MCP Server Gateway

A gateway service that bridges the stdio-based Model Context Protocol (MCP) implementation in Claude Desktop with HTTP/SSE-based MCP servers. This solves the protocol compatibility gap since Claude Desktop currently only supports stdio-based MCP servers. See the discussion here.

Why This Gateway?

Claude Desktop App currently only supports stdio protocol for MCP servers, while many MCP servers use HTTP with Server-Sent Events (SSE) transport. This gateway acts as a protocol translator, allowing Claude Desktop to communicate with any HTTP/SSE MCP server by:

1. Accepting stdio input from Claude Desktop

2. Converting and forwarding requests to HTTP/SSE MCP servers

3. Converting SSE responses back to stdio format for Claude Desktop

Installation

Install the gateway globally using npm:

npm install -g @mcphub/gateway

Configuration

1. Find the Gateway Path

After installation, find where npm installed the gateway using these commands:

# This shows the root directory of global packages
npm root -g

# The gateway will be located at:
/@mcphub/gateway/dist/src/mcphub-gateway.js

Common global package locations:

• macOS (Homebrew Node): `/opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/@mcphub/gateway/dist/src/mcphub-gateway.js`
• macOS (default): `/usr/local/lib/node_modules/@mcphub/gateway/dist/src/mcphub-gateway.js`
• Windows: `%AppData%\npm\node_modules\@mcphub\gateway\dist\src\mcphub-gateway.js`

Verify the installation and path:

npm list -g @mcphub/gateway

2. Configure Claude Desktop

Create or update your Claude Desktop configuration file:

On macOS

Location: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude Desktop/config.json`

On Windows

Location: `%APPDATA%\Claude Desktop\config.json`

Add this configuration (using the path you found in step 1):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "server-name": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/@mcphub/gateway/dist/src/mcphub-gateway.js"]
    }
  }
}

Note: Replace the path in `args` with your actual path from step 1.

3. Configure MCP Server Connection

The gateway uses an environment variable to specify which MCP server to connect to:

# Set the MCP server URL (optional)
export MCP_SERVER_URL=https://your-mcp-server.com/api/mcp

By default, the gateway connects to the MCP Hub server at `https://server.mcphub.ai/api/mcp`, which provides access to various pre-configured MCP services.

4. Start Claude Desktop

Start or restart Claude Desktop to apply the changes.

Troubleshooting

1. If you can't find the gateway path:

# List all global packages and look for @mcphub/gateway
   npm list -g
   
   # Or specifically check the gateway
   npm list -g @mcphub/gateway

2. Verify your Node.js installation:

# Check Node version
   node --version
   
   # Check npm version
   npm --version

3. Common issues:

brew doctor
     brew link node

License

Apache 2.0 License

Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

• File an issue on GitHub

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.