Connectors and Virtual MCPs

A connector is a single upstream MCP server that BridgeMCP connects to. A Virtual MCP is a named bundle of connectors exposed as one endpoint. Together they let you compose the exact tool surface each client or agent should see.

Transport types

The connector’s transport type determines how the gateway talks to the upstream server.

TransportConfig fieldsDescription
httpurl, headersRemote MCP server reached over Streamable HTTP.
sseurl, headersLegacy upstream HTTP+SSE compatibility. Use Streamable HTTP for new connectors.
stdiorunner, envLocal stdio MCP server run inside a managed container.

Remote connectors (Streamable HTTP / legacy SSE)

Remote connectors point at a vendor’s own hosted MCP endpoint. Choose http for a current Streamable HTTP endpoint. Keep sse only when an existing upstream still exposes the deprecated HTTP+SSE transport. Provide the URL and any headers the upstream server needs (including an Authorization header for token auth). BridgeMCP makes an outbound call to that endpoint and aggregates its tools; no third-party code runs on your infrastructure.

Local connectors (stdio)

Stdio connectors run a local MCP package inside a managed, per-connector container. The runner describes what to launch:

  • npx -y <package> <args> for Node packages.
  • uvx <package> <args> for Python packages.

Each connector gets its own long-lived container. The gateway starts an upstream MCP subprocess inside it when establishing the connector runtime, and can replace that process after a disconnect or refresh. Package caches persist across process restarts because the container remains available.

Some providers ship as built-in connectors: instead of running an untrusted third-party package, BridgeMCP runs a first-party, in-process implementation of the provider’s tools. Built-in connectors are marked as such in the connector catalog.

Virtual MCPs

A Virtual MCP groups connectors so an AI client can reach all of their tools through a single endpoint.

  • Composable: combine connectors from different sources into one bundle.
  • Scopable: create separate Virtual MCPs per team, environment, or use case.
  • Prioritized: when connectors expose tools that could collide, connector priority within the Virtual MCP determines ordering.

A typical setup might bundle a github, jira, and sumologic connector into a dev Virtual MCP, while an oncall Virtual MCP bundles pagerduty and sumologic.

Adding a connector

  1. In the console, open Connectors and choose New.
  2. Pick a built-in provider from the catalog, or configure a custom connector with a transport-specific form.
  3. For remote connectors, supply the URL and headers. For local connectors, choose an npx or uvx runner and any environment variables.
  4. Save. BridgeMCP connects to the server and discovers its tools.
  5. Add the connector to one or more Virtual MCPs.

Next steps