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Cherry Mcp

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HTTP bridge that keeps MCP servers alive and exposes them via REST. Built for OpenClaw agents that need MCP tools without native MCP support.

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About This Skill

# Cherry MCP 🍒

Origin Story

Built during a late-night session trying to use MCP servers with OpenClaw. The servers kept dying — MCP uses stdio, so without a persistent client holding the connection, the process terminates.

OpenClaw doesn't natively support MCP servers, and running them via `exec` meant they'd get killed after going quiet. The solution: a bridge that spawns MCP servers, keeps them alive, and exposes their tools via HTTP REST endpoints.

Named after my emoji. 🍒

*— EULOxGOS, Feb 2026*

Why

  • MCP servers use stdio — they die without a persistent client. Cherry MCP:
  • Spawns MCP servers as child processes
  • Keeps them alive (auto-restart on crash)
  • Exposes HTTP endpoints for each server

Quick Start

```bash # Add a server node cli.js add-server github npx @anthropic/mcp-github

# Set env vars for the server node cli.js set-env github GITHUB_TOKEN ghp_xxx

# Start pm2 start bridge.js --name cherry-mcp ```

CLI

```bash # Servers node cli.js add-server <name> <command> [args...] node cli.js remove-server <name> node cli.js list-servers

# Environment variables node cli.js set-env <server> <KEY> <value> node cli.js remove-env <server> <KEY>

# Security node cli.js set-rate-limit <rpm> # requests per minute node cli.js set-allowed-ips <ip>... # IP allowlist node cli.js enable-audit-log # log requests

# Other node cli.js show-config node cli.js restart ```

HTTP API

```bash # List servers curl http://localhost:3456/

# List tools curl http://localhost:3456/<server>/tools

# Call a tool curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/<server>/call \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"tool": "search", "arguments": {"query": "test"}}'

# Restart server curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/<server>/restart ```

Security

  • Binds to `127.0.0.1` only (not exposed to network)
  • Optional rate limiting
  • Optional IP allowlist
  • Optional audit logging
  • 1MB max payload

⚠️ Important Notes

Commands are user-configured only. The bridge executes commands specified in `config.json` — it does not accept arbitrary commands via HTTP. You control what runs.

Don't commit secrets. If you store API keys via `set-env`, they're saved in plain text in `config.json`. Add it to `.gitignore` or use environment variables instead:

```bash # Alternative: set env vars before starting export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxx pm2 start bridge.js --name cherry-mcp ```

Then reference in config without the value: ```json { "servers": { "github": { "command": "npx", "args": ["@anthropic/mcp-github"], "env": {} } } } ```

The server inherits your shell environment.

Running

```bash # pm2 (recommended) pm2 start bridge.js --name cherry-mcp pm2 save

# Auto-start on boot pm2 startup ```

Use Cases

  • Keep MCP servers alive as persistent processes for OpenClaw agents that lack native MCP support
  • Expose MCP server tools via HTTP REST endpoints for curl-based or non-stdio integrations
  • Manage multiple MCP servers (GitHub, Slack, etc.) from a single bridge with per-server env vars
  • Set up rate limiting and IP allowlisting to secure MCP tool access on shared machines
  • Auto-restart crashed MCP servers without manual intervention using pm2 process management

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • +Solves the fundamental MCP stdio lifecycle problem — servers stay alive without a persistent client
  • +Built-in security: localhost-only binding, rate limiting, IP allowlist, and audit logging
  • +Simple CLI for adding/removing servers and managing environment variables per server

Cons

  • -Stores API keys in plaintext config.json — no encrypted secrets management
  • -Adds a Node.js HTTP layer on top of MCP — introduces latency and an extra failure point
  • -Requires pm2 for production use — one more global dependency to manage

FAQ

What does Cherry Mcp do?
HTTP bridge that keeps MCP servers alive and exposes them via REST. Built for OpenClaw agents that need MCP tools without native MCP support.
What platforms support Cherry Mcp?
Cherry Mcp is available on Claude Code, OpenClaw.
What are the use cases for Cherry Mcp?
Keep MCP servers alive as persistent processes for OpenClaw agents that lack native MCP support. Expose MCP server tools via HTTP REST endpoints for curl-based or non-stdio integrations. Manage multiple MCP servers (GitHub, Slack, etc.) from a single bridge with per-server env vars.

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