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:
<npm_global_root>/@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:

   • If using Homebrew on macOS, make sure Node.js is properly linked:

     brew doctor
     brew link node

   • If you get permission errors, you might need to use sudo for the installation

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.