mcp-php

This MCP server is a PHP implementation of the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It provides a framework for exposing Tools (functions the LLM can call) and Resources (data the LLM can fetch) to a large language model. The SDK supports both STDIO and HTTP transports, allowing you to run a local CLI server for development or expose an HTTP endpoint that can be served by a PHP-enabled web server. You’ll define tools and resources using PHP attributes, register them with a Server instance, and run the server via the chosen transport. Tools are Invokable functions that receive parameters from the LLM and return content, while Resources are read-only data or content that can be requested by the LLM.

With the STDIO example, you get a minimal server that defines an EchoTool (returns a message) and a GreetingResource (provides a greeting). The HTTP example demonstrates how to expose the same capabilities over HTTP using PSR-7/PSR-17 implementations. The server handles JSON-RPC parsing and formatting, so you can query tools and resources with standard MCP requests and receive structured responses.

To interact with the server, send JSON-RPC requests over STDIN/STDOUT for the STDIO transport, or issue HTTP requests to the HTTP transport endpoint. The README includes concrete code examples showing how to define a tool, how to expose a resource, and how to wire those into the server and a transport.

Prerequisites:

• PHP 8.1 or higher
• Composer for dependency management

Installation steps:

1. Install the MCP PHP server package via Composer:

composer require james2037/mcp-php-server

2. (Optional) Create your own server file or use the provided examples to define Tools and Resources. The repository includes an STDIO example (examples/stdio_server.php) and an HTTP example (examples/http_server.php).

3. Run the STDIO server for development:

php examples/stdio_server.php

4. Run the HTTP server (assuming you have a web server configured or use PHP's built-in server):

php -S localhost:8000 examples/http_server.php

5. Send MCP requests to the running server using the appropriate transport (STDIO or HTTP).

Prerequisites typically include having PHP properly set up (CLI and, for HTTP, a web server like Apache/Nginx with PHP-FPM or PHP's built-in server) and Composer configured on your system.

Tips and caveats:

• The SDK uses PHP 8.1+ attributes to declare Tools and Resources. Ensure your PHP version supports attributes.
• For HTTP transport, the examples rely on PSR-7 and PSR-17 implementations (e.g., nyholm/psr7). These are typically pulled in by composer when you include the HTTP example code.
• When running STDIO servers, the server listens on standard input/output; ensure the environment allows interactive I/O.
• You can customize environment variables (e.g., enabling verbose logging) by passing an env block in the mcp_config entry. Use env vars to control logging levels, feature toggles, or endpoints.
• If you want to deploy via Docker, you can wrap the PHP server in a container and expose the appropriate port; however, the repository documentation focuses on native PHP execution.
• Check for PHP extensions required by your PHP web server (if using HTTP) and ensure file permissions allow reading of autoload files and resources.