express-mcp-handler

A middleware for integrating Model Context Protocol (MCP) with Express applications, enabling seamless communication between LLMs and tools.


What is Model Context Protocol (MCP)?

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open protocol for integrating large language models (LLMs) with external data sources and tools. It enables AI assistants to access real-time data, execute operations, and interact with various services through a standardized interface.

Features

- Stateful Handler: Can handle one off requests or maintain long-lived sessions with session IDs and Server-Sent Events (SSE).
- Stateless Handler: Handles each request in complete isolation for simple, one-off interactions.
- SSE Handler: Handles Model Context Protocol (MCP) over Server-Sent Events (SSE) with dedicated GET and POST endpoints.
- Type-Safe API: Built with TypeScript for reliable integration.
- Flexible Configuration: Customizable error handling, session management, and lifecycle hooks.
- Express Integration: Plugs directly into Express routes with middleware pattern.

Installation

Install via npm:

``bash
npm install express-mcp-handler
`

Or yarn:

`bash
yarn add express-mcp-handler
`

Or pnpm:

`bash
pnpm add express-mcp-handler
`

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This package requires the following peer dependencies:

- express >= 4.0.0
- @modelcontextprotocol/sdk >= 1.10.2
- zod >= 3.0.0

Install them if you haven't already:

`bash
npm install express @modelcontextprotocol/sdk zod
`

Quick Start

Here's a basic example to get you started:

`ts
import express from 'express';
import { McpServer } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js';
import { statelessHandler } from 'express-mcp-handler';

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

// Create a factory function that returns a new McpServer instance for each request
const serverFactory = () => new McpServer({
name: 'my-mcp-server',
version: '1.0.0',
});

// Mount the stateless handler
app.post('/mcp', statelessHandler(serverFactory));

app.listen(3000, () => {
console.log('Express MCP server running on port 3000');
});
`

Usage

Express-mcp-handler provides three handler types to suit different use cases:

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Use statefulHandler to establish reusable sessions between client and server, ideal for maintaining context across multiple interactions:

`ts
import express from 'express';
import { McpServer } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js';
import { statefulHandler } from 'express-mcp-handler';
import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

// Create an MCP server instance
const server = new McpServer({
name: 'my-server',
version: '1.0.0',
});

// Configure handler options
const handlerOptions = {
sessionIdGenerator: randomUUID, // Function to generate unique session IDs
onSessionInitialized: (sessionId: string) => {
console.log(Session initialized: ${sessionId});
// You could store session metadata or initialize resources here
},
onSessionClosed: (sessionId: string) => {
console.log(Session closed: ${sessionId});
// Perform cleanup logic here
},
onError: (error: Error, sessionId?: string) => {
console.error(Error in session ${sessionId}:, error);
// Handle errors for monitoring or logging
}
};

// Mount the handlers for different HTTP methods
app.post('/mcp', statefulHandler(server, handlerOptions));
app.get('/mcp', statefulHandler(server, handlerOptions));
app.delete('/mcp', statefulHandler(server, handlerOptions));

app.listen(3000, () => {
console.log('Express MCP server running on port 3000');
});
`

The stateful handler:

- Initializes a new session on the first request (with no mcp-session-id header)
- Returns a mcp-session-id header that clients must include in subsequent requests
- Manages Server-Sent Events (SSE) to push messages from the server to the client
- Automatically cleans up sessions when closed

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Use statelessHandler for one-off request handling with no session management, perfect for serverless environments or simple requests:

`ts
import express from 'express';
import { McpServer } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js';
import { statelessHandler } from 'express-mcp-handler';

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

// Function that creates a fresh McpServer for each request
const serverFactory = () => new McpServer({
name: 'stateless-mcp-server',
version: '1.0.0',
});

// Configure with custom error handling
const options = {
onError: (error: Error) => {
console.error('MCP error:', error);
// Add custom error reporting logic here
}
};

app.post('/mcp', statelessHandler(serverFactory, options));

app.listen(3000, () => {
console.log('Express Stateless MCP server running on port 3000');
});
`

Each stateless request:

- Creates a fresh transport and server instance
- Ensures complete isolation with no session tracking
- Is suitable for simple or serverless environments

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Use sseHandlers to handle Model Context Protocol (MCP) over Server-Sent Events (SSE), ideal for real-time streaming responses:

`ts
import express from 'express';
import { McpServer } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js';
import { sseHandlers } from 'express-mcp-handler';

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

// Provide a factory function that returns a fresh McpServer for each SSE connection
const serverFactory = () => new McpServer({
name: 'sse-mcp-server',
version: '1.0.0',
});

// Configure SSE handlers
const handlers = sseHandlers(serverFactory, {
onError: (error: Error, sessionId?: string) => {
console.error([SSE][${sessionId || 'unknown'}], error);
},
onClose: (sessionId: string) => {
console.log([SSE] transport closed: ${sessionId});
// Clean up any session resources
},
});

// Mount the SSE endpoints
app.get('/sse', handlers.getHandler);
app.post('/messages', handlers.postHandler);

app.listen(3002, () => {
console.log('Express MCP SSE server running on port 3002');
});
`

SSE handlers provide:

- GET /sse: Establishes the SSE stream and returns a mcp-session-id header
- POST /messages: Sends MCP messages over the SSE transport using the mcp-session-id query parameter

API Reference

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`ts
function statefulHandler(
server: McpServer,
options: {
sessionIdGenerator: () => string;
onSessionInitialized?: (sessionId: string) => void;
onSessionClosed?: (sessionId: string) => void;
onError?: (error: Error, sessionId?: string) => void;
onInvalidSession?: (req: express.Request) => void;
}
): express.RequestHandler;
`

| Parameter | Type | Description |
|-----------|------|-------------|
| server | McpServer | Instance of McpServer to handle protocol logic |
| options.sessionIdGenerator | () => string | Function that returns a unique session ID |
| options.onSessionInitialized | (sessionId: string) => void | _(optional)_ Callback invoked with the new session ID |
| options.onSessionClosed | (sessionId: string) => void | _(optional)_ Callback invoked when a session is closed |
| options.onError | (error: Error, sessionId?: string) => void | _(optional)_ Callback invoked on errors |
| options.onInvalidSession | (req: express.Request) => void | _(optional)_ Callback invoked when an invalid session is accessed |

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`ts
function statelessHandler(
serverFactory: () => McpServer,
options?: {
sessionIdGenerator?: () => string;
onClose?: (req: express.Request, res: express.Response) => void;
onError?: (error: Error) => void;
}
): express.RequestHandler;
`

| Parameter | Type | Description |
|-----------|------|-------------|
| serverFactory | () => McpServer | Function that returns a new server instance for each request |
| options.sessionIdGenerator | () => string | _(optional)_ Override transport session ID generation |
| options.onClose | (req: express.Request, res: express.Response) => void | _(optional)_ Callback fired when the request/response cycle ends |
| options.onError | (error: Error) => void | _(optional)_ Callback fired on errors during handling |

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`ts
function sseHandlers(
serverFactory: ServerFactory,
options: SSEHandlerOptions
): {
getHandler: express.RequestHandler;
postHandler: express.RequestHandler;
};
`

| Parameter | Type | Description |
|-----------|------|-------------|
| serverFactory | ServerFactory | Factory function that returns a fresh McpServer for each SSE connection |
| options.onError | (error: Error, sessionId?: string) => void | _(optional)_ Callback invoked on errors, receives error and optional sessionId |
| options.onClose | (sessionId: string) => void | _(optional)_ Callback invoked when an SSE session is closed, receives sessionId |

Error Handling

All handler types support custom error handling through their options:

`ts
// Example of custom error handling for stateful handler
const handlerOptions = {
// ... other options
onError: (error: Error, sessionId?: string) => {
console.error(Error in session ${sessionId}:, error);
// Send error to monitoring service
Sentry.captureException(error, {
extra: { sessionId }
});
}
};
`

TypeScript Support

This package is written in TypeScript and provides type definitions for all exports. When using TypeScript, you'll get full IntelliSense and type checking.

`ts
import { statefulHandler, StatefulHandlerOptions } from 'express-mcp-handler';
import { McpServer } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js';

// Type-safe options
const options: StatefulHandlerOptions = {
sessionIdGenerator: () => Date.now().toString(),
onError: (error, sessionId) => {
// TypeScript knows the types of these parameters
console.error(Error in session ${sessionId}:, error);
}
};

const server = new McpServer({
name: 'typed-server',
version: '1.0.0',
});

// Type-safe handler
app.post('/mcp', statefulHandler(server, options));
`

Development

To contribute to this project:

`bash
git clone https://github.com/jhgaylor/express-mcp-handler.git
cd express-mcp-handler
npm install
npm run build
npm test
`

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The project has solid test coverage and promises to maintain it.

All changes are verified through our CI/CD pipeline using Jest for testing and Codecov for coverage reporting.

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This project uses GitHub Actions for continuous integration. Every push to the main branch and pull request will:

1. Run the lint check
2. Build the project
3. Run tests with coverage
4. Upload coverage reports to Codecov

You can view the current CI status in the badge at the top of this README or on the Actions tab of the GitHub repository.

License

MIT License

Publishing to npm

Log in to npm if you haven't already:
`bash
npm login
`

Publish the package to npm (will run your prepublishOnly build):
`bash
npm publish
`

To bump, tag, and push a new version:
`bash
npm version patch # or minor, major
git push origin main --tags
`

Handler Types at a Glance

| Handler | Scenario | Sessions | Streaming |
|------------------|---------------------------------|----------|-----------|
| statelessHandler | One-off or serverless workloads | No | No |
| statefulHandler | Multi-turn interactions | Yes | Yes |
| sseHandlers | Real-time SSE streaming | Yes | Yes |

Troubleshooting

Missing mcp-session-id header
Ensure the client includes the mcp-session-id` header returned on the initial request.

Transport connection closed prematurely
Verify network connectivity and ensure the client properly handles SSE events.

Changelog

All notable changes to this project are documented in the CHANGELOG.md.