diff --git a/services/mcp-client.mjs b/services/mcp-client.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b7b8d1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/mcp-client.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bun
+
+// MCP Client — Speaks JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdio to MCP servers.
+// Spawns a server process, discovers tools, and calls them on demand.
+// Used by the Familiar tool loop to access Rust daemon capabilities
+// (screenshots, window management, input, clipboard, OCR, etc.)
+// without depending on any external coding tool.
+//
+// Usage:
+//   import { McpClient } from "./mcp-client.mjs";
+//   const client = new McpClient({ command: "/path/to/familiar-daemon", args: [] });
+//   await client.connect();
+//   const tools = await client.listTools();
+//   const result = await client.callTool("screenshot_screen", {});
+//   client.close();
+
+import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
+import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";
+
+const DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS = 30_000;
+
+export class McpClient {
+  constructor(opts = {}) {
+    this.command = opts.command;
+    this.args = opts.args || [];
+    this.env = { ...process.env, ...(opts.env || {}) };
+    this.process = null;
+    this._buffer = "";
+    this._pending = new Map(); // id -> { resolve, reject, timer }
+    this._tools = null; // cached tool list
+    this._nextId = 1;
+    this._ready = false;
+  }
+
+  /** Spawn the MCP server and complete the initialize handshake. */
+  async connect() {
+    if (this.process) return;
+
+    this.process = spawn(this.command, this.args, {
+      stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"],
+      env: this.env,
+    });
+
+    this.process.stdout.on("data", (chunk) => this._onData(chunk.toString()));
+    this.process.stderr.on("data", (chunk) => {
+      // MCP servers log to stderr — ignore unless debugging
+    });
+
+    this.process.on("close", (code) => {
+      this._ready = false;
+      // Reject all pending requests
+      for (const [id, pending] of this._pending) {
+        clearTimeout(pending.timer);
+        pending.reject(new Error(`MCP server exited with code ${code}`));
+      }
+      this._pending.clear();
+      this.process = null;
+    });
+
+    this.process.on("error", (err) => {
+      this._ready = false;
+      for (const [id, pending] of this._pending) {
+        clearTimeout(pending.timer);
+        pending.reject(err);
+      }
+      this._pending.clear();
+    });
+
+    // MCP initialize handshake
+    const initResult = await this._request("initialize", {
+      protocolVersion: "2024-11-05",
+      capabilities: {},
+      clientInfo: { name: "familiar-tool-loop", version: "1.0.0" },
+    });
+
+    // Send initialized notification (no response expected)
+    this._notify("notifications/initialized", {});
+
+    this._ready = true;
+    return initResult;
+  }
+
+  /** List available tools from the server. Cached after first call. */
+  async listTools() {
+    if (this._tools) return this._tools;
+    const result = await this._request("tools/list", {});
+    this._tools = result.tools || [];
+    return this._tools;
+  }
+
+  /** Call a tool by name with arguments. */
+  async callTool(name, args = {}) {
+    const result = await this._request("tools/call", { name, arguments: args });
+    return result;
+  }
+
+  /** Get tool names as a simple array. */
+  async getToolNames() {
+    const tools = await this.listTools();
+    return tools.map((t) => t.name);
+  }
+
+  /** Get tool schemas formatted for the system prompt. */
+  async getToolSchemaText() {
+    const tools = await this.listTools();
+    return tools.map((tool) => {
+      const params = tool.inputSchema?.properties || {};
+      const required = new Set(tool.inputSchema?.required || []);
+      const paramLines = Object.entries(params).map(([name, def]) => {
+        const req = required.has(name) ? " (required)" : "";
+        return `  - ${name}: ${def.type || "any"}${req} — ${def.description || ""}`;
+      });
+      const paramText = paramLines.length > 0 ? paramLines.join("\n") : "(no parameters)";
+      return `### ${tool.name}\n${tool.description || ""}\nParameters:\n${paramText}`;
+    }).join("\n\n");
+  }
+
+  /** Check if connected and ready. */
+  get connected() {
+    return this._ready && this.process !== null;
+  }
+
+  /** Gracefully close the server process. */
+  close() {
+    this._ready = false;
+    if (this.process) {
+      try { this.process.stdin.end(); } catch {}
+      try { this.process.kill("SIGTERM"); } catch {}
+      this.process = null;
+    }
+    this._tools = null;
+  }
+
+  // ── Internal ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+  _request(method, params, timeoutMs = DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS) {
+    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+      const id = this._nextId++;
+
+      const timer = setTimeout(() => {
+        this._pending.delete(id);
+        reject(new Error(`MCP request timeout: ${method} (${timeoutMs}ms)`));
+      }, timeoutMs);
+
+      this._pending.set(id, { resolve, reject, timer });
+
+      const msg = JSON.stringify({ jsonrpc: "2.0", id, method, params }) + "\n";
+      try {
+        this.process.stdin.write(msg);
+      } catch (err) {
+        clearTimeout(timer);
+        this._pending.delete(id);
+        reject(new Error(`Failed to write to MCP server: ${err.message}`));
+      }
+    });
+  }
+
+  _notify(method, params) {
+    const msg = JSON.stringify({ jsonrpc: "2.0", method, params }) + "\n";
+    try {
+      this.process.stdin.write(msg);
+    } catch {
+      // Notification failures are non-fatal
+    }
+  }
+
+  _onData(chunk) {
+    this._buffer += chunk;
+
+    // Process complete lines (JSON-RPC messages are newline-delimited)
+    let newlineIdx;
+    while ((newlineIdx = this._buffer.indexOf("\n")) !== -1) {
+      const line = this._buffer.slice(0, newlineIdx).trim();
+      this._buffer = this._buffer.slice(newlineIdx + 1);
+
+      if (!line) continue;
+
+      try {
+        const msg = JSON.parse(line);
+
+        // Response to a request
+        if (msg.id != null && this._pending.has(msg.id)) {
+          const pending = this._pending.get(msg.id);
+          this._pending.delete(msg.id);
+          clearTimeout(pending.timer);
+
+          if (msg.error) {
+            pending.reject(new Error(`MCP error: ${msg.error.message || JSON.stringify(msg.error)}`));
+          } else {
+            pending.resolve(msg.result);
+          }
+        }
+        // Notifications from server (ignore for now)
+      } catch {
+        // Malformed JSON — skip
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+export default McpClient;