A production-ready MCP proxy server that aggregates multiple backend servers
multi-mcp
A production-ready MCP proxy server that aggregates multiple backend MCP servers into a single endpoint — with lazy loading, per-tool filtering, and a unified YAML config that doubles as a live control plane.
All your AI tools → multi-mcp → github, obsidian, exa, tavily, context7, ...
Why
Most MCP setups require configuring every server individually in every tool (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, etc.). Each server starts eagerly at boot. You have no easy way to disable specific tools from a server you otherwise want.
multi-mcp solves all three:
- One endpoint — configure it once, every tool connects to multi-mcp
- Lazy loading — servers only connect when a tool is actually called
- Tool control — flip
enabled: falseon any individual tool in a YAML file
Features
- Unified YAML config — single file serves as cache, config, and control plane
- Startup discovery — connects to every server briefly at first run, caches tool lists, disconnects lazy servers
- Lazy loading — lazy servers reconnect on first tool call, auto-disconnect after idle timeout
- Always-on servers — stays connected permanently, auto-reconnects if dropped
- Per-tool enable/disable — expose exactly the tools you want from each server
- Smart refresh — re-discovers tools without overwriting your settings
- Stale tool cleanup — tools that disappear from a server and were disabled get pruned automatically
- Supports all transports — stdio, SSE, and Streamable HTTP (2025 spec)
- Tool namespacing —
server::tool_nameprevents conflicts across servers - Runtime HTTP API — add/remove servers without restarting (SSE mode)
- Audit logging — JSONL log of every tool call
- API key auth — optional Bearer token for SSE mode
Quick Start
Requirements: Python 3.10+, uv
git clone https://github.com/itstanner5216/multi-mcp
cd multi-mcp
uv sync
First run — auto-discovers all your servers and writes ~/.config/multi-mcp/servers.yaml:
uv run python main.py start
Or refresh manually to re-discover tools and update the YAML:
uv run python main.py refresh
Config
On first run, multi-mcp creates ~/.config/multi-mcp/servers.yaml by connecting to every server you've configured, fetching its tool list, then disconnecting. The resulting file looks like:
servers:
github:
command: /path/to/run-github.sh
always_on: true # stays connected at all times
idle_timeout_minutes: 5
tools:
search_repositories:
enabled: true
delete_repository:
enabled: false # hidden from all AI tools
create_gist:
enabled: false
exa:
url: https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?tools=web_search_exa,get_code_context_exa
always_on: false # lazy: connects only when called
idle_timeout_minutes: 5
tools:
web_search_exa:
enabled: true
linkedin_search_exa:
enabled: false # don't need this
obsidian:
command: /path/to/run-obsidian.sh
always_on: true
tools: {} # auto-populated on first run
Tool control rules:
| State | Behavior |
|---|---|
enabled: true |
Exposed to AI |
enabled: false |
Hidden — setting is never overwritten by refresh |
| Tool disappears from server | Marked stale: true, your setting preserved |
stale: true + enabled: false |
Cleaned up on next refresh |
No tools key |
All tools pass through (default) |
To disable a tool, just set enabled: false and save. Takes effect on next multi-mcp start.
CLI
# Start the proxy (stdio mode — used by Claude Code, Codex, etc.)
uv run python main.py start
# Start in SSE mode (network accessible)
uv run python main.py start --transport sse --port 8085
# Re-discover tools from all servers, smart-merge into YAML
uv run python main.py refresh
# Re-discover tools from one server only
uv run python main.py refresh github
# Show server status and tool counts
uv run python main.py status
# List all tools with enabled/disabled status
uv run python main.py list
# Filter to one server
uv run python main.py list --server github
# Show only disabled tools
uv run python main.py list --disabled
Connecting Your AI Tools
Once multi-mcp is running, replace all individual server entries in your tool configs with a single entry:
Claude Code / Cursor / any JSON-based config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"multi-mcp": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "uv",
"args": ["run", "--project", "/path/to/multi-mcp", "python", "main.py", "start"]
}
}
}
SSE mode (if running as a background service):
{
"mcpServers": {
"multi-mcp": {
"type": "sse",
"url": "http://localhost:8085/sse"
}
}
}
Transport Support
multi-mcp connects to backend servers over any transp
Configuration
{"mcpServers": {"multi-mcp": {"type": "stdio", "command": "uv", "args": ["run", "--project", "/path/to/multi-mcp", "python", "main.py", "start"]}}}