Transports (HTTP & STDIO)

Choose between HTTP and STDIO transport mechanisms for your MCP server based on deployment scenario.

MCP servers can communicate via two transport mechanisms. Choose based on your deployment scenario.

🌐 HTTP Transport (Web)

Best for: Web applications, REST APIs, browser-based clients, any HTTP-capable client

How It Works

Clients send JSON-RPC requests over HTTP POST to a .bxm endpoint. The server processes and returns JSON-RPC responses.

Built-In Endpoint

Use the automatic endpoint provided by the module:

POST http://localhost/~bxai/mcp.bxm?server=myApp

Or create a custom endpoint:

// api/my-mcp.bxm
<bx:script>
import bxModules.bxai.models.mcp.MCPRequestProcessor
MCPRequestProcessor::startHttp()
</bx:script>

Features

✅ CORS support with wildcard patterns ✅ Body size limits ✅ API key authentication ✅ HTTP Basic Auth ✅ Security headers ✅ Server-Sent Events (SSE) streaming ✅ Discovery endpoint (GET)

Making Requests

# List tools
curl -X POST http://localhost/~bxai/mcp.bxm?server=myApp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/list","id":"1"}'

# Discovery (GET)
curl http://localhost/~bxai/mcp.bxm?server=myApp

🖥️ STDIO Transport (Command-Line)

Best for: Desktop applications, CLI tools, IDE integrations, local AI assistants (Claude Desktop, etc.)

How It Works

Clients communicate via standard input/output (STDIN/STDOUT). Requests and responses are JSON-RPC formatted, one per line.

Create a Script Entry Point

// mcp-stdio.bxs
import bxModules.bxai.models.mcp.MCPRequestProcessor

// Register your server and tools
MCPServer( "myApp" )
    .registerTool( aiTool( "echo", "Echo tool", ( msg ) => msg ) )

// Get server name from CLI args
serverName = getSystemSetting( "MCP_SERVER_NAME", "default" )
parsedArgs = cliGetArgs()

if ( structKeyExists( parsedArgs.options, "server" ) ) {
    serverName = parsedArgs.options.server
}

// Start STDIO transport (blocks until shutdown)
MCPRequestProcessor::startStdio( serverName )

Run STDIO Server

# Start with default server
boxlang mcp-stdio.bxs

# Start with specific server
boxlang mcp-stdio.bxs --server myApp

# Or via environment variable
MCP_SERVER_NAME=myApp boxlang mcp-stdio.bxs

Features

✅ JSON-RPC over STDIN/STDOUT ✅ Line-based protocol ✅ Graceful shutdown signal ✅ Process lifecycle management ❌ No HTTP headers/CORS (not needed) ❌ No status codes (JSON-RPC error codes used)

STDIO Communication

# Input (STDIN)
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/list","params":{},"id":1}

# Output (STDOUT)
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","result":{"tools":[...]},"id":1}

# Shutdown
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"shutdown","params":{},"id":99}

🎯 Choosing a Transport

Scenario	Recommended
Web application with browser clients	HTTP
REST API for external services	HTTP
Desktop AI assistant (Claude Desktop)	STDIO
VS Code extension / IDE integration	STDIO
Command-line tool	STDIO
Docker container as MCP service	Both
Testing/Development	HTTP (easier to test with curl)

Comparison

Feature	HTTP	STDIO
Setup	Automatic or simple .bxm	Script entry point
Security	Auth headers, CORS, HTTPS	Process isolation
Performance	Network latency	Local process
Debugging	curl/Postman friendly	Process logs
Scalability	Multi-client, reverse proxy	Single client per process
Integration	Browser, mobile, web apps	Desktop apps, CLIs, IDEs

Examples

HTTP Example (Claude Desktop)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "myapp": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/~bxai/mcp.bxm?server=myApp",
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

STDIO Example (Claude Desktop)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "myapp": {
      "command": "boxlang",
      "args": ["mcp-stdio.bxs", "--server", "myApp"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_SERVER_NAME": "myApp"
      }
    }
  }
}

Next Steps

• 🚀 Getting Started — Your first server
• 🔐 Server Configuration — Authentication & security
• 🛠️ HTTP Endpoint — Custom HTTP routing