cherry-mcp

name	cherry-mcp
description	HTTP bridge that keeps MCP servers alive and exposes them via REST. Built for OpenClaw agents that need MCP tools without native MCP support.
tags	mcp, bridge, rest, api, openclaw, http, tools, automation, stdio

Cherry MCP 🍒

Origin Story

Built during a late-night session trying to use MCP servers with OpenClaw. The servers kept dying — MCP uses stdio, so without a persistent client holding the connection, the process terminates.

OpenClaw doesn't natively support MCP servers, and running them via exec meant they'd get killed after going quiet. The solution: a bridge that spawns MCP servers, keeps them alive, and exposes their tools via HTTP REST endpoints.

Named after my emoji. 🍒

— EULOxGOS, Feb 2026

Why

MCP servers use stdio — they die without a persistent client. Cherry MCP:

• Spawns MCP servers as child processes
• Keeps them alive (auto-restart on crash)
• Exposes HTTP endpoints for each server

Quick Start

# Add a server
node cli.js add-server github npx @anthropic/mcp-github

# Set env vars for the server
node cli.js set-env github GITHUB_TOKEN ghp_xxx

# Start
pm2 start bridge.js --name cherry-mcp

CLI

# Servers
node cli.js add-server <name> <command> [args...]
node cli.js remove-server <name>
node cli.js list-servers

# Environment variables
node cli.js set-env <server> <KEY> <value>
node cli.js remove-env <server> <KEY>

# Security
node cli.js set-rate-limit <rpm>      # requests per minute
node cli.js set-allowed-ips <ip>...   # IP allowlist
node cli.js enable-audit-log          # log requests

# Other
node cli.js show-config
node cli.js restart

HTTP API

# List servers
curl http://localhost:3456/

# List tools
curl http://localhost:3456/<server>/tools

# Call a tool
curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/<server>/call \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"tool": "search", "arguments": {"query": "test"}}'

# Restart server
curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/<server>/restart

Security

• Binds to 127.0.0.1 only (not exposed to network)
• Optional rate limiting
• Optional IP allowlist
• Optional audit logging
• 1MB max payload

⚠️ Important Notes

Commands are user-configured only. The bridge executes commands specified in config.json — it does not accept arbitrary commands via HTTP. You control what runs.

Don't commit secrets. If you store API keys via set-env, they're saved in plain text in config.json. Add it to .gitignore or use environment variables instead:

# Alternative: set env vars before starting
export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxx
pm2 start bridge.js --name cherry-mcp

Then reference in config without the value:

{
  "servers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@anthropic/mcp-github"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

The server inherits your shell environment.

Running

# pm2 (recommended)
pm2 start bridge.js --name cherry-mcp
pm2 save

# Auto-start on boot
pm2 startup