name: cherry-mcp description: HTTP bridge that keeps MCP servers alive and exposes them via REST. Built for OpenClaw agents that need MCP tools without native MCP support. tags: mcp, bridge, rest, api, openclaw, http, tools, automation, stdio

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

# 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

# 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

# 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:

# 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:

{
  "servers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@anthropic/mcp-github"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

The server inherits your shell environment.

Running

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

# Auto-start on boot
pm2 startup