gen-mcp: Zero-Code MCP Server Generation

Transform any API into an MCP server in seconds, not hours

⚠️ Early Preview: This is a research project in active development. APIs and features may change.

gen-mcp eliminates the complexity of building Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Instead of writing boilerplate code and learning protocol internals, simply describe your tools in a configuration file—gen-mcp handles the rest.

Perfect for:

• 🔌 API Developers - Expose existing REST APIs to AI assistants instantly
• 🤖 AI Engineers - Connect LLMs to external tools without custom server code
• 🛠️ DevOps Teams - Integrate legacy systems with modern AI workflows

✨ Key Features

• 🚀 Zero-Code Server Generation - Create MCP servers from simple YAML configs
• 📡 OpenAPI Auto-Conversion - Transform existing OpenAPI specs into MCP servers instantly
• 🔄 Real-Time Tool Exposure - HTTP endpoints become callable AI tools automatically
• 🛡️ Built-in Validation - Schema validation and type safety out of the box
• 🔐 Security Out of the Box - TLS encryption and OAuth/OIDC authentication built-in
• ⚡ Background Processing - Detached server mode with process management
• 🔧 Flexible Configuration - Fine-tune which endpoints to expose and how they behave

🚀 Quick Start

1. Install gen-mcp

Option A: Download Pre-built Binary

# Download from GitHub releases
# Visit: https://github.com/genmcp/gen-mcp/releases
# Or using curl (replace with latest version):
curl -L https://github.com/genmcp/gen-mcp/releases/latest/download/genmcp-linux-amd64 -o genmcp
chmod +x genmcp
sudo mv genmcp /usr/local/bin

Option B: Build from Source

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/genmcp/gen-mcp.git
cd gen-mcp

# Build CLI
make build-cli

# Add to PATH (recommended)
sudo mv genmcp /usr/local/bin

2. Choose Your Own Adventure

Option A: Convert Existing API

genmcp convert https://api.example.com/openapi.json
genmcp run

Option B: Create Custom Tools

# Create mcpfile.yaml with your tools (see documentation)
genmcp run

3. See It In Action

• 📹 HTTP Conversion Demo
• 📹 Ollama Integration Demo

📖 Documentation

• MCP File Format Guide - Learn to write custom tool configurations
• Examples Directory - Real-world integration examples

💻 Usage

Core Commands

Command	Description	Example
run	Start MCP server	genmcp run -f myapi.yaml
stop	Stop running server	genmcp stop
convert	OpenAPI → MCP conversion	genmcp convert api-spec.json

Starting Your Server

# Run in foreground (development)
genmcp run -f /path/to/mcpfile.yaml

# Run in background
genmcp run -d

# Auto-detect mcpfile.yaml in current directory
genmcp run

Converting Existing APIs

# From local OpenAPI file
genmcp convert ./api-spec.json

# From remote OpenAPI URL
genmcp convert https://api.example.com/openapi.json -o custom-name.yaml

# Petstore example
genmcp convert https://petstore.swagger.io/v2/swagger.json

Converting CLI (Experimental)

Instead of manually writing an MCP file for a CLI, you can use an LLM to generate a genmcp-compatible mcpfile.yaml.

# Set OpenAI endpoint configurations
export MODEL_BASE_URL='https://HOST:PORT/v1' # OpenAI Base URL (v1 endpoint)
export MODEL_KEY='' # OpenAI Access Token
export MODEL_NAME=''  # OpenAI Model Name

# Run gen-mcp convert-cli to generate mcpfile.yaml
MODEL_BASE_URL=$MODEL_BASE_URL MODEL_KEY=$MODEL_KEY MODEL_NAME=$MODEL_NAME genmcp convert-cli "podman images"

# Start mcpserver with generated mcpfile.yaml 
genmcp run

Managing Running Servers

# Stop server (uses mcpfile.yaml to find process)
genmcp stop

# Stop specific server
genmcp stop -f /path/to/mcpfile.yaml

📚 Examples & Tutorials

🤖 Ollama Integration

📹 Watch Demo | View Code

Connect local language models to MCP Clients with gen-mcp in two ways: by wrapping the Ollama CLI, and by wrapping the Ollama http endpoints.

Features:

• ✅ HTTP REST API integration
• ✅ CLI command execution
• ✅ Model management tools

🔗 HTTP API Conversion

📹 Watch Demo | View Code

Transform any REST API into MCP tools automatically:

# 1. Convert OpenAPI spec
genmcp convert http://localhost:9090/openapi.json

# 2. Run the generated MCP server
genmcp run

Demonstrates:

• 🔄 Automatic OpenAPI → MCP conversion
• 🛠️ Path parameter substitution (/features/{id})
• 📊 Schema validation and type safety
• 🎯 Selective endpoint exposure

🔌 gRPC Service Integration

View Demo Repository

Expose existing gRPC services to LLMs without modifying service code:

Architecture:

• Uses gRPC-Gateway to create an HTTP/JSON proxy
• Exposes the HTTP proxy as MCP tools via gen-mcp
• Works with any gRPC service using only .proto definitions

Perfect for:

• 🏢 Integrating legacy gRPC services with AI workflows
• 🔄 Bridging binary gRPC with JSON-based LLM interfaces
• 🚀 Getting started before native gRPC support arrives

Note: This is a workaround pattern until gen-mcp adds native gRPC support.

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🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! This is an early-stage research project with lots of room for improvement.

Development Setup

git clone https://github.com/genmcp/gen-mcp.git
cd gen-mcp
go test ./...

# Build local binary
make build-cli

📄 License

Apache 2.0 License - see LICENSE file for details.

🔗 Links

• Model Context Protocol - Official MCP documentation
• MCP File Format - gen-mcp configuration reference
• Examples - Real-world integration examples
• gRPC Integration Demo - Pattern for exposing gRPC services via HTTP proxy

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