mcp-toolmux

mcp-toolmux is an independent MCP proxy-style tool multiplexer that exposes a small set of meta-tools and routes calls to downstream MCP servers with concurrency control, caching, and structured partial-failure handling.

It is inspired by callmux, but it is not a full clone. The current release focuses on a practical proxy shape: downstream registry, exposure modes, meta-tools, direct qualified calls, parallel calls, batch calls, dependent pipelines, tool search, schema compression, status, and lightweight caching.

中文说明：这是一个独立的 MCP proxy 项目，用来把多个下游 stdio MCP server 汇聚成一个上游可调用的 MCP server。本项目不是简单 demo，而是一个独立的 MCP 工具调用多路复用项目，目标是逐步完善工具路由、并发调度、批处理、流水线、缓存和协议层优化能力。

Architecture

flowchart LR
  Client["Codex / Claude MCP client"] --> Proxy["mcp-toolmux stdio MCP server"]
  Proxy --> Meta["Meta-tools\nstatus / search / call / parallel / batch / pipeline"]
  Meta --> Registry["Downstream registry\nqualified + unqualified names"]
  Registry --> Search["Tool search\ncompressed summaries"]
  Meta --> Cache["Read-tool cache\nTTL + max entries"]
  Registry --> Fake["fake stdio MCP server"]
  Registry --> Other["other trusted stdio MCP servers"]

Related MCP server: Multi MCP

Features

• stdio MCP proxy server

• downstream MCP server registry from config

• tool exposure modes: standard and meta-only

• meta-tools: toolmux_status, toolmux_search_tools, toolmux_call, toolmux_parallel, toolmux_batch, toolmux_pipeline

• direct qualified tool calls in standard mode, using names like server__tool

• unqualified tool calls when the tool name is not ambiguous

• global concurrency limit for parallel calls

• toolmux_batch for multiple argument sets against the same downstream tool

• toolmux_pipeline for serial dependent tool chains

• input mapping with $previous, $previous.result, and $steps.N.result

• toolmux_search_tools for downstream tool discovery

• schema compression for compact tool summaries

• partial failure handling with failedIndexes

• lightweight TTL cache for read-style tool names

toolmux_parallel is for independent tool calls. toolmux_batch is for multiple argument sets against the same tool. toolmux_pipeline is for dependent tool chains where later steps consume earlier outputs.

Tool Exposure Modes

standard exposes meta-tools and qualified downstream tools. This mode is useful when you want transparent tool lists and direct calls such as fake__echo.

meta-only exposes only toolmux_* meta-tools. Downstream tools are discovered through toolmux_search_tools and invoked through toolmux_call, toolmux_parallel, toolmux_batch, or toolmux_pipeline.

Tool Search and Compression

toolmux_search_tools searches downstream tools by tool name, qualified name, description, and server name. It returns compressed summaries instead of full tool definitions by default.

Compressed tool summaries include:

• name

• server

• qualifiedName

• truncated description

• required

• inputProperties

• optional inputSchema

Not Implemented Yet

• HTTP/SSE listener

• auth, dashboard, and metrics

• advanced policy controls

• persistent cache

The project is still evolving and does not yet include HTTP/SSE listener, auth, dashboard, advanced policy controls, or persistent cache.

Install

npm install

Build

npm run build

CLI Usage

npm install
npm run build

node dist/cli.js --help
node dist/cli.js init --output mcp-toolmux.config.json
node dist/cli.js doctor --config examples/mcp-toolmux.config.json
node dist/cli.js tools --config examples/mcp-toolmux.config.json
node dist/cli.js serve --config examples/mcp-toolmux.config.json

serve starts the stdio MCP server mode. Logs are written to stderr so MCP protocol messages on stdout stay clean.

doctor checks config shape, defaults, command availability, and common mistakes before you start the proxy.

tools briefly connects to downstream MCP servers and prints compressed downstream tool summaries as JSON.

init creates a starter standard-mode config and refuses to overwrite an existing file.

Run the Fake Server

The fake server is meant to be launched by the proxy after build:

npm run build
node dist/examples/fake-mcp-server.js

Run the Proxy

Use the example config:

npm run build
node dist/src/index.js --config examples/mcp-toolmux.config.json

The proxy always exposes six MCP meta-tools:

• toolmux_status

• toolmux_search_tools

• toolmux_call

• toolmux_parallel

• toolmux_batch

• toolmux_pipeline

In standard mode it also exposes qualified downstream tools such as fake__echo.

Example Config

{
  "mode": "standard",
  "schemaCompression": {
    "enabled": true,
    "descriptionMaxLength": 180,
    "includeInputSchema": false,
    "includeRequired": true
  },
  "servers": {
    "fake": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["dist/examples/fake-mcp-server.js"]
    }
  },
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "cache": {
    "enabled": true,
    "ttlSeconds": 300,
    "maxEntries": 256
  }
}

By default, mcp-toolmux reads mcp-toolmux.config.json from the current directory. Pass --config path to use another file.

Tests

npm test

The handler tests use a mock upstream manager to keep the test suite fast. The fake MCP server remains available for manual stdio testing.

Security Note

Only configure trusted MCP server commands. mcp-toolmux never accepts arbitrary commands from tool input, and downstream server commands must come from the config file. Treat downstream MCP servers as executable code with your local privileges.