No complex protocols, no integration headaches, no compatibility issues β just beautiful, expressive Ruby code.
AI models are powerful, but they need to interact with your applications to be truly useful. Traditional approaches mean wrestling with:
- π Complex communication protocols and custom JSON formats
- π Integration challenges with different model providers
- π§© Compatibility issues between your app and AI tools
- π§ Managing the state between AI interactions and your data
Fast MCP solves all these problems by providing a clean, Ruby-focused implementation of the Model Context Protocol, making AI integration a joy, not a chore.
- π οΈ Tools API - Let AI models call your Ruby functions securely, with in-depth argument validation through Dry-Schema.
- π Resources API - Share data between your app and AI models
- π Multiple Transports - Choose from STDIO, HTTP, or SSE based on your needs
- π§© Framework Integration - Works seamlessly with Rails, Sinatra or any Rack app.
- π Authentication Support - Secure your AI-powered endpoints with ease
- π Real-time Updates - Subscribe to changes for interactive applications
- π― Dynamic Filtering - Control tool/resource access based on request context (permissions, API versions, etc.)
# Define tools for AI models to use server = FastMcp::Server.new(name: 'popular-users', version: '1.0.0') # Define a tool by inheriting from FastMcp::Tool class CreateUserTool < FastMcp::Tool description "Create a user" # These arguments will generate the needed JSON to be presented to the MCP Client # And they will be validated at run time. # The validation is based off Dry-Schema, with the addition of the description. arguments do required(:first_name).filled(:string).description("First name of the user") optional(:age).filled(:integer).description("Age of the user") required(:address).description("The shipping address").hash do required(:street).filled(:string).description("Street address") optional(:city).filled(:string).description("City name") optional(:zipcode).maybe(:string).description("Postal code") end end def call(first_name:, age: nil, address: {}) User.create!(first_name:, age:, address:) end end # Register the tool with the server server.register_tool(CreateUserTool) # Share data resources with AI models by inheriting from FastMcp::Resource class PopularUsers < FastMcp::Resource uri "myapp:///users/popular" resource_name "Popular Users" mime_type "application/json" def content JSON.generate(User.popular.limit(5).as_json) end end class User < FastMcp::Resource uri "myapp:///users/{id}" # This is a resource template resource_name "user" mime_type "application/json" def content id = params[:id] # params are computed from the uri pattern JSON.generate(User.find(id).as_json) end end # Register the resource with the server server.register_resources(PopularUsers, User) # Accessing the resource through the server server.read_resource(PopularUsers.uri) # Notify the resource content has been updated to clients server.notify_resource_updated(PopularUsers.variabilized_uri) # Notifiy the content of a resource from a template has been updated to clients server.notify_resource_updated(User.variabilized_uri(id: 1))Control which tools and resources are available based on request context:
# Tag your tools for easy filtering class AdminTool < FastMcp::Tool tags :admin, :dangerous description "Perform admin operations" def call # Admin only functionality end end # Filter tools based on user permissions server.filter_tools do |request, tools| user_role = request.params['role'] case user_role when 'admin' tools # Admins see all tools when 'user' tools.reject { |t| t.tags.include?(:admin) } else tools.select { |t| t.tags.include?(:public) } end endbundle add fast-mcp bin/rails generate fast_mcp:installThis will add a configurable fast_mcp.rb initializer
require 'fast_mcp' FastMcp.mount_in_rails( Rails.application, name: Rails.application.class.module_parent_name.underscore.dasherize, version: '1.0.0', path_prefix: '/mcp', # This is the default path prefix messages_route: 'messages', # This is the default route for the messages endpoint sse_route: 'sse', # This is the default route for the SSE endpoint # Add allowed origins below, it defaults to Rails.application.config.hosts # allowed_origins: ['localhost', '127.0.0.1', 'example.com', /.*\.example\.com/], # localhost_only: true, # Set to false to allow connections from other hosts # whitelist specific ips to if you want to run on localhost and allow connections from other IPs # allowed_ips: ['127.0.0.1', '::1'] # authenticate: true, # Uncomment to enable authentication # auth_token: 'your-token' # Required if authenticate: true ) do |server| Rails.application.config.after_initialize do # FastMcp will automatically discover and register: # - All classes that inherit from ApplicationTool (which uses ActionTool::Base) # - All classes that inherit from ApplicationResource (which uses ActionResource::Base) server.register_tools(*ApplicationTool.descendants) server.register_resources(*ApplicationResource.descendants) # alternatively, you can register tools and resources manually: # server.register_tool(MyTool) # server.register_resource(MyResource) end endThe install script will also:
- add app/resources folder
- add app/tools folder
- add app/tools/sample_tool.rb
- add app/resources/sample_resource.rb
- add ApplicationTool to inherit from
- add ApplicationResource to inherit from as well
For Rails applications, FastMCP provides Rails-style class names to better fit with Rails conventions:
ActionTool::Base- An alias forFastMcp::ToolActionResource::Base- An alias forFastMcp::Resource
These are automatically set up in Rails applications. You can use either naming convention in your code:
# Using Rails-style naming: class MyTool < ActionTool::Base description "My awesome tool" arguments do required(:input).filled(:string) end def call(input:) # Your implementation end end # Using standard FastMcp naming: class AnotherTool < FastMcp::Tool # Both styles work interchangeably in Rails apps endWhen creating new tools or resources, the generators will use the Rails naming convention by default:
# app/tools/application_tool.rb class ApplicationTool < ActionTool::Base # Base methods for all tools end # app/resources/application_resource.rb class ApplicationResource < ActionResource::Base # Base methods for all resources endI'll let you check out the dedicated sinatra integration docs.
require 'fast_mcp' # Create an MCP server server = FastMcp::Server.new(name: 'my-ai-server', version: '1.0.0') # Define a tool by inheriting from FastMcp::Tool class SummarizeTool < FastMcp::Tool description "Summarize a given text" arguments do required(:text).filled(:string).description("Text to summarize") optional(:max_length).filled(:integer).description("Maximum length of summary") end def call(text:, max_length: 100) # Your summarization logic here text.split('.').first(3).join('.') + '...' end end # Register the tool with the server server.register_tool(SummarizeTool) # Create a resource by inheriting from FastMcp::Resource class StatisticsResource < FastMcp::Resource uri "data/statistics" resource_name "Usage Statistics" description "Current system statistics" mime_type "application/json" def content JSON.generate({ users_online: 120, queries_per_minute: 250, popular_topics: ["Ruby", "AI", "WebDev"] }) end end # Register the resource with the server server.register_resource(StatisticsResource) # Start the server server.startMCP has developed a very useful inspector. You can use it to validate your implementation. I suggest you use the examples I provided with this project as an easy boilerplate. Clone this project, then give it a go !
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector examples/server_with_stdio_transport.rbOr to test with an SSE transport using a rack middleware:
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector examples/rack_middleware.rbOr to test over SSE with an authenticated rack middleware:
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector examples/authenticated_rack_middleware.rbYou can test your custom implementation with the official MCP inspector by using:
# Test with a stdio transport: npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector path/to/your_ruby_file.rb # Test with an HTTP / SSE server. In the UI select SSE and input your address. npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector# app.rb require 'sinatra' require 'fast_mcp' use FastMcp::RackMiddleware.new(name: 'my-ai-server', version: '1.0.0') do |server| # Register tools and resources here server.register_tool(SummarizeTool) end get '/' do 'Hello World!' endAdd your server to your Claude Desktop configuration at:
- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json - Windows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
{ "mcpServers": { "my-great-server": { "command": "ruby", "args": ["/Users/path/to/your/awesome/fast-mcp/server.rb"] } } }Please refer to configuring_mcp_clients
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| β JSON-RPC 2.0 | Full implementation for communication |
| β Tool Definition & Calling | Define and call tools with rich argument types |
| β Resource & Resource Templates Management | Create, read, update, and subscribe to resources |
| β Transport Options | STDIO, HTTP, and SSE for flexible integration |
| β Framework Integration | Rails, Sinatra, Hanami, and any Rack-compatible framework |
| β Authentication | Secure your AI endpoints with token authentication |
| β Schema Support | Full JSON Schema for tool arguments with validation |
- π€ AI-powered Applications: Connect LLMs to your Ruby app's functionality
- π Real-time Dashboards: Build dashboards with live AI-generated insights
- π Microservice Communication: Use MCP as a clean protocol between services
- π Interactive Documentation: Create AI-enhanced API documentation
- π¬ Chatbots and Assistants: Build AI assistants with access to your app's data
Fast MCP includes built-in security features to protect your applications:
The HTTP/SSE transport validates the Origin header on all incoming connections to prevent DNS rebinding attacks, which could allow malicious websites to interact with local MCP servers.
# Configure allowed origins (defaults to ['localhost', '127.0.0.1']) FastMcp.rack_middleware(app, allowed_origins: ['localhost', '127.0.0.1', 'your-domain.com', /.*\.your-domain\.com/], localhost_only: false, allowed_ips: ['192.168.1.1', '10.0.0.1'], # other options... )Fast MCP supports token-based authentication for all connections:
# Enable authentication FastMcp.authenticated_rack_middleware(app, auth_token: 'your-secret-token', # other options... )- π Getting Started Guide
- π§© Integration Guide
- π€οΈ Rails Integration
- π Sinatra Integration
- π Resources
- π οΈ Tools
- π Security
- π― Dynamic Filtering
Check out the examples directory for more detailed examples:
-
π¨ Basic Examples:
-
π Web Integration:
- Ruby 3.2+
We welcome contributions to Fast MCP! Here's how you can help:
- Fork the repository
- Create your feature branch (
git checkout -b my-new-feature) - Commit your changes (
git commit -am 'Add some feature') - Push to the branch (
git push origin my-new-feature) - Create a new Pull Request
Please read our Contributing Guide for more details.
This project is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.
- The Model Context Protocol team for creating the specification
- The Dry-Schema team for the argument validation.
- All contributors to this project