http-client

The HTTP Client MCP Server provides a set of tools to perform HTTP requests from within the MCP ecosystem. It exposes a universal http_request tool that can execute any HTTP method (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, HEAD, OPTIONS, and custom methods), along with convenient helpers for common tasks. You can also use http_get for simple GET requests, http_post for sending data with automatic handling of content types, and set_default_headers to apply headers across all requests. The server returns comprehensive response details including status, headers, and body, and supports query parameters, authentication headers, timeouts, and redirect handling. This makes it suitable for interacting with external APIs, testing endpoints, and integrating HTTP calls into MCP workflows. The provided examples show how to structure requests, including headers, query parameters, and bodies, enabling precise control over your HTTP interactions.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+ installed on your system
• npm (comes with Node.js) or npm equivalent

Installation steps:

1. Clone or download the MCP server repository.
2. Navigate to the project directory: cd path/to/http-client-mcp-server
3. Install dependencies: npm install
4. Start the MCP server (example): npm run start

If you need to run via MCP Inspector or integrate into a Claude Desktop configuration, ensure Node is available and the server.js path is correctly set in your MCP config as shown in the usage example.

Tips and common considerations:

• Ensure Node.js is at least version 18 to satisfy requirements.
• The http_request tool supports all HTTP methods; use http_get/http_post for simpler patterns when possible.
• You can set default headers with set_default_headers to simplify repeated requests; the merge flag controls whether new headers replace or merge with existing defaults.
• For authentication, pass Authorization headers or other custom headers as part of each request, or configure defaults if they apply globally.
• Check response parsing: the server supports JSON and plain text responses; handle non-JSON responses accordingly.
• If you encounter redirects, verify redirect handling settings and maximum redirects to avoid infinite loops.
• When testing locally, consider using query parameters to shape API responses (e.g., format=json) for predictable payloads.