mcp-proxy

• mcp-proxy
  • About
  • 1. stdio to SSE/StreamableHTTP
    • 1.1 Configuration
    • 1.2 Example usage
  • 2. SSE to stdio
    • 2.1 Configuration
    • 2.2 Example usage
  • Named Servers
  • Installation
    • Installing via PyPI
    • Installing via Github repository (latest)
    • Installing as container
    • Troubleshooting
  • Extending the container image
  • Docker Compose Setup
  • Command line arguments
    • Example config file
  • Testing

About

The mcp-proxy is a tool that lets you switch between server transports. There are two supported modes:

1. stdio to SSE/StreamableHTTP
2. SSE to stdio

1. stdio to SSE/StreamableHTTP

Run a proxy server from stdio that connects to a remote SSE server.

This mode allows clients like Claude Desktop to communicate to a remote server over SSE even though it is not supported natively.

graph LR
    A["Claude Desktop"] <--> |stdio| B["mcp-proxy"]
    B <--> |SSE| C["External MCP Server"]

    style A fill:#ffe6f9,stroke:#333,color:black,stroke-width:2px
    style B fill:#e6e6ff,stroke:#333,color:black,stroke-width:2px
    style C fill:#e6ffe6,stroke:#333,color:black,stroke-width:2px

1.1 Configuration

This mode requires providing the URL of the MCP Server's SSE endpoint as the program’s first argument. If the server uses Streamable HTTP transport, make sure to enforce it on the mcp-proxy side by passing --transport=streamablehttp.

Arguments

Environment Variables

1.2 Example usage

mcp-proxy is supposed to be started by the MCP Client, so the configuration must be done accordingly.

For Claude Desktop, the configuration entry can look like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-proxy": {
      "command": "mcp-proxy",
      "args": [
        "http://example.io/sse"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_ACCESS_TOKEN": "access-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

2. SSE to stdio

Run a proxy server exposing a SSE server that connects to a local stdio server.

This allows remote connections to the local stdio server. The mcp-proxy opens a port to listen for SSE requests, spawns a local stdio server that handles MCP requests.

graph LR
    A["LLM Client"] <-->|SSE| B["mcp-proxy"]
    B <-->|stdio| C["Local MCP Server"]

    style A fill:#ffe6f9,stroke:#333,color:black,stroke-width:2px
    style B fill:#e6e6ff,stroke:#333,color:black,stroke-width:2px
    style C fill:#e6ffe6,stroke:#333,color:black,stroke-width:2px

2.1 Configuration

Configure the HTTP server with --host and --port; the defaults are 127.0.0.1 and an available port. A wildcard bind such as 0.0.0.0 requires --allowed-host entries for the Host authorities clients will use. The deprecated --sse-host and --sse-port options are ineffective; use --host and --port instead. Additional environment variables can be passed to the local stdio server using --env. Put local server arguments after the -- separator.

Arguments

2.2 Example usage

To start the mcp-proxy server that listens on port 8080 and connects to the local MCP server:

# Start the MCP server behind the proxy
mcp-proxy uvx mcp-server-fetch

# Start the MCP server behind the proxy with a custom port
mcp-proxy --port=8080 uvx mcp-server-fetch

# Start the MCP server behind the proxy with a custom host and port
mcp-proxy --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8080 --allowed-host mcp.example.com:8080 uvx mcp-server-fetch
# Replace mcp.example.com:8080 with the hostname/IP and port clients send in their Host header.

# Start the MCP server behind the proxy with a custom user agent
# Note that the `--` separator is used to separate the `mcp-proxy` arguments from the `mcp-server-fetch` arguments
mcp-proxy --port=8080 -- uvx mcp-server-fetch --user-agent=YourUserAgent

# Start multiple named MCP servers behind the proxy
mcp-proxy --port=8080 --named-server fetch 'uvx mcp-server-fetch' --named-server fetch2 'uvx mcp-server-fetch'

# Start multiple named MCP servers using a configuration file
mcp-proxy --port=8080 --named-server-config ./servers.json

# Start the MCP server with CORS enabled and custom exposed headers
mcp-proxy --port=8080 --allow-origin='*' --expose-header Custom-Header uvx mcp-server-fetch

Named Servers

• NAME is used in the URL path /servers/NAME/.
• COMMAND_STRING is the command to start the server (e.g., 'uvx mcp-server-fetch').
  • Can be used multiple times.
  • This argument is ignored if --named-server-config is used.
• FILE_PATH - If provided, this is the exclusive source for named servers, and --named-server CLI arguments are ignored.

If a default server is specified (the command_or_url argument without --named-server or --named-server-config), it will be accessible at the root paths (e.g., http://127.0.0.1:8080/sse).

Named servers (whether defined by --named-server or --named-server-config) will be accessible under /servers/<server-name>/ (e.g., http://127.0.0.1:8080/servers/fetch1/sse). The /status endpoint provides global status.

JSON Configuration File Format for --named-server-config:

The JSON file should follow this structure:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fetch": {
      "disabled": false,
      "timeout": 60,
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-server-fetch"
      ],
      "transportType": "stdio"
    },
    "github": {
      "timeout": 60,
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TOKEN>"
      },
      "transportType": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

• mcpServers: A dictionary where each key is the server name (used in the URL path, e.g., /servers/fetch/) and the value is an object defining the server.
• command: (Required) The command to execute for the stdio server.
• args: (Optional) A list of arguments for the command. Defaults to an empty list.
• enabled: (Optional) If false, this server definition will be skipped. Defaults to true.
• timeout and transportType: These fields are present in standard MCP client configurations but are currently ignored by mcp-proxy when loading named servers. The transport type is implicitly "stdio".

Installation

Installing via PyPI

The stable version of the package is available on the PyPI repository. You can install it using the following command:

# Option 1: With uv (recommended)
uv tool install mcp-proxy

# Option 2: With pipx (alternative)
pipx install mcp-proxy

Once installed, you can run the server using the mcp-proxy command. See configuration options for each mode above.

Installing via Github repository (latest)

The latest version of the package can be installed from the git repository using the following command:

uv tool install git+https://github.com/sparfenyuk/mcp-proxy

Installing as container

Starting from version 0.3.2, it's possible to pull and run the corresponding container image. Release images are published to GHCR and Docker Hub as multi-platform manifests for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64; Docker selects the matching image for the host architecture automatically.

docker run --rm -t ghcr.io/sparfenyuk/mcp-proxy:v0.12.0 --help
docker run --rm -t sparfenyuk/mcp-proxy:v0.12.0 --help

Troubleshooting

• Problem: Claude Desktop can't start the server: ENOENT code in the logs

  Solution: Try to use the full path to the binary. To do so, open a terminal and run the commandwhich mcp-proxy ( macOS, Linux) or where.exe mcp-proxy (Windows). Then, use the output path as a value for 'command' attribute:

    "fetch": {
      "command": "/full/path/to/bin/mcp-proxy",
      "args": [
        "http://localhost:8932/sse"
      ]
    }
  

Extending the container image

You can extend the mcp-proxy container image to include additional executables. For instance, uv is not included by default, but you can create a custom image with it:

# file: mcp-proxy.Dockerfile

FROM ghcr.io/sparfenyuk/mcp-proxy:latest

# Install the 'uv' package
RUN python3 -m ensurepip && pip install --no-cache-dir uv

ENV PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH" \
    UV_PYTHON_PREFERENCE=only-system

ENTRYPOINT ["catatonit", "--", "mcp-proxy"]

Docker Compose Setup

With the custom Dockerfile, you can define a service in your Docker Compose file:

services:
  mcp-proxy-custom:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: mcp-proxy.Dockerfile
    network_mode: host
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - 8096:8096
    command: "--pass-environment --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8096 --allowed-host mcp.example.com:8096 uvx mcp-server-fetch"

Command line arguments

usage: mcp-proxy [-h] [--version] [-H KEY VALUE]
                 [--transport {sse,streamablehttp}] [--verify-ssl [VALUE]]
                 [--no-verify-ssl] [-e KEY VALUE] [--cwd CWD]
                 [--client-id CLIENT_ID] [--client-secret CLIENT_SECRET] [--token-url TOKEN_URL]
                 [--pass-environment | --no-pass-environment]
                 [--log-level LEVEL] [--debug | --no-debug]
                 [--named-server NAME COMMAND_STRING]
                 [--named-server-config FILE_PATH] [--port PORT] [--host HOST]
                 [--stateless | --no-stateless] [--sse-port SSE_PORT]
                 [--sse-host SSE_HOST]
                 [--allow-origin ALLOW_ORIGIN [ALLOW_ORIGIN ...]]
                 [--allowed-host HOST]
                 [--expose-header HEADER]
                 [command_or_url] [args ...]

Start the MCP proxy in one of two possible modes: as a client or a server.

positional arguments:
  command_or_url        Command or URL to connect to. When a URL, will run an SSE/StreamableHTTP client. Otherwise, if --named-server is not used, this will be the command for the default stdio client. If --named-server is used, this argument is ignored for stdio mode unless no default server is desired. See corresponding options for more details.

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --version             Show the version and exit

SSE/StreamableHTTP client options:
  -H, --headers KEY VALUE
                        Headers to pass to the SSE server. Can be used multiple times.
  --transport {sse,streamablehttp}
                        The transport to use for the client. Default is SSE.
  --verify-ssl [VALUE]  Control SSL verification when acting as a client. Use without a value to force verification, pass 'false' to disable, or provide a path to a PEM bundle.
  --no-verify-ssl       Disable SSL verification (alias for --verify-ssl false).
  --client-id CLIENT_ID
                        OAuth2 client ID for authentication
  --client-secret CLIENT_SECRET
                        OAuth2 client secret for authentication
  --token-url TOKEN_URL
                        OAuth2 token URL for authentication
  --username USERNAME   Username for authentication
  --password PASSWORD   Password for authentication
  --digest              Use digest authentication

stdio client options:
  args                  Any extra arguments to the command to spawn the default server. Ignored if only named servers are defined.
  -e, --env KEY VALUE   Environment variables used when spawning the default server. Can be used multiple times. For named servers, environment is inherited or passed via --pass-environment.
  --cwd CWD             The working directory to use when spawning the default server process. Named servers inherit the proxy's CWD.
  --pass-environment, --no-pass-environment
                        Pass through all environment variables when spawning all server processes.
  --log-level LEVEL     Set the log level. Default is INFO.
  --debug, --no-debug   Enable debug mode with detailed logging output. Equivalent to --log-level DEBUG. If both --debug and --log-level are provided, --debug takes precedence.
  --named-server NAME COMMAND_STRING
                        Define a named stdio server. NAME is for the URL path /servers/NAME/. COMMAND_STRING is a single string with the command and its arguments (e.g., 'uvx mcp-server-fetch --timeout 10'). These servers inherit the proxy's CWD and environment from --pass-environment.
  --named-server-config FILE_PATH
                        Path to a JSON configuration file for named stdio servers. If provided, this will be the exclusive source for named server definitions, and any --named-server CLI arguments will be ignored.

SSE server options:
  --port PORT           Port to expose an SSE server on. Default is a random port
  --host HOST           Host to expose an SSE server on. Default is 127.0.0.1
  --stateless, --no-stateless
                        Enable stateless mode for streamable http transports. Default is False
  --sse-port SSE_PORT   (deprecated and ineffective; use --port)
  --sse-host SSE_HOST   (deprecated and ineffective; use --host)
  --allow-origin ALLOW_ORIGIN [ALLOW_ORIGIN ...]
                        Allowed origins for the SSE server. Can be used multiple times. Default is no CORS allowed.
  --allowed-host HOST   Additional trusted Host authority. Can be used multiple times.
  --expose-header HEADER
                        Headers to expose via Access-Control-Expose-Headers. Defaults to 'Mcp-Session-Id'. Can be used multiple times.

HTTP server requests are checked against trusted Host authorities before reaching routes. Loopback hostnames and IPs are trusted by default; a non-wildcard `--host` also trusts that bind address. A wildcard bind does not trust arbitrary Host values. Add the public hostname or reverse-proxy Host with `--allowed-host`, repeating the option for each authority (for example, `--allowed-host mcp.example.com --allowed-host mcp.example.com:8443`). A terminal `:*` may be used for an authority that accepts any port.

Raw Uvicorn HTTP access-log lines are disabled because SSE session IDs can appear in request query strings.

Host and browser Origin are separate checks. `--allow-origin '*'` allows browser Origins but does not bypass Host validation. Native clients that omit Origin remain supported. These checks do not authenticate callers; protect publicly reachable deployments with network controls or an authenticated reverse proxy.

Examples:
  mcp-proxy http://localhost:8080/sse
  mcp-proxy --no-verify-ssl https://server.local/sse
  mcp-proxy --transport streamablehttp http://localhost:8080/mcp
  mcp-proxy --transport streamablehttp --username user --password pass https://server.local/mcp
  mcp-proxy --headers Authorization 'Bearer YOUR_TOKEN' http://localhost:8080/sse
  mcp-proxy --client-id CLIENT_ID --client-secret CLIENT_SECRET --token-url https://auth.example.com/token http://localhost:8080/sse
  mcp-proxy --port 8080 -- your-command --arg1 value1 --arg2 value2
  mcp-proxy --named-server fetch 'uvx mcp-server-fetch' --port 8080
  mcp-proxy your-command --port 8080 -e KEY VALUE -e ANOTHER_KEY ANOTHER_VALUE
  mcp-proxy your-command --port 8080 --allow-origin='*'
  mcp-proxy your-command --port 8080 --allow-origin='*' --expose-header Custom-Header

Example config file

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fetch": {
      "enabled": true,
      "timeout": 60,
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-server-fetch"
      ],
      "transportType": "stdio"
    },
    "github": {
      "timeout": 60,
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TOKEN>"
      },
      "transportType": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

Testing

Check the mcp-proxy server by running it with the mcp-server-fetch server. You can use the inspector tool to test the target server.

# Run the stdio server called mcp-server-fetch behind the proxy over SSE
mcp-proxy --port=8080 uvx mcp-server-fetch &

# Connect to the SSE proxy server spawned above using another instance of mcp-proxy given the URL of the SSE server
mcp-proxy http://127.0.0.1:8080/sse

# Send CTRL+C to stop the second server

# Bring the first server to the foreground
fg

# Send CTRL+C to stop the first server