lightconetech/mcp-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:
bash
npm install -g @mcphub/gateway
## Configuration
### 1. Find the Gateway Path
After installation, find where npm installed the gateway using these commands:
bash
# 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/nodemodules/@mcphub/gateway/dist/src/mcphub-gateway.js
macOS (default): /usr/local/lib/nodemodules/@mcphub/gateway/dist/src/mcphub-gateway.js
Windows: %AppData%\npm\nodemodules\@mcphub\gateway\dist\src\mcphub-gateway.js
Verify the installation and path:
bash
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):
json
"mcpServers": {
"server-name": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/opt/homebrew/lib/nodemodules/@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:
bash
# Set the MCP server URL (optional)
export MCPSERVERURL=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