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Documentation Index

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apex-mcp supports three MCP transport modes, selected via the --transport CLI flag or the MCP_TRANSPORT environment variable. Each mode targets a different deployment scenario: local AI clients that manage the server process directly, remote HTTP-based clients that connect to a running server, and legacy clients that require Server-Sent Events. If no transport is specified, apex-mcp defaults to stdio.

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stdio (Default)

The stdio transport launches apex-mcp as a subprocess and communicates over standard input/output. This is the most common mode for local development because AI clients like Claude Code and Cursor manage the server lifecycle automatically — no separate server process to start or stop. 
python -m apex_mcp                     # default transport
python -m apex_mcp --transport stdio   # explicit
apex-mcp                               # if installed via pip
Best for: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code / GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI.

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Streamable HTTP

The streamable-http transport starts a persistent HTTP server that MCP clients connect to over the network. The server listens at http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp by default. 
apex-mcp --transport streamable-http --port 8000
# Server available at: http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp
This mode is required for clients that use HTTP-based MCP connections, such as the OpenAI Agents SDK: 
from agents.mcp import MCPServerStreamableHttp

async with MCPServerStreamableHttp(url="http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp") as apex:
    # use apex as an mcp_server in an Agent
    ...
Best for: OpenAI Agents SDK, GitHub Codespaces, remote or containerized setups, scenarios where multiple processes need to share one server.

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SSE (Server-Sent Events)

The sse transport starts an HTTP server using the Server-Sent Events protocol. Like streamable HTTP, it binds to 127.0.0.1:8000 by default, with the endpoint path at /sse. The example below overrides the port to 9000: 
apex-mcp --transport sse --port 9000
# Server available at: http://127.0.0.1:9000/sse
Best for: MCP clients that explicitly require SSE transport rather than streamable HTTP.

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CLI Flags Reference

All HTTP transport behavior can be tuned with CLI flags:
FlagDefaultDescription
--transportstdioTransport mode: stdio, streamable-http, or sse
--host127.0.0.1Host address to bind for HTTP transports
--port8000Port to bind for HTTP transports
--path/mcp (http) or /sseURL path for the MCP endpoint

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Environment Variable Equivalents

Every CLI flag has a corresponding environment variable. CLI flags take precedence over environment variables when both are set:
Environment VariableEquivalent CLI FlagDefault
MCP_TRANSPORT--transportstdio
MCP_HOST--host127.0.0.1
MCP_PORT--port8000
MCP_PATH--path/mcp (http) or /sse
Environment variables are useful for containerized deployments where you want to configure transport without modifying the command line: 
export MCP_TRANSPORT=streamable-http
export MCP_PORT=8000
apex-mcp
No built-in authentication: apex-mcp’s HTTP transport has no authentication layer. The server binds to 127.0.0.1 by default, which prevents external access. If you need to expose apex-mcp over a network, place it behind a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy, etc.) that handles TLS termination and authentication before forwarding requests to apex-mcp.
Single-user constraint in HTTP/SSE modes: When using --transport streamable-http or --transport sse, apex-mcp is a single-user server. The ImportSession singleton means only one active apex_create_app() → apex_finalize_app() sequence can run at a time per server process. Concurrent sessions from different clients will interfere with each other. For multi-user deployments, run separate apex-mcp instances on different ports.

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