MCP Proxy

mcp-proxy is an MCP server bridge that connects STDIO-based Model Context Protocol clients with remote HTTP and Server-Sent Events (SSE) based MCP servers. Written in Rust, it serves as a lightweight translation layer for developers and AI engineers who need their local desktop clients, such as Claude Desktop, to interface directly with remote MCP servers exposed over web endpoints. By default, many MCP client implementations only support launching and interacting with local processes over standard input and output streams. This tool resolves transport incompatibilities by accepting STDIO communication from the client and translating requests and responses to the remote SSE endpoint. It supports transport protocols conforming to both the 2024-11-05 SSE specification and the 2025-03-26 streamable HTTP specification. Users can configure connection behaviors such as reconnect timeout intervals and override protocol version reporting to ensure compatibility across disparate server and client implementations.

Category: AI & LLM Tooling

Tags: gateway, integration, proxy, sse, stdio

Visit MCP Proxy

How to install and configure MCP Proxy

1. Download the precompiled binary for your operating system from the releases page of https://github.com/tidewave-ai/mcp_proxy_rust, or build it locally using cargo build --release. 2. On macOS, remove the quarantine flag if downloaded manually: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /path/to/mcp-proxy. 3. Open your client configuration file, such as Claude Desktop's config file. 4. Add the proxy entry under mcpServers pointing to your local binary and the target HTTP/SSE server endpoint: json { "mcpServers": { "my-server": { "command": "/path/to/mcp-proxy", "args": ["http://localhost:4000/tidewave/mcp"] } } } 5. Save the configuration and restart your MCP client.

What you can do with MCP Proxy

• Connecting STDIO-only MCP client applications directly to remote HTTP and SSE Model Context Protocol endpoints. - Bridging local Claude Desktop installations to custom remote API servers operating over localhost or remote networks. - Overriding protocol versions using command-line flags to fix transport mismatches between newer servers and older clients. - Configuring custom reconnection timeouts via command-line arguments when communicating across unstable network connections. - Debugging raw MCP network traffic by enabling stderr debug logging with the proxy flag.

Key facts

• Open Source
• https://github.com/tidewave-ai/mcp_proxy_rust
• AI & LLM Tooling, Developer Tools & Code Intelligence
• gateway, integration, proxy, sse, stdio

Part of MCP Servers

What is mcp-proxy?

mcp-proxy is a standalone binary written in Rust designed to connect STDIO-based Model Context Protocol clients to remote HTTP and SSE-based MCP servers. It translates standard input and output streams into SSE network requests, allowing local clients to access remote servers.

Which MCP specifications does mcp-proxy support?

The proxy supports Server-Sent Events according to the 2024-11-05 specification as well as streamable HTTP under the 2025-03-26 specification. It also provides a flag to override the protocol version if your client requires a specific version format.

How do I configure the remote server URL?

You can provide the remote server endpoint by passing the URL as a command-line argument when executing the binary, or by assigning the target address to the SSE_URL environment variable in your client configuration.

Is mcp-proxy open source?

Yes, mcp-proxy is open source software. The source code and precompiled release binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows are accessible on GitHub at https://github.com/tidewave-ai/mcp_proxy_rust.