strands-mcp-server

Bidirectional MCP integration for Strands Agents.

pip install strands-mcp-server

Overview

• mcp_server - Expose agent as MCP server
• mcp_client - Connect to MCP servers
• CLI - stdio for Claude Desktop

graph LR
    subgraph "Your Strands Agent"
        A[Tools: calculator, shell, etc.]
        B[mcp_server tool]
        C[mcp_client tool]
        A --> B
        C --> A
    end
    
    subgraph "Server Mode"
        B -->|HTTP/stdio| D[MCP Protocol]
        D --> E[Claude Desktop]
        D --> F[Other Agents]
        D --> G[Custom Clients]
    end
    
    subgraph "Client Mode"
        H[Remote MCP Servers] -->|HTTP/stdio/SSE| I[MCP Protocol]
        I --> C
    end
    
    subgraph "CLI"
        J[uvx strands-mcp-server] -->|Local Mode| D
        J -->|Proxy Mode| I
    end
    
    style A fill:#2d3748,stroke:#4a5568,color:#fff
    style B fill:#2b6cb0,stroke:#2c5282,color:#fff
    style C fill:#38a169,stroke:#2f855a,color:#fff
    style D fill:#805ad5,stroke:#6b46c1,color:#fff
    style I fill:#805ad5,stroke:#6b46c1,color:#fff
    style E fill:#d69e2e,stroke:#b7791f,color:#fff
    style F fill:#d69e2e,stroke:#b7791f,color:#fff
    style G fill:#d69e2e,stroke:#b7791f,color:#fff
    style H fill:#e53e3e,stroke:#c53030,color:#fff
    style J fill:#48bb78,stroke:#38a169,color:#fff

Quick Start

Server:

from strands import Agent
from strands_mcp_server import mcp_server

agent = Agent(tools=[..., mcp_server])
agent("start mcp server on port 8000")

Client:

from strands import Agent
from strands_mcp_server import mcp_client

agent = Agent(tools=[mcp_client])
agent.tool.mcp_client(
    action="connect",
    connection_id="remote",
    transport="http",
    server_url="http://localhost:8000/mcp"
)
agent.tool.mcp_client(
    action="call_tool",
    connection_id="remote",
    tool_name="calculator",
    tool_args={"expression": "42 * 89"}
)

For Agents like Claude Desktop/Kiro/...:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-agent": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["strands-mcp-server", "--cwd", "/path/to/project"]
    }
  }
}

API

mcp_server

| Parameter | Default | Description | |-----------|---------|-------------| | action | required | start, stop, status, list | | transport | http | http or stdio | | port | 8000 | Port | | tools | None | Tools to expose (None = all) | | expose_agent | True | Include invoke_agent | | stateless | False | Multi-node ready |

mcp_client

| Parameter | Description | |-----------|-------------| | action | connect, disconnect, list_tools, call_tool | | connection_id | Connection ID | | transport | http, stdio, sse | | server_url | Server URL | | tool_name | Tool to call | | tool_args | Tool arguments |

invoke_agent

Full agent access when expose_agent=True:

agent.tool.mcp_client(
    action="call_tool",
    connection_id="remote",
    tool_name="invoke_agent",
    tool_args={"prompt": "Calculate 2 + 2"}
)

CLI

uvx strands-mcp-server [OPTIONS]

| Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | --cwd PATH | Working directory | | --upstream-url URL | Upstream server (proxy) | | --system-prompt TEXT | System prompt | | --no-agent-invocation | Disable invoke_agent | | --debug | Debug mode |

Examples:

# Local
uvx strands-mcp-server --cwd /path/to/project

# Proxy
uvx strands-mcp-server --upstream-url http://localhost:8000/mcp

Troubleshooting

# Debug
uvx strands-mcp-server --cwd /path --debug

# Check connection
curl http://localhost:8000/mcp

# Port in use
lsof -i :8000 && kill -9 <PID>

# Claude logs
tail -f ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log

Links

• Docs
• GitHub
• PyPI
• Strands
• MCP

License: Apache 2.0