Quickstart

This walks you from nothing to a public MCP endpoint in about a minute.

1. Install the CLI.

   macOS / Linux

   curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://mcppipe.sh | sh

   Windows

   powershell -c "irm https://mcppipe.sh/install.ps1 | iex"

   Homebrew

   brew install mcppipe/homebrew-tap/mcppipe

   Other options — Scoop, MSI — are on the Install page.

2. Create a tunnel in the dashboard.

   Sign in, click New tunnel, and optionally type a subdomain (leave it blank for a random name). The preview shows the public host you’ll get: <subdomain>--<account-slug>.mcppipe.dev.

   The create dialog previews your public host as you type the subdomain.

   On Create tunnel, the dialog reveals a CLI key (mtk_…) — this is the value you pass to --api-key (or MCPPIPE_API_KEY) in the next step. Copy it now, it is shown only once. If you lose it, rotate the key from the tunnel’s Settings tab (the old key dies immediately).

   The mtk_ key is shown once on creation; copy it before closing.

3. Start the tunnel. Point the CLI at a local MCP server:

   HTTP server

   mcppipe up --api-key mtk_xxx --upstream http://127.0.0.1:3000

   stdio server

   mcppipe up --api-key mtk_xxx --stdio "npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ."

   Auto-detect

   # No --upstream/--stdio: scans Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf,
   # VS Code, Cline, Continue.dev and Zed, then prompts you to pick one.
   mcppipe up --api-key mtk_xxx

   --upstream and --stdio are mutually exclusive for a single upstream. To put several MCP servers behind one tunnel, repeat them with name= prefixes or use --upstreams-file — see Multi-upstream aggregation.

   The key can also come from the MCPPIPE_API_KEY environment variable instead of --api-key. The first line the CLI prints is a telemetry notice; pass --no-telemetry to opt out of crash reporting. Full flag list: CLI reference.

4. Connect your agent. Once connected, the CLI prints your public URL and a ready-to-paste config snippet:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "mcppipe": {
         "url": "https://<subdomain>--<account-slug>.mcppipe.dev/mcp"
       }
     }
   }

   Drop that block into your remote MCP client’s config (Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline all accept it verbatim). VS Code wraps the same entry under "mcp": { "servers": { ... } }. The endpoint speaks Streamable HTTP at the /mcp path with no interstitial — the client connects directly.

Track your progress

A new account shows an onboarding checklist on the dashboard home with two ticks, both derived from live state:

1. Create your first tunnel — flips once you have a tunnel.
2. Connect the CLI — flips the first time a CLI connects to it.

The banner pre-fills the run command with your real subdomain and auto-hides when both ticks are green. There is no “dismiss” — it mirrors observable state, so it returns if you later delete every tunnel.

The onboarding banner: it disappears once both steps are done.

What you get

• A stable subdomain — your tunnel is always reachable at https://<subdomain>--<account-slug>.mcppipe.dev/mcp, and it does not change between runs. The subdomain stays editable in Settings.
• Reconnect that does not lose work — if the network blips, the CLI resumes the session and mcppipe replays in-flight requests. See Reliability.
• Live traffic in the dashboard — open the tunnel’s Live tab and watch every JSON-RPC call as it happens; the Inspector tab keeps history. See Live traffic & Inspector.

Next

• Install — every install method and how to upgrade.
• CLI reference — every flag of up and detect.
• Tool governance — allow/deny policy, rate limits, pinning.
• Authentication: OAuth & Service Tokens — lock a tunnel down.
• Troubleshooting — if something does not connect.