MCP Remote is a local proxy that lets an MCP client which only speaks the stdio transport connect to a remote MCP server over HTTP or Server-Sent Events (SSE), including servers protected by the MCP OAuth authorization flow. The client launches it as an ordinary local command server, and it forwards traffic to the remote URL and handles sign-in and token storage.
It exists to bridge a gap: remote, authorized MCP servers let authors ship updates without running code on users' machines, but many desktop clients such as Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf either lack remote transport or lack the OAuth flow. The proxy is meant to be removed once a client supports remote authorized servers natively.
Beyond the default browser-based OAuth flow, it supports custom request headers (inline or from a header file), separate OAuth sessions per resource for multiple tenants of the same server, extra authorization parameters, the OAuth client credentials grant for unattended jobs, and the device authorization grant for machines without a browser. A dual-era mode lets clients on the 2025-11-25 protocol talk to servers on the 2026-07-28 revision by translating the handshake, change notifications, and multi-round-trip requests.
Features
- Stdio to remote bridge: exposes a remote HTTP or SSE MCP server to clients that only support local stdio servers
- OAuth sign-in: runs the MCP authorization flow and caches tokens locally, with separate sessions per server, resource, and header combination
- Transport strategies: HTTP-first, SSE-first, HTTP-only, or SSE-only, with fallback between transports
- Custom headers: send auth or other headers on every request, from arguments or a header file that keeps credentials out of the process list
- Multi-tenant sessions: an RFC 8707 resource indicator isolates OAuth sessions for several tenants of one server
- Extra authorize parameters: pass provider-specific parameters such as offline access or audience on the authorization request
- Client credentials grant: sign in without a user for scheduled jobs and internal servers
- Device code flow: complete sign-in from another machine when the host has no browser
- Protocol era bridging: an auto mode translates between the 2025-11-25 and 2026-07-28 MCP protocol revisions, including notifications and sampling, elicitation, and roots requests
- Client mode: a standalone command runs the full authorization flow and lists remote tools and resources for debugging
