Remote

You can run a remote MCP server that exposes its tools over a standard MCP protocol, enabling you to connect from clients or automation without embedding authentication in the server. This setup focuses on a Cloudflare Workers deployment and a lightweight, remote-enabled workflow you can use from playgrounds or desktop clients.

How to use

Connect to your MCP server from a client to access your tools and execute tasks. You can use the Cloudflare AI Playground to try your tools in a remote MCP client, or connect from local MCP clients through a proxy. When you connect, you will reference the server URL and you will be able to invoke tools by name, passing inputs as needed. This pattern lets you compose multi-step workflows, experiment with prompts, and extend the server by adding new tools in your init routine.

From a local client, you can point to the remote server URL and execute the available tools. For example, you can run a calculation or data transformation remotely, then feed the results back to your workflow. Tools are registered inside the server’s initialization, and you can add new tools by updating the server’s init method to declare new capabilities.

How to install

Prerequisites: you need Node.js and npm installed on your machine. Verify the versions acceptable for the server template you plan to use (for example, Node >= 14 or newer is commonly required). Install the MCP server template and deploy it to your Cloudflare account using the provided commands.

Step 1: Create and deploy your remote MCP server using the official Cloudflare template. Run this command locally to scaffold the project:

npm create cloudflare@latest -- my-mcp-server --template=cloudflare/ai/demos/remote-mcp-authless

Step 2: If you prefer a quick start that deploys directly, you can use the Cloudflare deployment URL with the template already set up for you. Open the following link in your browser to configure and deploy the MCP server to a Cloudflare Workers URL of the form remote-mcp-server-authless.your-account.workers.dev/sse.

Step 3: After deployment, customize your MCP server by editing the init method in your server’s source. Define each tool using this.server.tool(...) to add your own capabilities.

Additional notes

Connect to Cloudflare AI Playground by visiting the Playground and entering your deployed MCP server URL to use your tools directly from the playground interface.

To use Claude Desktop with your remote MCP server, configure the client to point to your server’s SSE endpoint via an mcp-remote proxy. Here is an example configuration you can paste into Claude Desktop Settings > Developer > Edit Config, under mcpServers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "calculator": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "http://localhost:8787/sse"  // or remote-mcp-server-authless.your-account.workers.dev/sse
      ]
    }
  }
}

Available tools

calculator

Remote calculator tool registered in the MCP server init allowing numeric or symbolic calculations via the MCP pipeline.