Install mcp/tavily in mcp-client-cli

What you need first

• mcp-client-cli, installed.
• Docker, which gives the docker command the server starts with.

Steps

1. Open ~/.codex/config.toml, or create it. The Codex CLI, its IDE extension and the ChatGPT desktop app share this file.
2. Add this table at the end of the file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily-mcp-p8r7d2": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "docker.io/mcp/tavily"]
    }
  }
}

3. Save the file and restart mcp-client-cli.

Check it worked

Ask mcp-client-cli: List the tools of tavily-mcp-p8r7d2.

If it does not start

Cannot connect to the Docker daemon

Docker is not running. Start it, then restart mcp-client-cli.

Nothing changes after a restart

The file is not valid JSON any more. Look for a missing comma where the block was added.