diff --git a/docs/cli.md b/docs/cli.md
index b2d9ef3..40e338f 100644
--- a/docs/cli.md
+++ b/docs/cli.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Command Line
 
-The `universal-netlist` binary is an MCP server: run with no command, it serves the [tools](README.md) over stdio and is meant to be started by an MCP client. Everything else it can do is a command. Every command is accepted as a word (`universal-netlist update`) and as a flag (`universal-netlist --update`); the pages below use the word form.
+The `universal-netlist` binary is an MCP server: an MCP client runs it with no command and speaks to it over stdio. Run by hand with no command, it prints how to set that up instead of serving. Everything else it can do is a command. Every command is accepted as a word (`universal-netlist update`) and as a flag (`universal-netlist --update`); the pages below use the word form.
 
 ```
 Usage: universal-netlist [options] [command]
diff --git a/src/cli/commands.ts b/src/cli/commands.ts
index 91f2c90..df3d932 100644
--- a/src/cli/commands.ts
+++ b/src/cli/commands.ts
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ ${BINARY_NAME} v${VERSION}
 Usage: ${BINARY_NAME} [options] [command]
 
 MCP server for querying EDA netlists: Cadence, Altium Designer, KiCad, and Universal Netlist JSON.
-Run with no command to start the server over stdio.
+An MCP client runs the binary with no command and speaks to it over stdio; the commands
+below are what you run by hand.
 
 Options:
   -v, --version        Output the version number