Transport Overview

MCP Framework supports multiple transport mechanisms for communication between the client and server. Each transport type has its own characteristics, advantages, and use cases.

Available Transports

The framework currently supports two transport types:

• STDIO Transport: The default transport that uses standard input/output streams
• SSE Transport: Server-Sent Events based transport that enables HTTP/web-based communication

Comparison

Feature	STDIO Transport	SSE Transport
Protocol	Standard I/O streams	HTTP/SSE
Connection	Direct process communication	Network-based
Authentication	Not applicable	Supports JWT and API Key
Use Case	CLI tools, local integrations	Web applications, distributed systems
Configuration	Minimal	Configurable (port, endpoints, auth)
Scalability	Single process	Multiple clients

Choosing a Transport

Choose your transport based on your application's needs:

• Use STDIO Transport when:

  • Building CLI tools
  • Need direct process communication
  • Working with local integrations
  • Want minimal configuration

• Use SSE Transport when:

  • Building web applications
  • Need network-based communication
  • Require authentication
  • Want to support multiple clients
  • Need to scale horizontally

Configuration

STDIO Transport (Default)

const server = new MCPServer();
// or explicitly:
const server = new MCPServer({
  transport: { type: "stdio" }
});

SSE Transport

const server = new MCPServer({
  transport: {
    type: "sse",
    options: {
      port: 8080,            // Optional (default: 8080)
      endpoint: "/sse",      // Optional (default: "/sse")
      messageEndpoint: "/messages", // Optional (default: "/messages")
      auth: {
        // Optional authentication configuration
      }
    }
  }
});

For detailed information about each transport type, see:

• STDIO Transport
• SSE Transport