp-cli get_global_metrics_latest -h
   • coinmarketcap-mcp-cli trending_crypto_narratives -h
   • coinmarketcap-mcp-cli get_crypto_latest_news -h
5. Prefer read-only discovery first, then expand into higher-cost or plan-gated endpoints.

Capability Map

• Market data and discovery:
  • get_crypto_quotes_latest
  • search_cryptos
  • get_crypto_info
• Technical analysis:
  • get_crypto_technical_analysis
  • get_crypto_marketcap_technical_analysis
• On-chain and macro metrics:
  • get_crypto_metrics
  • get_global_metrics_latest
  • get_global_crypto_derivatives_metrics
  • get_upcoming_macro_events
• Themes, news, and search:
  • trending_crypto_narratives
  • get_crypto_latest_news
  • search_crypto_info

Inspect coinmarketcap-mcp-cli -h after auth setup for the current full tool list. CoinMarketCap can revise or expand its MCP tool surface independently of this wrapper skill.

Recommended Usage Pattern

1. Start with one focused read goal:
   • current quote and market cap for a coin
   • trend or narrative scan for a sector
   • global market and derivatives snapshot
   • latest news or semantic lookup on a project/topic
2. Run -h on the specific tool before the first real call.
3. Prefer id-, slug-, or keyword-scoped reads before broad market sweeps.
4. Parse the JSON envelope first, then inspect data.

Guardrails

• Keep automation on JSON output envelope; do not rely on --text.
• Parse stable fields first: ok, kind, protocol, data, error.
• Use coinmarketcap-mcp-cli as default command path.
• coinmarketcap-mcp-cli <operation> ... is equivalent to uxc https://mcp.coinmarketcap.com/mcp <operation> ....
• If unauthenticated probe or runtime call returns 401 Unauthorized or Token not found:
  • confirm auth binding matches endpoint with uxc auth binding match https://mcp.coinmarketcap.com/mcp
  • confirm credential shape with uxc auth credential info coinmarketcap-mcp
  • reset credential as API-key header if needed: uxc auth credential set coinmarketcap-mcp --auth-type api_key --header "X-CMC-MCP-API-KEY={{secret}}" --secret-env COINMARKETCAP_MCP_API_KEY
• CoinMarketCap documents an x402 pay-per-call path, but uxc does not implement x402 payment handling today. This skill documents only the API-key route.
• Higher CoinMarketCap plans unlock additional datasets or request rates. If a tool returns a plan or quota error, verify the current account tier before retrying.
• CoinMarketCap MCP is read-only. Do not present it as a trading or order-routing integration.
• Use key=value only for simple scalar inputs.
• Prefer positional JSON when an operation accepts nested objects, arrays, or optional filters that may evolve.
• Do not assume tool argument names from memory; inspect <operation> -h first because CoinMarketCap may revise MCP schemas independently of this skill.

References

• Invocation patterns:
  • references/usage-patterns.md