Skip to content

05-transports-stdio-and-streamable-http.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
194 lines (160 loc) · 6.37 KB

05-transports-stdio-and-streamable-http.md

File metadata and controls

194 lines (160 loc) · 6.37 KB
layout default
title Chapter 5: Transports: STDIO and Streamable HTTP
nav_order 5
parent MCP PHP SDK Tutorial

Chapter 5: Transports: STDIO and Streamable HTTP

Welcome to Chapter 5: Transports: STDIO and Streamable HTTP. In this part of MCP PHP SDK Tutorial: Building MCP Servers in PHP with Discovery and Transport Flexibility, you will build an intuitive mental model first, then move into concrete implementation details and practical production tradeoffs.

This chapter maps transport choice to runtime and operational constraints.

Learning Goals

  • choose stdio vs streamable HTTP by workload
  • understand HTTP method/session behavior requirements
  • integrate streamable HTTP into framework middleware stacks
  • validate transport behavior with Inspector and curl workflows

Transport Matrix

Transport Best Fit
STDIO local MCP clients, desktop integrations, subprocess servers
Streamable HTTP web apps, framework routes, distributed services

Implementation Notes

  • stdio is simplest for local testing and client config bootstrapping.
  • HTTP transport requires PSR-17 factories and careful session/header handling.
  • framework integrations (Symfony/Laravel/Slim) should wrap transport lifecycle cleanly.

Source References

Summary

You now have a transport selection model for PHP MCP deployment contexts.

Next: Chapter 6: Client Communication: Sampling, Logging, and Progress

Depth Expansion Playbook

Source Code Walkthrough

composer.json

The composer module in composer.json handles a key part of this chapter's functionality:

{
  "name": "mcp/sdk",
  "description": "Model Context Protocol SDK for Client and Server applications in PHP",
  "license": "Apache-2.0",
  "type": "library",
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Christopher Hertel",
      "email": "mail@christopher-hertel.de"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kyrian Obikwelu",
      "email": "koshnawaza@gmail.com"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tobias Nyholm",
      "email": "tobias.nyholm@gmail.com"
    }
  ],
  "require": {
    "php": "^8.1",
    "ext-fileinfo": "*",
    "opis/json-schema": "^2.4",
    "php-http/discovery": "^1.20",
    "phpdocumentor/reflection-docblock": "^5.6 || ^6.0",
    "psr/clock": "^1.0",
    "psr/container": "^1.0 || ^2.0",
    "psr/event-dispatcher": "^1.0",
    "psr/http-client": "^1.0",
    "psr/http-factory": "^1.1",
    "psr/http-message": "^1.1 || ^2.0",
    "psr/http-server-handler": "^1.0",
    "psr/http-server-middleware": "^1.0",
    "psr/log": "^1.0 || ^2.0 || ^3.0",
    "symfony/finder": "^5.4 || ^6.4 || ^7.3 || ^8.0",

This module is important because it defines how MCP PHP SDK Tutorial: Building MCP Servers in PHP with Discovery and Transport Flexibility implements the patterns covered in this chapter.

examples/server/oauth-keycloak/keycloak/mcp-realm.json

The mcp-realm module in examples/server/oauth-keycloak/keycloak/mcp-realm.json handles a key part of this chapter's functionality:

{
  "realm": "mcp",
  "enabled": true,
  "registrationAllowed": false,
  "loginWithEmailAllowed": true,
  "duplicateEmailsAllowed": false,
  "resetPasswordAllowed": true,
  "editUsernameAllowed": false,
  "bruteForceProtected": true,
  "accessTokenLifespan": 300,
  "ssoSessionIdleTimeout": 1800,
  "ssoSessionMaxLifespan": 36000,
  "clients": [
    {
      "clientId": "mcp-client",
      "name": "MCP Client Application",
      "description": "Public client for MCP client applications",
      "enabled": true,
      "publicClient": true,
      "standardFlowEnabled": true,
      "directAccessGrantsEnabled": true,
      "serviceAccountsEnabled": false,
      "authorizationServicesEnabled": false,
      "fullScopeAllowed": true,
      "redirectUris": [
        "http://localhost:*",
        "http://127.0.0.1:*"
      ],
      "webOrigins": [
        "http://localhost:*",
        "http://127.0.0.1:*"
      ],
      "defaultClientScopes": [
        "openid",
        "profile",

This module is important because it defines how MCP PHP SDK Tutorial: Building MCP Servers in PHP with Discovery and Transport Flexibility implements the patterns covered in this chapter.

examples/server/oauth-microsoft/docker-compose.yml

The docker-compose module in examples/server/oauth-microsoft/docker-compose.yml handles a key part of this chapter's functionality:

services:
  php:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    container_name: mcp-php-microsoft
    volumes:
      - ../../../:/app
    working_dir: /app
    env_file:
      - .env
    environment:
      AZURE_TENANT_ID: ${AZURE_TENANT_ID:-}
      AZURE_CLIENT_ID: ${AZURE_CLIENT_ID:-}
      AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET: ${AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET:-}
    command: >
      sh -c "mkdir -p /app/examples/server/oauth-microsoft/sessions;
      chmod -R 0777 /app/examples/server/oauth-microsoft/sessions;
      touch /app/examples/server/oauth-microsoft/dev.log;
      chmod 0666 /app/examples/server/oauth-microsoft/dev.log;
      touch /app/examples/server/dev.log;
      chmod 0666 /app/examples/server/dev.log;
      composer install --no-interaction --quiet 2>/dev/null || true;
      php-fpm"
    networks:
      - mcp-network

  nginx:
    image: nginx:alpine
    container_name: mcp-nginx-microsoft
    ports:
      - "${MCP_HTTP_PORT:-8000}:80"
    volumes:
      - ./nginx/default.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf:ro
      - ../../../:/app:ro

This module is important because it defines how MCP PHP SDK Tutorial: Building MCP Servers in PHP with Discovery and Transport Flexibility implements the patterns covered in this chapter.

How These Components Connect

flowchart TD
    A[composer]
    B[mcp-realm]
    C[docker-compose]
    A --> B
    B --> C
Loading