mcp-http-transport

name	mcp-http-transport
description	HTTP transport for netmiko-mcp — when to use it, SSE vs Streamable HTTP, supported web clients (Claude.ai).

For humans: This file is reference documentation for deploying netmiko-mcp over HTTP rather than stdio. It is intended to be read and used by LLMs.

netmiko-mcp HTTP Transport

Transport Options

Transport	When to use
stdio (default)	Local clients (Claude Code, Desktop, Cursor, etc.) — client spawns server as subprocess, no network port
streamable-http	Remote/shared deployment, web clients (Claude.ai), multi-user access

Enable HTTP: set transport: "streamable-http" in ~/.netmiko-mcp.yml. See the netmiko-mcp skill for the full config field reference.

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Server-Side HTTP Configuration

Required environment variables

Variable	Description
NETMIKO_MCP_TRANSPORT	Set to streamable-http to enable HTTP mode
NETMIKO_MCP_HTTP_BEARER_TOKEN	RFC 6750 bearer token. Required when http_auth_enabled: true (the default). Server exits at startup if missing.
NETMIKO_MCP_CONFIG	Path to config YAML (default: ~/.netmiko-mcp.yml)
NETMIKO_TOOLS_KEY	Inventory decryption passphrase (if using encrypted .netmiko.yml)

Generate a bearer token

openssl rand -hex 32

Store the result as an environment variable only — never in the YAML config file.

Set variables and start

export NETMIKO_MCP_TRANSPORT="streamable-http"
export NETMIKO_MCP_HTTP_BEARER_TOKEN="$(openssl rand -hex 32)"
export NETMIKO_MCP_CONFIG="~/.netmiko-mcp.yml"
export NETMIKO_TOOLS_KEY="your-inventory-passphrase"

# Start the server
uv run netmiko-mcp

On success, uvicorn logs:

INFO:     Uvicorn running on http://127.0.0.1:8000 (Press CTRL+C to quit)

MCP endpoint: http://<host>:<port>/mcp (default: http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp)

Persist across sessions

echo 'export NETMIKO_MCP_TRANSPORT="streamable-http"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export NETMIKO_MCP_HTTP_BEARER_TOKEN="<your-token>"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export NETMIKO_MCP_CONFIG="~/.netmiko-mcp.yml"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export NETMIKO_TOOLS_KEY="<your-passphrase>"' >> ~/.bashrc

Optional YAML config overrides

http_host: "127.0.0.1"   # Use 0.0.0.0 to accept external connections
http_port: 8000
http_path: "/mcp"
http_auth_enabled: true   # Do not disable in any externally reachable deployment

TLS: The server runs plain HTTP. Terminate TLS at a reverse proxy.

Connecting a client

Every request must include the bearer token:

Authorization: Bearer <your-token>

For Claude Code specifically:

claude mcp add --transport http netmiko-mcp http://your-server:8000/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer ${NETMIKO_MCP_HTTP_BEARER_TOKEN}"

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SSE vs Streamable HTTP

	SSE (legacy)	Streamable HTTP (current)
MCP spec	Pre-2025-03-26	2025-03-26+
Endpoints	Two (/sse + /messages)	One (/mcp)
Server model	Stateful — holds open connections	Stateless — per-request
Resumable streams	✗	✓
CDN / proxy / load balancer	✗	✓
Status	Deprecated — vendors dropping through mid-2026	Use for all new deployments

netmiko-mcp implements Streamable HTTP natively and does not expose an SSE endpoint. SSE exists in the underlying FastMCP library but is deprecated and not used.

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Web Client Support

Web clients cannot spawn a local subprocess — they need an HTTP endpoint.

Client	Status	Notes
Claude.ai (web)	✓ Native	Streamable HTTP via Custom Connectors — no bridge needed
ChatGPT (web)	✗ Not recommended	SSE-only transport requires a complex supergateway + ngrok chain; not worth the complexity or security exposure
Perplexity (web)	✗ Not working	OAuth 2.1 discovery required; broken as of June 2026; Perplexity is moving away from MCP
Gemini (gemini.google.com)	✗	No MCP support in web UI

Web-based AI clients are generally not recommended for network device access. Use a desktop or CLI client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.) instead.