About MCP Connect
MCP Connect is a lightweight HTTP gateway that exposes local stdio-based MCP servers through Streamable HTTP or a classic request/response bridge. It suits developers who need cloud-based AI services to reach local MCP servers.
Key features
- 01Streamable HTTP and classic HTTP bridge modes
- 02Bearer token authentication with origin allowlist
- 03Session management for conversational continuity
- 04Built-in Ngrok tunnel for external access
- 05Quick deployment to E2B sandboxes
Use cases
- 01Letting cloud AI tools call local MCP servers
- 02Running untrusted MCP servers inside E2B sandboxes
- 03Temporarily exposing a local MCP server through Ngrok
MCP support
MCP Connect acts as a gateway that wraps local stdio MCP servers as HTTP endpoints at /mcp/:serverId, with servers defined in mcp-servers.json.
Details
From the project READMEMCP Connect
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What Is MCP Connect?
MCP Connect is an HTTP gateway that lets you call local MCP servers (that speak stdio) through Streamable HTTP or a classic request/response bridge.
What's New
- Added Streamable HTTP mode on top of the classic request/response bridge
- New quick-deploy scripts and configs under
deploy/e2bfor launching in an E2B sandbox
How It Works
+-----------------+ HTTP (JSON) +------------------+ stdio +------------------+
| | /bridge | | | |
| Cloud AI tools | <------------------------> | Node.js Bridge | <------------> | MCP Server |
| (Remote) | | (Local) | | (Local) |
| | HTTP (SSE stream) | | | |
| | /mcp/:serverId | | | |
+-----------------+ Tunnels (optional) +------------------+ +------------------+
Key Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 🚀 Dual modes | Call local stdio MCP servers via Streamable HTTP or the classic HTTP bridge |
| 🔄 Session management | Maintain conversational continuity with sessions |
| 🔐 Security | Bearer token auth + CORS allowlist |
| 🌐 Public access | Built-in Ngrok tunnel to expose endpoints externally |
| ☁️ Cloud deploy | One-click deploy to E2B cloud sandbox |
Quick Start
Prerequisites
- Node.js >= 22.0.0 (recommended)
- npm or yarn
1) Install
git clone https://github.com/EvalsOne/MCP-connect.git
cd mcp-connect
npm install
2) Preparations
A. Set up initial environment variables
cp .env.example .env
Set ACCESS_TOKEN in .env before starting the server. Startup fails if it is empty.
B. Configure MCP servers
For Streamable HTTP method, each MCP server needs to be configurated separately, edit file to add more configurations other than the existing sample servers.
vim mcp-servers.json
3) Run
# Build and start
npm run build
npm start
# Or use dev mode (hot reload)
npm run dev
# Enable Ngrok tunnel
npm run start:tunnel
After you see the startup banner, visit http://localhost:3000/health to check server status.
Usage
Mode 1: Streamable HTTP bridge
General-purpose and compatible with any MCP client that supports Streamable HTTP.
In Streamable HTTP mode, each MCP server is assigned a unique route. Example: add the fetch MCP server in mcp-servers.json.
{
"mcpServers": {
"fetch": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["mcp-server-fetch"],
"description": "HTTP/HTTPS content fetcher"
}
}
}
Once started, access the fetch MCP server with your favorite MCP client (e.g. Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, GitHub Copilot...)
http://localhost:3000/mcp/fetch
Note: You must configure mcp-servers.json before starting the service, otherwise the server won't be available.
Mode 2: Classic request/response bridge
Non-standard invocation where you implement methods like tools/list, tools/call, etc.
Include Authorization: Bearer <token> in every request header. ACCESS_TOKEN is required at startup.
Example 1: List available tools
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/bridge \
-H "Authorization: Bearer your-secret-token-here" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"serverPath": "uvx",
"args": ["mcp-server-fetch"],
"method": "tools/list",
"params": {}
}'
Example 2: Call a tool
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/bridge \
-H "Authorization: Bearer your-secret-token-here" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"serverPath": "uvx",
"args": ["mcp-server-fetch"],
"method": "tools/call",
"params": {
"name": "fetch",
"arguments": {
"url": "https://example.com"
}
}
}'
Security
Authentication
MCP Connect requires a token-based authentication system. Set ACCESS_TOKEN in .env before startup. If it is empty, the server exits with a configuration error.
Authorization: Bearer <your_auth_token>
Allowed Origins
In production, set ALLOWED_ORIGINS to restrict cross-origin requests:
ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://yourdomain.com,https://app.yourdomain.com
If ALLOWED_ORIGINS is set, non-matching origins are rejected.
API Reference
GET /health
Health check endpoint (no auth required)
Response:
{"status": "ok"}
POST /mcp/:serverId
Streaming HTTP mode
Path params:
serverId: server ID defined inMCP_SERVERS
Headers:
Authorization: Bearer <token>(required)Accept: application/json, text/event-stream(required)mcp-session-id: <session-id>(optional, reuse existing session)
Body:
[
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":"1","method":"tools/list","params":{}},
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"notifications/initialized"}
]
POST /bridge
Original request/response bridge mode
Headers:
Authorization: Bearer <token>(required)Content-Type: application/json
Body:
{
"serverPath": "Executable command or URL (http/https/ws/wss)",
"method": "JSON-RPC method name",
"params": {},
"args": ["optional command-line args"],
"env": {"OPTIONAL_ENV_VAR": "value"}
}
Supported methods:
tools/list,tools/callprompts/list,prompts/getresources/list,resources/readresources/subscribe,resources/unsubscribecompletion/completelogging/setLevel
Expose Publicly via Ngrok
-
Get a token: https://dashboard.ngrok.com/get-started/your-authtoken
-
Add to
.env:NGROK_AUTH_TOKEN=your-token-here -
Start the service:
npm run start:tunnel -
The console will show public URLs:
Tunnel URL: https://abc123.ngrok.io MCP Bridge URL: https://abc123.ngrok.io/bridge
Quick Deploy to E2B Sandbox
E2B provides isolated cloud sandboxes, ideal for running untrusted MCP servers safely.
Step 1: Prepare E2B environment
# Sign up at https://e2b.dev and get an API key
pip install e2b
export E2B_API_KEY=your-e2b-api-key
Optionally set a bearer token for the bridge (preferred env for E2B deployments):
export E2B_MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=your-secure-token
Step 2: Build sandbox templates
cd deploy/e2b
python build.py
Step 3: Launch from template
python sandbox_deploy.py --template-id mcp-dev-gui
See:E2B deployment guide for details.
Logging & Monitoring
Log files
combined.log: all levelserror.log: error level only
Levels
Control verbosity via LOG_LEVEL:
LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG # development
LOG_LEVEL=INFO # production (default)
LOG_LEVEL=WARN # warnings + errors
Development
Project layout
src/
├── server/
│ └── http-server.ts # HTTP server and routes
├── client/
│ └── mcp-client-manager.ts # MCP client manager
├── stream/
│ ├── session-manager.ts # session lifecycle
│ └── stream-session.ts # SSE session implementation
├── config/
│ └── config.ts # config loading & validation
├── utils/
│ ├── logger.ts # Winston logger
│ └── tunnel.ts # Ngrok tunnel management
└── index.ts # entry point
Contributing
Issues and PRs are welcome!
If this project helps you, please ⭐️ Star it!
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.