MCP Protocol 2025-06-18

Vikstra MCP Bridge

A Model Context Protocol compliant stdio bridge that connects Claude Desktop to remote MCP servers over HTTP/HTTPS. Supports both Streamable HTTP and Server-Sent Events transports with automatic detection.

Quick Start

Up and Running in Seconds

Install and start forwarding streams with just a few commands.

Quick Installation

Download pre-built binaries for your platform

Current Versionv0.0.1

# Download the binary
$ curl -L -o vikstra-bridge https://github.com/unarii/vikstra-bridge/releases/download/v0.0.1/vikstra-bridge-darwin-amd64

# Make it executable
$ chmod +x vikstra-bridge

# Install to PATH (choose one):

# Option 1: Install to /usr/local/bin (recommended)
$ sudo mv vikstra-bridge /usr/local/bin/

# Option 2: Install to ~/bin (user-only)
$ mkdir -p ~/bin
$ mv vikstra-bridge ~/bin/
$ echo 'export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
$ source ~/.zshrc

# Verify installation
$ vikstra-bridge --help

Note: ARM-based Macs (M1/M2) can also use the darwin-amd64 binary via Rosetta. For native ARM binaries, check the releases page.

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vikstra-bridge": {
      "command": "vikstra-bridge",
      "args": [
        "https://api.example.com/mcp",
        "-header", "Authorization: Bearer ${MCP_TOKEN}",
        "-header", "X-API-Key: ${API_KEY}",
        "-header", "X-Company-ID: ${COMPANY_ID}",
        "-transport", "auto",
        "-verbose"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TOKEN": "your-mcp-server-token",
        "API_KEY": "your-api-key", 
        "COMPANY_ID": "your-company-id"
      }
    },
    "database-mcp": {
      "command": "vikstra-bridge", 
      "args": [
        "https://db.company.com/mcp",
        "-header", "Authorization: Basic ${DB_CREDENTIALS}",
        "-header", "X-Database: ${DB_NAME}",
        "-debug"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DB_CREDENTIALS": "base64-encoded-username:password",
        "DB_NAME": "production"
      }
    }
  }
}

💡 Binary Path Options

Option 1: Use "command": "vikstra-bridge" if the binary is in your PATH

Option 2: Use full path "command": "/usr/local/bin/vikstra-bridge" or "command": "/path/to/vikstra-bridge" to specify the exact location

Configuration Location

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows: %APPDATA%\\Claude\\claude_desktop_config.json

Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Environment Variables

• Use ${VAR_NAME} syntax for token expansion

• Set in system environment or .env

• Restart Claude Desktop after config changes

• Multiple headers supported with -header flag

Core Features

Powerful Stream Processing

Everything you need to bridge the gap between CLI and web services.

stdio Forwarding

Seamlessly forward standard input/output streams to HTTP endpoints.

SSE Support

Full Server-Sent Events support for real-time data streaming.

Chunked Transfer

Support for chunked transfer encoding and streaming protocols.

Auto Retry

Automatic retry logic with exponential backoff for reliability.

Protocol Translation

Automatic conversion between stdio and HTTP/SSE transport protocols.

HTTP Streaming

Streamable HTTP transport with Mcp-Session-Id header support for efficient communication.

Use Cases

Real-World Applications

See how developers are using Vikstra MCP Bridge in alpha stage.

Remote API Integration

Connect Claude Desktop to remote REST APIs and external services as MCP tools and resources.

./vikstra-bridge https://api.service.com/mcp \
  -header "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}"

Database Access

Enable Claude to query databases and data warehouses through MCP server endpoints.

./vikstra-bridge https://db.company.com/mcp \
  -header "X-API-Key: ${DB_KEY}" \
  -transport auto

Cloud Service Integration

Bridge Claude Desktop to cloud platforms like AWS, GCP, or Azure through MCP interfaces.

./vikstra-bridge https://cloud.example.com/mcp \
  -header "Authorization: Bearer ${CLOUD_TOKEN}" \
  -debug

Enterprise Tools

Connect Claude to internal enterprise systems, CRMs, and business applications via MCP.

./vikstra-bridge https://internal.company.com/mcp \
  -header "X-Corp-Auth: ${CORP_TOKEN}" \
  -transport sse

Development

Built for Developers

Vikstra MCP Bridge provides comprehensive logging and debugging capabilities to help developers integrate and troubleshoot MCP connections.

2025-06-18

Protocol Version

Latest MCP specification

HTTP + SSE

Transports

Dual transport support

Language

High performance runtime

15+

Methods

Complete MCP method support

Comprehensive debug logging to OS temp directory
Environment variable expansion in headers
Automatic transport detection (HTTP/SSE)
Real-time capability discovery and notifications

Debug & Troubleshooting

Common debugging commands and log output

# Enable debug logging
$ ./vikstra-bridge https://api.example.com/mcp -debug

[VIKSTRA] 12:00:00 === MCP Bridge Started ===
[VIKSTRA] 12:00:00 MCP Server URL: https://api.example.com/mcp
[VIKSTRA] 12:00:00 Transport: Streamable HTTP (auto-detected)
[VIKSTRA] 12:00:00 Parsed headers (1 total):
[VIKSTRA] 12:00:00   Authorization: Bearer ***
[VIKSTRA] 12:00:01 Listing available tools...
[VIKSTRA] 12:00:01 Updated tools: 3 available
[VIKSTRA] 12:00:01   Tool: get_weather
[VIKSTRA] 12:00:01 Updated resources: 2 available
[VIKSTRA] 12:00:01 MCP initialization completed

# All operations logged to: {OS_TEMP_DIR}/vikstra-bridge/vikstra-bridge.log

Log Locationvikstra-bridge/vikstra-bridge.log

Created in your system's temporary directory (e.g., /tmp on Unix, %TEMP% on Windows)

Debug Flag-debug

Verbose Flag-verbose

Connect Claude Desktop to MCP Servers

Bridge the gap between Claude Desktop and remote MCP servers with full protocol compliance and automatic capability discovery.

Free and open source • MIT License

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