/lifi-mcp-skill

name: lifi-mcp-skill
description: Use the LI.FI MCP server through UXC for cross-chain route discovery, bridge/DEX availability checks, token and chain lookup, gas/balance/allowance checks, quote generation, and transfer status tracking. Use when tasks involve planning or monitoring cross-chain swaps and bridges without signing or broadcasting transactions.

LI.FI MCP Skill

Use this skill to run LI.FI MCP operations through `uxc`.

Reuse the `uxc` skill for generic protocol discovery, auth binding, envelope parsing, and error handling.

Prerequisites

• `uxc` is installed and available in `PATH`.
• Network access to `https://mcp.li.quest/mcp`.
• Optional: a LI.FI API key for higher rate limits.

Core Workflow

1. Verify endpoint and protocol with help-first probing:

• `uxc https://mcp.li.quest/mcp -h`
• Confirm protocol is MCP (`protocol == "mcp"` in the envelope).

2. Optional auth setup for higher rate limits:

• `uxc auth credential set lifi-mcp --auth-type bearer --secret-env LIFI_API_KEY`
• `uxc auth binding add --id lifi-mcp --host mcp.li.quest --path-prefix /mcp --scheme https --credential lifi-mcp --priority 100`
• LI.FI accepts either `Authorization: Bearer <key>` or `X-LiFi-Api-Key`; prefer bearer unless endpoint behavior changes.

3. Use a fixed link command by default:

• `command -v lifi-mcp-cli`
• If missing, create it:
• `uxc link lifi-mcp-cli https://mcp.li.quest/mcp`
• `lifi-mcp-cli -h`

4. Inspect operation schema before execution:

• `lifi-mcp-cli get-chains -h`
• `lifi-mcp-cli get-token -h`
• `lifi-mcp-cli get-quote -h`
• `lifi-mcp-cli get-status -h`

5. Prefer discovery first, then route/quote, then execution-precheck queries.

Capability Map

• Chain and token discovery:
• `get-chains`
• `get-chain-by-id`
• `get-chain-by-name`
• `get-tokens`
• `get-token`
• Route discovery and provider availability:
• `get-connections`
• `get-tools`
• Quotes and route planning:
• `get-quote`
• `get-routes`
• `get-step-transaction`
• `get-quote-with-calls`
• Wallet prechecks:
• `get-native-token-balance`
• `get-token-balance`
• `get-allowance`
• `get-gas-prices`
• `get-gas-suggestion`
• Monitoring and service checks:
• `get-status`
• `test-api-key`
• `health-check`

Always inspect host help and operation help in the current endpoint version before relying on an operation name or argument shape.

Recommended Usage Pattern

1. Discover chain IDs dynamically:

• `lifi-mcp-cli get-chains`
• `lifi-mcp-cli get-chain-by-name name=base`

2. Resolve token addresses before quoting:

• `lifi-mcp-cli get-token chain=8453 token=USDC`

3. Check whether a route exists before asking for a quote:

• `lifi-mcp-cli get-connections fromChain=8453 toChain=42161`

4. Generate the quote:

• `lifi-mcp-cli get-quote fromChain=8453 toChain=42161 fromToken=USDC toToken=USDC fromAddress=<wallet> fromAmount=<smallest-unit-amount>`

5. Validate execution preconditions:

• `lifi-mcp-cli get-allowance ...`
• `lifi-mcp-cli get-native-token-balance ...`

6. Use `get-status` only after the externally signed transaction has been broadcast.

Guardrails

• Keep automation on JSON output envelope; do not rely on `--text`.
• Parse stable fields first: `ok`, `kind`, `protocol`, `data`, `error`.
• Use `lifi-mcp-cli` as the default command path.
• `lifi-mcp-cli <operation> ...` is equivalent to `uxc https://mcp.li.quest/mcp <operation> ...` when the same auth binding is configured.
• Use direct `uxc "<endpoint>" ...` only as a temporary fallback when link setup is unavailable.
• Prefer `key=value` for simple arguments and positional JSON for nested objects.
• This endpoint is read-only from the agent perspective:
• it does **not** sign transactions
• it does **not** broadcast transactions
• it returns unsigned `transactionRequest` objects for external wallet execution
• Do not present `get-quote` or `get-step-transaction` as executed trades; they are execution plans only.
• Before suggesting an ERC20 route as ready to execute, check allowance if the route needs approval.
• Prefer `get-routes` only when the user explicitly wants multiple alternatives; default to `get-quote` for the best route.
• In live testing, chain lookup tools accepted names, but token/balance/allowance tools were more reliable with numeric chain IDs. Prefer numeric IDs after discovery.

Tested Real Scenario

The endpoint was verified through `uxc` host discovery and returned a live MCP tool list including:

• `get-allowance`
• `get-chain-by-id`
• `get-chain-by-name`
• `get-chains`
• `get-connections`
• `get-gas-prices`
• `get-gas-suggestion`
• `get-quote`
• `get-routes`
• `get-status`
• `get-token`
• `get-tokens`
• `get-tools`
• `health-check`

This confirms the skill target is a real hosted MCP surface accessible via UXC.

References

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