MCP Proxy Provider - Fastmcp

import { VersionBadge } from '/snippets/version-badge.mdx'

The Proxy Provider sources components from another MCP server through a client connection. This lets you expose any MCP server's tools, resources, and prompts through your own server, whether the source is local or accessed over the network.

Why Use Proxy Provider

The Proxy Provider enables:

Bridge transports: Make an HTTP server available via stdio, or vice versa
Aggregate servers: Combine multiple source servers into one unified server
Add security: Act as a controlled gateway with authentication and authorization
Simplify access: Provide a stable endpoint even if backend servers change

mermaid

sequenceDiagram
    participant Client as Your Client
    participant Proxy as FastMCP Proxy
    participant Backend as Source Server

    Client->>Proxy: MCP Request (stdio)
    Proxy->>Backend: MCP Request (HTTP/stdio/SSE)
    Backend-->>Proxy: MCP Response
    Proxy-->>Client: MCP Response

Quick Start

Create a proxy using create_proxy():

python

from fastmcp.server import create_proxy

# create_proxy() accepts URLs, file paths, and transports directly
proxy = create_proxy("http://example.com/mcp", name="MyProxy")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    proxy.run()

This gives you:

Safe concurrent request handling
Automatic forwarding of MCP features (sampling, elicitation, etc.)
Session isolation to prevent context mixing

<Tip> To mount a proxy inside another FastMCP server, see [Mounting External Servers](/servers/composition#mounting-external-servers). </Tip>

Transport Bridging

A common use case is bridging transports between servers:

python

from fastmcp.server import create_proxy

# Bridge HTTP server to local stdio
http_proxy = create_proxy("http://example.com/mcp/sse", name="HTTP-to-stdio")

# Run locally via stdio for Claude Desktop
if __name__ == "__main__":
    http_proxy.run()  # Defaults to stdio

Or expose a local server via HTTP:

python

from fastmcp.server import create_proxy

# Bridge local server to HTTP
local_proxy = create_proxy("local_server.py", name="stdio-to-HTTP")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    local_proxy.run(transport="http", host="0.0.0.0", port=8080)

Session Isolation

create_proxy() provides session isolation - each request gets its own isolated backend session:

python

from fastmcp.server import create_proxy

# Each request creates a fresh backend session (recommended)
proxy = create_proxy("backend_server.py")

# Multiple clients can use this proxy simultaneously:
# - Client A calls a tool → gets isolated session
# - Client B calls a tool → gets different session
# - No context mixing

Shared Sessions

If you pass an already-connected client, the proxy reuses that session:

python

from fastmcp import Client
from fastmcp.server import create_proxy

async with Client("backend_server.py") as connected_client:
    # This proxy reuses the connected session
    proxy = create_proxy(connected_client)

    # ⚠️ Warning: All requests share the same session

<Warning> Shared sessions may cause context mixing in concurrent scenarios. Use only in single-threaded situations or with explicit synchronization. </Warning>

MCP Feature Forwarding

Proxies automatically forward MCP protocol features:

Feature	Description
Roots	Filesystem root access requests
Sampling	LLM completion requests
Elicitation	User input requests
Logging	Log messages from backend
Progress	Progress notifications

python

from fastmcp.server import create_proxy

# All features forwarded automatically
proxy = create_proxy("advanced_backend.py")

# When the backend:
# - Requests LLM sampling → forwarded to your client
# - Logs messages → appear in your client
# - Reports progress → shown in your client

Disabling Features

Selectively disable forwarding:

python

from fastmcp.server.providers.proxy import ProxyClient

backend = ProxyClient(
    "backend_server.py",
    sampling_handler=None,  # Disable LLM sampling
    log_handler=None        # Disable log forwarding
)

Configuration-Based Proxies

Create proxies from configuration dictionaries:

python

from fastmcp.server import create_proxy

config = {
    "mcpServers": {
        "default": {
            "url": "https://example.com/mcp",
            "transport": "http"
        }
    }
}

proxy = create_proxy(config, name="Config-Based Proxy")

Multi-Server Proxies

Combine multiple servers with automatic namespacing:

python

from fastmcp.server import create_proxy

config = {
    "mcpServers": {
        "weather": {
            "url": "https://weather-api.example.com/mcp",
            "transport": "http"
        },
        "calendar": {
            "url": "https://calendar-api.example.com/mcp",
            "transport": "http"
        }
    }
}

# Creates unified proxy with prefixed components:
# - weather_get_forecast
# - calendar_add_event
composite = create_proxy(config, name="Composite")

Component Prefixing

Proxied components follow standard prefixing rules:

Component Type	Pattern
Tools	`{prefix}_{tool_name}`
Prompts	`{prefix}_{prompt_name}`
Resources	`protocol://{prefix}/path`
Templates	`protocol://{prefix}/...`

Mirrored Components

Components from a proxy server are "mirrored" - they reflect the remote server's state and cannot be modified directly.

To modify a proxied component (like disabling it), create a local copy:

python

from fastmcp import FastMCP
from fastmcp.server import create_proxy

proxy = create_proxy("backend_server.py")

# Get mirrored tool
mirrored_tool = await proxy.get_tool("useful_tool")

# Create modifiable local copy
local_tool = mirrored_tool.copy()

# Add to your own server
my_server = FastMCP("MyServer")
my_server.add_tool(local_tool)

# Now you can control enabled state
my_server.disable(keys={local_tool.key})

Performance Considerations

Proxying introduces network latency:

Operation	Local	Proxied (HTTP)
`list_tools()`	1-2ms	300-400ms
`call_tool()`	1-2ms	200-500ms

When mounting proxy servers, this latency affects all operations on the parent server.

Component List Caching

ProxyProvider caches the backend's component lists (tools, resources, templates, prompts) so that individual lookups — like resolving a tool by name during call_tool — don't require a separate backend connection. The cache stores raw component metadata and is shared across all proxy sessions; per-session visibility, auth, and transforms are still applied after cache lookup by the server layer. The cache refreshes whenever an explicit list_* call is made, and entries expire after a configurable TTL (default 300 seconds).

For backends whose component lists change dynamically, disable caching by setting cache_ttl=0.

python

from fastmcp.server.providers.proxy import ProxyProvider, ProxyClient

# Default 300s TTL
provider = ProxyProvider(lambda: ProxyClient("http://backend/mcp"))

# Custom TTL
provider = ProxyProvider(lambda: ProxyClient("http://backend/mcp"), cache_ttl=60)

# Disable caching
provider = ProxyProvider(lambda: ProxyClient("http://backend/mcp"), cache_ttl=0)

Session Reuse for Stateless Backends

By default, each tool call opens a fresh MCP session to the backend. This is the safe default because it prevents state from leaking between requests. However, for stateless HTTP backends where there's no session state to protect, this overhead is unnecessary.

You can reuse a single backend session by providing a client factory that returns the same client instance:

python

from fastmcp.server.providers.proxy import FastMCPProxy, ProxyClient

base_client = ProxyClient("http://backend:8000/mcp")
shared_client = base_client.new()

proxy = FastMCPProxy(
    client_factory=lambda: shared_client,
    name="ReusedSessionProxy",
)

This eliminates the MCP initialization handshake on every call, which can dramatically reduce latency under load. The Client uses reference counting for its session lifecycle, so concurrent callers sharing the same instance is safe.

<Warning> Only reuse sessions when you know the backend is stateless (e.g. stateless HTTP). For stateful backends (stdio processes, servers that track session state), use the default fresh-session behavior to avoid context mixing. </Warning>

Advanced Usage

FastMCPProxy Class

For explicit session control, use FastMCPProxy directly:

python

from fastmcp.server.providers.proxy import FastMCPProxy, ProxyClient

# Custom session factory
def create_client():
    return ProxyClient("backend_server.py")

proxy = FastMCPProxy(client_factory=create_client)

This gives you full control over session creation and reuse strategies.

Adding Proxied Components to Existing Server

Mount a proxy to add components from another server:

python

from fastmcp import FastMCP
from fastmcp.server import create_proxy

server = FastMCP("My Server")

# Add local tools
@server.tool
def local_tool() -> str:
    return "Local result"

# Mount proxied tools from another server
external = create_proxy("http://external-server/mcp")
server.mount(external)

# Now server has both local and proxied tools