ConduitMCP

An Elixir implementation of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) specification (2025-11-25). Build MCP servers to expose tools, resources, and prompts to LLM applications like Claude Desktop, VS Code, and Cursor.

Features

• MCP Apps — Tools can return interactive UI rendered as sandboxed iframes in host clients
• Three Ways to Build — DSL macros, raw callbacks, or component modules — pick your level of control
• Full MCP Spec — Tools, resources, prompts, completion, logging, subscriptions (MCP 2025-11-25 + 2025-06-18)
• Runtime Validation — NimbleOptions-powered param validation with type coercion and custom constraints
• Stateless Architecture — Pure functions, no processes, maximum concurrency via Bandit
• Authentication — Bearer tokens, API keys, OAuth 2.1 (RFC 9728), custom verification
• Rate Limiting — HTTP-level and message-level rate limiting with Hammer
• Session Management — Pluggable session stores (ETS, Redis, PostgreSQL, Mnesia)
• Observability — Telemetry events, optional Prometheus metrics via PromEx
• Phoenix Ready — Drop-in integration with Phoenix routers
• CORS & Security — Configurable origins, preflight handling, origin validation

Installation

def deps do
  [
    {:conduit_mcp, "~> 0.9"}
  ]
end

Requires Elixir ~> 1.18.

Quick Start

Define a server in one module:

defmodule MyServer do
  use ConduitMcp.Server

  tool "echo", "Echo a message" do
    param :message, :string, "Message to echo", required: true
    handle fn _conn, %{"message" => msg} -> text(msg) end
  end
end

Run it with Bandit:

# lib/my_app/application.ex
children = [
  {Bandit, plug: {ConduitMcp.Transport.StreamableHTTP, server_module: MyServer}, port: 4000}
]

Try it:

curl -s -X POST http://localhost:4000/ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {"name": "echo", "arguments": {"message": "hello"}}
}'

For multi-tool servers, authentication, sessions, OAuth, MCP Apps, and more, see the guides and examples/.

Stability

ConduitMCP is pre-1.0. Most APIs are stable; the following are explicitly experimental and may change before 1.0:

• ConduitMcp.Tasks and ConduitMcp.Tasks.Janitor — task lifecycle is new in MCP spec 2025-11-25 and the surface area may evolve.
• ConduitMcp.Client — message builders for server-to-client requests (sampling, elicitation, roots). The bidirectional transport these depend on is not yet wired through Streamable HTTP.
• ConduitMcp.Cancellation — the cooperative cancellation model may grow a more direct preemption path.

Breaking changes between minor versions will be called out in CHANGELOG.md.

Three Ways to Define Servers

ConduitMCP gives you three modes. Each is a complete, independent way to build an MCP server — pick whichever fits your project.

1. DSL Mode

Everything in one module with compile-time macros. Schemas and validation generated automatically.

defmodule MyApp.MCPServer do
  use ConduitMcp.Server

  tool "greet", "Greet someone" do
    param :name, :string, "Person's name", required: true
    param :style, :string, "Greeting style", enum: ["formal", "casual"]

    handle fn _conn, params ->
      name = params["name"]
      style = params["style"] || "casual"
      greeting = if style == "formal", do: "Good day", else: "Hey"
      text("#{greeting}, #{name}!")
    end
  end

  prompt "code_review", "Code review assistant" do
    arg :code, :string, "Code to review", required: true
    arg :language, :string, "Language", default: "elixir"

    get fn _conn, args ->
      [
        system("You are a code reviewer"),
        user("Review this #{args["language"]} code:\n#{args["code"]}")
      ]
    end
  end

  resource "user://{id}" do
    description "User profile"
    mime_type "application/json"

    read fn _conn, params, _opts ->
      user = MyApp.Users.get!(params["id"])
      json(user)
    end
  end
end

Response helpers (auto-imported): text/1, json/1, image/1, audio/2, error/1, raw/1, raw_resource/2, system/1, user/1, assistant/1 — see Responses for details and custom response patterns.

2. Manual Mode

Full control. You implement callbacks directly with raw JSON Schema maps. No compile-time magic.

defmodule MyApp.MCPServer do
  use ConduitMcp.Server, dsl: false

  @tools [
    %{
      "name" => "greet",
      "description" => "Greet someone",
      "inputSchema" => %{
        "type" => "object",
        "properties" => %{"name" => %{"type" => "string"}},
        "required" => ["name"]
      }
    }
  ]

  @impl true
  def handle_list_tools(_conn), do: {:ok, %{"tools" => @tools}}

  @impl true
  def handle_call_tool(_conn, "greet", %{"name" => name}) do
    {:ok, %{"content" => [%{"type" => "text", "text" => "Hello, #{name}!"}]}}
  end
end

3. Endpoint + Component Mode

Each tool, resource, or prompt is its own module. An Endpoint aggregates them with declarative config for rate limiting, auth, and server metadata.

# Each tool is its own module
defmodule MyApp.Echo do
  use ConduitMcp.Component, type: :tool, description: "Echoes text back"

  schema do
    field :text, :string, "The text to echo", required: true, max_length: 500
  end

  @impl true
  def execute(%{text: text}, _conn) do
    text(text)
  end
end

defmodule MyApp.ReadUser do
  use ConduitMcp.Component,
    type: :resource,
    uri: "user://{id}",
    description: "User by ID",
    mime_type: "application/json"

  @impl true
  def execute(%{id: id}, _conn) do
    user = MyApp.Users.get!(id)
    {:ok, %{"contents" => [%{
      "uri" => "user://#{id}",
      "mimeType" => "application/json",
      "text" => JSON.encode!(user)
    }]}}
  end
end

# Endpoint aggregates components
defmodule MyApp.MCPServer do
  use ConduitMcp.Endpoint,
    name: "My App",
    version: "1.0.0",
    rate_limit: [backend: MyApp.RateLimiter, limit: 60, scale: 60_000],
    message_rate_limit: [backend: MyApp.RateLimiter, limit: 50, scale: 300_000]

  component MyApp.Echo
  component MyApp.ReadUser
end

Endpoint config is auto-extracted by transports — no duplication needed:

{Bandit,
 plug: {ConduitMcp.Transport.StreamableHTTP, server_module: MyApp.MCPServer},
 port: 4001}

See the Endpoint Mode Guide for full details on components, schema DSL, and options.

Running Your Server

Standalone with Bandit

# lib/my_app/application.ex
def start(_type, _args) do
  children = [
    {Bandit,
     plug: {ConduitMcp.Transport.StreamableHTTP, server_module: MyApp.MCPServer},
     port: 4001}
  ]

  Supervisor.start_link(children, strategy: :one_for_one)
end

Phoenix Integration

# lib/my_app_web/router.ex
scope "/mcp" do
  forward "/", ConduitMcp.Transport.StreamableHTTP,
    server_module: MyApp.MCPServer,
    auth: [strategy: :bearer_token, token: System.get_env("MCP_AUTH_TOKEN")]
end

Transports

Both transports support authentication, rate limiting, CORS, and session management.

Responses

All tool/resource/prompt handlers return {:ok, map()} or {:error, map()}. Helper macros are imported automatically in DSL and Endpoint modes.

Tool Response Helpers

Prompt Message Helpers

Multi-Content Responses

Use texts/1 to return multiple text items in a single response:

{:ok, %{"content" => texts(["Line 1", "Line 2", "Line 3"])}}
# => {:ok, %{"content" => [%{"type" => "text", "text" => "Line 1"}, ...]}}

Raw / Fully Custom Responses

For maximum control, skip the helpers entirely and return the map yourself:

def execute(_params, _conn) do
  {:ok, %{
    "content" => [
      %{"type" => "text", "text" => "Here is the chart:"},
      %{"type" => "image", "data" => base64_png, "mimeType" => "image/png"},
      %{"type" => "text", "text" => "Analysis complete."}
    ]
  }}
end

The raw/1 helper is a shortcut for returning any map without MCP content wrapping — useful for debugging or non-standard responses:

raw(%{"custom_key" => "custom_value", "nested" => %{"data" => [1, 2, 3]}})
# => {:ok, %{"custom_key" => "custom_value", "nested" => %{"data" => [1, 2, 3]}}}

Note:raw/1 bypasses the MCP content structure. Clients expecting standard "content" arrays won't parse it correctly. Use it for debugging or custom integrations.

Error Codes

Standard JSON-RPC 2.0 error codes used by the protocol:

Parameter Validation

All three modes support runtime validation via NimbleOptions. DSL and Endpoint modes generate validation schemas automatically. Manual mode can opt in via __validation_schema_for_tool__/1.

Constraints

Type Coercion

Enabled by default. Automatic conversion: "25" → 25, "true" → true, "85.5" → 85.5.

Configuration

config :conduit_mcp, :validation,
  runtime_validation: true,
  strict_mode: true,
  type_coercion: true,
  log_validation_errors: false

Authentication

Configure in transport options or Endpoint use opts:

# Bearer token
auth: [strategy: :bearer_token, token: "your-secret-token"]

# API key
auth: [strategy: :api_key, api_key: "your-key", header: "x-api-key"]

# Custom verification
auth: [strategy: :function, verify: fn token ->
  case MyApp.Auth.verify(token) do
    {:ok, user} -> {:ok, user}
    _ -> {:error, "Invalid token"}
  end
end]

# OAuth 2.1 (RFC 9728)
auth: [strategy: :oauth, issuer: "https://auth.example.com", audience: "my-app"]

Authenticated user is available via conn.assigns[:current_user] in all callbacks.

Rate Limiting

Two layers using Hammer (optional dependency):

# Setup: add {:hammer, "~> 7.2"} to deps, then:
defmodule MyApp.RateLimiter do
  use Hammer, backend: :ets
end

HTTP rate limiting — limits raw connections:

rate_limit: [backend: MyApp.RateLimiter, limit: 100, scale: 60_000]

Message rate limiting — limits MCP method calls (tool calls, reads, prompts):

message_rate_limit: [
  backend: MyApp.RateLimiter,
  limit: 50,
  scale: 300_000,
  excluded_methods: ["initialize", "ping"]
]

Both support per-user keying via :key_func. Returns HTTP 429 with Retry-After header.

Session Management

StreamableHTTP supports server-side sessions with pluggable stores:

session: [store: ConduitMcp.Session.EtsStore]  # Default
session: [store: MyApp.RedisSessionStore]       # Custom store
session: false                                   # Disable

See guides: Multi-Node Sessions

Telemetry

Events emitted for monitoring:

Optional Prometheus metrics via ConduitMcp.PromEx — see module docs.

Client Configuration

VS Code / Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-app": {
      "url": "http://localhost:4001/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-app": {
      "command": "elixir",
      "args": ["/path/to/your/server.exs"]
    }
  }
}

MCP Spec Coverage

ConduitMCP implements the full MCP specification:

Guides

• Choosing a Mode — DSL vs Manual vs Endpoint comparison
• Endpoint Mode — Component modules, schema DSL, full walkthrough
• Authentication — All auth strategies in detail
• Rate Limiting — HTTP and message rate limiting
• Multi-Node Sessions — Redis, PostgreSQL, Mnesia session stores
• Oban Tasks — Long-running tasks with Oban
• MCP Apps — Interactive UI from MCP tools

Documentation

• API Documentation
• Changelog
• MCP Specification

Examples

• Simple Server Example
• Phoenix Integration
• MCP Apps Demo

License

Apache License 2.0