---
title: "Introducing: Remote MCP Servers for your APIs"
description: "Using our new MCP Server Handler you can transform any API you manage through Zuplo into a remote Model Context Protocol (MCP) server."
canonicalUrl: "https://zuplo.com/blog/2025/06/10/introducing-remote-mcp-servers"
pageType: "blog"
date: "2025-06-10"
authors: "martyn"
tags: "Model Context Protocol"
image: "https://zuplo.com/og?text=Introducing%3A%20Remote%20MCP%20Servers%20for%20your%20APIs"
---
We're excited to introduce a powerful new feature in Zuplo's API Gateway: the
**MCP Server Handler** that enables you to transform any API you manage through
Zuplo into a remote Model Context Protocol (MCP) server with straightforward
configuration, eliminating the complexity of remote MCP server setup.

<CalloutDoc
  title="MCP Server Handler"
  description={`Transform any API into a remote MCP server in minutes with Zuplo's MCP Server Handler.`}
  href="https://zuplo.com/docs/mcp-server/introduction"
  features={[
    `Zero-to-MCP in
minutes`,
    `Remote server hosting`,
    `Built-in authentication`,
  ]}
/>

## What is Model Context Protocol?

[Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) is an open
standard that enables AI tools and agents to securely connect to external data
sources and services. **Having an MCP server for your API is becoming essential
for AI readiness** as AI agents become more prevalent in business workflows,
making your API discoverable and usable by intelligent systems.

While setting up local MCP servers is relatively straightforward, **remote MCP
servers are much trickier to configure**. They require reliable hosting
infrastructure, careful handling of authentication, proper request routing, and
robust security measures, all of which can be time-consuming and complex to
implement correctly.

## Enter Zuplo's MCP Server Handler

Our new MCP Server Handler dramatically simplifies remote MCP server setup.
Here's how:

- **Streamlined Setup**: Configure your MCP server quickly, based on your
  OpenAPI document, without complex infrastructure setup. Expose some, or all,
  of your API endpoints as tools for use with any MCP compatible service.
- **Global Edge Deployment**: Leverage Zuplo's worldwide edge network for
  lightning-fast responses to AI agents, regardless of location, with no hosting
  infrastructure to manage.
- **Enterprise-Grade Security**: Apply any of Zuplo's existing policies
  including API key authentication, rate limiting, bot protection, prompt
  poisoning protection, and advanced agent authentication.
- **Always in Sync**: Since both your API and MCP server are managed within
  Zuplo, any changes to your API schema or endpoints are automatically reflected
  in your MCP server configuration. No more worrying about keeping documentation
  and integrations up to date.

## See It in Action

We've put together an end-to-end walkthrough video that demonstrates the entire
setup process from start to finish.

<CalloutVideo
  variant="card"
  title="MCP Server Setup Walkthrough"
  description="Watch how to transform any API into a remote MCP server in minutes using Zuplo's MCP Server Handler."
  videoUrl="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhIDPyVUuSM"
  thumbnailUrl="http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/bhIDPyVUuSM/hqdefault.jpg"
/>

You'll see just how quickly you can go from a standard API to a fully functional
remote MCP server that exposes your API endpoints as tool that can be used with
any MCP compatible service, including [Cursor](https://www.cursor.com/),
[Claude Desktop](https://claude.ai/download),
[OpenAI](https://platform.openai.com/docs/mcp), and many more.

## How It Works

Setting up your MCP server is straightforward. You can configure it through the
Route Designer in the Zuplo portal, or directly via a JSON configuration file if
developing locally.

![Adding the MCP Server Handler](/media/posts/2025-06-10-introducing-remote-mcp-servers/mcp-handler.gif)

You have complete freedom to add whatever request policies you’d like to use on
every request, as well as the ability to create multiple, different, MCP Servers
that can span your whole API catalog.

## From Zero-to-MCP in 5 Steps

Setting up the remote MCP Server Handler for your API takes just a few seconds
and only 5 steps.

1. Create a new API in [Zuplo](https://portal.zuplo.com) (very quick if you
   already have an OpenAPI document)
2. Set up a new [OAS file](https://zuplo.com/docs/articles/open-api) for your
   MCP Server (`mcp.oas.json`, or any name you want)
3. A a new POST route that compatible tools can use (`/mcp` is a good choice)
4. Add the [MCP Server handler](https://zuplo.com/docs/handlers/mcp-server) to
   that route and give your MCP server a name and a version.
5. Choose your main OpenAPI document (`routes.oas.json`) as the one you want to
   expose as tools.

Click save, and it will deploy in a few seconds.

You can start testing your new MCP server right away using the MCP compatible
tool of your choice, or the excellent
[MCP Inspector](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/tools/inspector).

<CalloutSample
  title="Remote MCP Server Example"
  description="A complete working example of a remote MCP server with authentication, prompt injection detection, and secret masking policies."
  deployUrl="https://zuplo.com/examples/remote-mcp-server"
  repoUrl="https://github.com/zuplo/zuplo/tree/main/examples/remote-mcp-server"
  localCommand="npx create-zuplo-api --example remote-mcp-server"
/>

## Unified API and MCP Management

What makes this particularly exciting is that your MCP server inherits all the
powerful capabilities of Zuplo's API Gateway platform, while staying perfectly
synchronized with your API changes:

- **Intelligent Rate Limiting**: Protect your APIs from abuse while ensuring
  legitimate AI agents can access your services
- **Bot Protection**: Built-in safeguards against malicious automated requests
- **Real-time Analytics**: Monitor how AI agents interact with your APIs
- **Custom Policies**: Apply any of our 50+ built-in policies to your MCP server
  or create your own
- **Automatic Synchronization**: Changes to your API are automatically reflected
  in your MCP server, ensuring AI agents always have access to the latest
  capabilities
- **Edge Native Speed**: Just like Zuplo powered APIs.

## Available Now on All Plans

[Model Context Protocol with Zuplo](https://zuplo.com/docs/ai/mcp) is available
immediately across all Zuplo plans, including our free tier. You can start
experimenting with remote MCP servers today without any additional cost.

Whether you're building internal AI tools, creating public AI-accessible APIs,
or exploring new ways to integrate AI into your workflows, this feature opens up
exciting possibilities with minimal effort.

## We Want Your Feedback

As with all our features, we're eager to hear how you use the MCP Server handler
and what additional capabilities would be most valuable. The AI landscape is
evolving rapidly, and we're committed to making Zuplo the best platform for
AI-accessible APIs.

Ready to add the power of MCP to your API?
[Sign up for Zuplo](https://portal.zuplo.com/signup) for free and get set up.

## More from MCP Week

This article is part of Zuplo's MCP Week. A week dedicated to Model Context
Protocol, AI, LLMs and, of course, APIs centered around the release of our
[support for remote MCP servers](/features/mcp-servers).

You can find the other articles and videos from this week below:

- Day 1: [Why MCP Won't Kill APIs](/blog/why-mcp-wont-kill-apis) with Kevin
  Swiber
- Day 2: Zuplo launches remote MCP Servers for your APIs!
- Day 3: [The AI Agent Reality Gap](/blog/ai-agent-reality-gap) with Zdenek "Z"
  Nemec (Superface)
- Day 4:
  [Two Essential Security Policies for MCP & AI](/blog/essential-security-policies-for-mcp-and-ai)
  with Martyn Davies
- Day 5:
  [AI Agents Are Coming For Your APIs](/blog/ai-agents-are-coming-for-your-apis)
  with John McBride