Importing Servers from Anthropic MCP Registry¶

This guide explains how to import MCP servers from Anthropic's official MCP Registry into your MCP Gateway.

Overview¶

The Anthropic MCP Registry is an open, collaboratively governed directory of Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. It is maintained by Anthropic in partnership with GitHub and the wider community through an open-source contribution model. This registry provides a curated catalog of publicly available and community-contributed MCP servers. Its API enables MCP clients and gateways to discover and import server configurations automatically, simplifying integration and discovery workflows for developers.

The import functionality allows you to quickly add these servers to your gateway without manual configuration.

Prerequisites¶

MCP Gateway up and running
Access to the registry container or CLI tools
Environment variables configured in .env file (for authenticated servers)

Note: The Anthropic API version is defined in registry/constants.py as ANTHROPIC_API_VERSION for easy version management.

Quick Start¶

Import a Single Server¶

cd /home/ubuntu/repos/mcp-registry-gateway
./cli/import_from_anthropic_registry.sh ai.smithery/smithery-ai-github

Import Multiple Servers from a List¶

Create or edit cli/import_server_list.txt:

# Popular MCP Servers
ai.smithery/smithery-ai-github
io.github.jgador/websharp
ai.smithery/Hint-Services-obsidian-github-mcp

Then import all servers in the list:

./cli/import_from_anthropic_registry.sh --import-list cli/import_server_list.txt

Import Script Features¶

Automatic Environment Variable Substitution¶

The import script automatically:

Loads environment variables from .env file
Substitutes authentication header placeholders with actual values
Stores the final configuration with real credentials in JSON files

Example:

// Before substitution (from Anthropic registry):
{
  "headers": [
    {
      "Authorization": "Bearer {smithery_api_key}"
    }
  ]
}

// After import (stored in gateway):
{
  "headers": [
    {
      "Authorization": "Bearer 3899299d-b7a2-471d-a185-200b9e9adcb2"
    }
  ]
}

Server Name Transformation¶

Server names from the Anthropic registry are automatically transformed to work with the gateway:

Slashes (/) are replaced with hyphens (-)
Example: ai.smithery/github becomes ai.smithery-github
The path is set to /ai.smithery-github

Automatic Configuration¶

The import script automatically configures:

Server name and description from registry
Proxy URL to the remote server
Authentication type (oauth, api-key, or none)
Authentication provider (Keycloak for oauth servers)
Transport type (streamable-http)
Tags for discovery and organization
Headers with substituted credentials

Command Reference¶

Basic Usage¶

./cli/import_from_anthropic_registry.sh [OPTIONS] [SERVER_NAME]

Options¶

--import-list <file> - Import servers from a file (one server name per line)
--dry-run - Show what would be imported without actually importing
--gateway-url <url> - Override gateway URL (default: http://localhost)
--base-port <port> - Override base port for local servers (default: 8100)

Examples¶

Import with dry run:

./cli/import_from_anthropic_registry.sh --dry-run ai.smithery/smithery-ai-github

Import from custom list:

./cli/import_from_anthropic_registry.sh --import-list my-servers.txt

Import to remote gateway:

GATEWAY_URL="https://mcpgateway.example.com" ./cli/import_from_anthropic_registry.sh ai.smithery/smithery-ai-github

Server List File Format¶

Create a text file with one server name per line:

# Lines starting with # are comments
# Empty lines are ignored

# GitHub API access
ai.smithery/smithery-ai-github

# Web search and article extraction
io.github.jgador/websharp

# Obsidian vault integration
ai.smithery/Hint-Services-obsidian-github-mcp

Authentication Setup¶

For Servers Requiring Authentication¶

Get API Keys: Obtain API keys from the service provider
Smithery servers: Visit smithery.ai
Other services: Check their documentation
Add to .env file:

# Smithery API Key
SMITHERY_API_KEY=your-api-key-here

# Other service keys
OTHER_SERVICE_API_KEY=your-other-key

Import servers: The script automatically substitutes the keys

Supported Authentication Types¶

The import script recognizes and configures:

OAuth/Bearer tokens: Authorization: Bearer {api_key}
API keys: X-API-Key: {api_key} or API-Key: {api_key}
Custom headers: Other authentication header formats

Finding Servers to Import¶

Browse Anthropic's MCP Registry¶

Visit registry.modelcontextprotocol.io to:

Browse available servers
View server capabilities and tools
Check authentication requirements
Read documentation

List Servers via API¶

# List all available servers
curl https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0.1/servers | jq '.servers[] | .name'

# Get details for a specific server
curl https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0.1/servers/ai.smithery%2Fsmithery-ai-github/versions/latest | jq '.'

Test Server Before Importing¶

Use the test script to verify server details:

./cli/test_anthropic_api.py ai.smithery/smithery-ai-github

Verifying Imported Servers¶

Check Server Status¶

After importing, verify the server was registered:

# Via CLI
uv run python api/registry_management.py --registry-url http://localhost list

# Via API
curl http://localhost/mcpgw/mcp -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/list"}'

View Server in UI¶

Navigate to the gateway UI to see imported servers:

http://localhost/

Check Health Status¶

The health check service automatically monitors imported servers:

docker compose logs registry | grep -i "health"

Troubleshooting¶

Import Fails with Authentication Error¶

Problem: Server requires authentication but key is missing

Solution:

Check if the server requires an API key
Add the key to your .env file with the correct name
Re-run the import

Server Shows as Unhealthy¶

Problem: Imported server shows unhealthy in health checks

Possible causes:

Invalid or expired API key
Network connectivity issues
Server is temporarily down

Check logs:

docker compose logs registry --tail 100 | grep -i "server-name"

Environment Variable Not Substituted¶

Problem: Server JSON still shows ${VAR_NAME} instead of actual value

Solution:

Ensure the variable is defined in .env
Variable names are case-sensitive
Re-run the import after updating .env

Server Name Conflicts¶

Problem: Server already exists with same path

Solution:

# Delete existing server
uv run python api/registry_management.py \
  --registry-url http://localhost \
  remove --path /server-path

# Re-import (note: import script is deprecated, use registry_management.py register)
uv run python api/registry_management.py \
  --registry-url http://localhost \
  register --config /path/to/server-config.json

Advanced Usage¶

Custom Transformation¶

To customize how servers are imported, edit cli/anthropic_transformer.py:

Modify tag generation
Change path formatting
Adjust authentication handling
Add custom metadata

Batch Import with Filtering¶

# Import only servers matching a pattern
curl -s https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0.1/servers | \
  jq -r '.servers[] | select(.name | contains("smithery")) | .name' > smithery-servers.txt

./cli/import_from_anthropic_registry.sh --import-list smithery-servers.txt

Automated Imports¶

Add to cron or systemd timer for automatic updates:

# Daily import of curated server list
0 2 * * * cd /path/to/repo && ./cli/import_from_anthropic_registry.sh --import-list cli/import_server_list.txt

Best Practices¶

Curate your server list: Only import servers you need and trust
Review before importing: Use --dry-run to preview changes
Secure API keys: Never commit .env to version control
Monitor health: Regularly check imported server health status
Update regularly: Re-import servers to get latest configurations
Test thoroughly: Verify each server works after importing

Support¶

For issues or questions:

GitHub Issues: mcp-registry-gateway/issues
Anthropic Registry: modelcontextprotocol.io

Importing Servers from Anthropic MCP Registry¶

Overview¶

Prerequisites¶

Quick Start¶

Import a Single Server¶

Import Multiple Servers from a List¶

Import Script Features¶

Automatic Environment Variable Substitution¶

Server Name Transformation¶

Automatic Configuration¶

Command Reference¶

Basic Usage¶

Options¶

Examples¶

Server List File Format¶

Authentication Setup¶

For Servers Requiring Authentication¶

Supported Authentication Types¶

Finding Servers to Import¶

Browse Anthropic's MCP Registry¶

List Servers via API¶

Test Server Before Importing¶

Verifying Imported Servers¶

Check Server Status¶

View Server in UI¶

Check Health Status¶

Troubleshooting¶

Import Fails with Authentication Error¶

Server Shows as Unhealthy¶

Environment Variable Not Substituted¶

Server Name Conflicts¶

Advanced Usage¶

Custom Transformation¶

Batch Import with Filtering¶

Automated Imports¶

Best Practices¶

Related Documentation¶

Support¶