How to deploy a remote MCP server

Your stdio server communicates via stdin/stdout, which does not work over the network. Install Express and update your server to use the Streamable HTTP transport provided by the MCP SDK. The createMcpExpressApp helper wraps your McpServer instance in an Express application that exposes a /mcp endpoint. This is the only code change needed — all your existing tools and resources remain the same.

1npm install express
2npm install -D @types/express

Create a new file that imports your MCP server and wraps it with the Express Streamable HTTP transport. This file will be your deployment entry point. The server listens on the PORT environment variable (which cloud platforms set automatically) and logs to stderr. Add a health check endpoint at the root so load balancers and uptime monitors can verify your server is running.

1// src/http.ts
2import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
3import { createMcpExpressApp } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/express.js";
4import { registerTools } from "./tools.js";
5
6const server = new McpServer({
7  name: "my-remote-server",
8  version: "1.0.0",
9});
10
11registerTools(server);
12
13const app = createMcpExpressApp(server);
14
15// Health check endpoint
16app.get("/", (_req, res) => {
17  res.json({ status: "ok", name: "my-remote-server" });
18});
19
20const PORT = parseInt(process.env.PORT || "3000", 10);
21app.listen(PORT, () => {
22  console.error(`MCP server running on port ${PORT}`);
23});

Railway is the easiest platform for deploying MCP servers because it supports long-running processes and WebSocket upgrades natively. Push your repository to GitHub, then create a new Railway project and connect it to your repo. Railway auto-detects Node.js and runs npm start. Set your start command to node dist/http.js and add any required environment variables (like API keys) in the Railway dashboard under Variables. Railway assigns a public URL automatically.

1// package.json — add start script
2{
3  "scripts": {
4    "build": "tsc",
5    "start": "node dist/http.js"
6  }
7}

Render is another excellent option with a generous free tier for web services. Create a new Web Service on Render, connect your GitHub repo, set the build command to npm install && npm run build, and the start command to node dist/http.js. Add environment variables in the Environment section. Render provides a .onrender.com subdomain automatically. Note that Render free tier services spin down after 15 minutes of inactivity, which will cause the first request to take 30-60 seconds.

1// render.yaml (optional — Infrastructure as Code)
2services:
3  - type: web
4    name: my-mcp-server
5    runtime: node
6    buildCommand: npm install && npm run build
7    startCommand: node dist/http.js
8    envVars:
9      - key: API_KEY
10        sync: false

Vercel works differently — it runs serverless functions, not long-running processes. This means each request is handled by a new function invocation. Streamable HTTP's stateless design supports this pattern. Create an api/mcp.ts file that exports the Express app as a Vercel function. Note that Vercel has a 10-second timeout on the free tier (60s on Pro), so tools that take longer will need a different approach.

1// api/mcp.ts — Vercel serverless function
2import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
3import { createMcpExpressApp } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/express.js";
4import { registerTools } from "../src/tools.js";
5
6const server = new McpServer({
7  name: "vercel-mcp-server",
8  version: "1.0.0",
9});
10
11registerTools(server);
12
13const app = createMcpExpressApp(server);
14
15export default app;

Update your Claude Desktop or Cursor configuration to point to the remote URL instead of a local command. For Claude Desktop, edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. For Cursor, edit .cursor/mcp.json in your project root. Replace the command/args configuration with a url field pointing to your deployed endpoint. If your deployment requires complex infrastructure decisions or you want help choosing the right platform, the RapidDev engineering team can assist with architecture planning.

1// Claude Desktop — remote server config
2{
3  "mcpServers": {
4    "my-remote-server": {
5      "url": "https://your-project.up.railway.app/mcp"
6    }
7  }
8}
9
10// Cursor — remote server config (.cursor/mcp.json)
11{
12  "mcpServers": {
13    "my-remote-server": {
14      "url": "https://your-project.up.railway.app/mcp"
15    }
16  }
17}