Certainly! Let’s break down your question and provide a clear solution for interfacing Laravel with an MCP (Machine Control Protocol) server using SSE (Server-Sent Events), with the goal to list the tools of a certain MCP server.
Understanding the Problem
- MCP servers: Control machines via a protocol that may use long-lived connections, often using SSE (not just stateless HTTP REST APIs).
- Your task: From a Laravel app, you want to connect to one or more MCP servers, open a session, and list the available tools.
- Challenge: This is different from making a simple HTTP GET/POST request, as it requires maintaining a live connection and potentially parsing a stream of data/events.
Solution Overview
You need a PHP/Laravel-compatible MCP client. Since MCP uses SSE, you’ll need to:
- Establish a live HTTP connection to the MCP server that supports SSE.
- Parse incoming event streams to retrieve tool listings.
- Optionally: Wrap this logic as a Laravel service so controllers or jobs can use it.
Step-by-step Laravel Solution
1. Connecting via SSE in PHP
PHP isn’t ideal for long-lived connections, but for a lightweight query (fetching tool lists), you can make a simple request and read the response. If the event stream is short (ends with a list), this approach works.
You can use Guzzle or just plain file_get_contents with a socket context for a simple implementation.
Example SSE Client (Tool List Fetcher)
Create a new class, e.g., app/Services/McpClient.php:
<?php
namespace App\Services;
class McpClient
{
protected $serverUrl;
public function __construct($serverUrl)
{
$this->serverUrl = $serverUrl;
}
public function getToolsList()
{
$endpoint = $this->serverUrl . '/tools-list'; // Adjust endpoint as needed
$context = stream_context_create([
"http" => [
"method" => "GET",
"header" => "Accept: text/event-stream\r\n"
]
]);
$stream = fopen($endpoint, 'r', false, $context);
if (!$stream) {
throw new \Exception("Could not connect to MCP server.");
}
$tools = [];
// Read the SSE stream line by line
while (!feof($stream)) {
$line = fgets($stream);
// Typical SSE sends data as: data: {...}
if (strpos($line, 'data: ') === 0) {
$jsonData = trim(substr($line, 6));
$eventData = json_decode($jsonData, true);
// You may need to adapt this to your MCP event structure
if (isset($eventData['tools'])) {
$tools = $eventData['tools'];
break;
}
}
}
fclose($stream);
return $tools;
}
}
Notes:
- This is a simple stream reading method. If the SSE runs "forever," add timeouts or logic to break after you get the data you want.
- Adjust the
/tools-listendpoint as per your MCP server's documentation. - For more robust/fault-tolerant handling, or to read multiple types of events, consider using a package/library or building a more advanced parser.
2. Using the Service in a Controller
use App\Services\McpClient;
class ToolController extends Controller
{
public function listTools(Request $request)
{
$serverUrl = $request->input('server_url'); // From user form or saved config
$client = new McpClient($serverUrl);
try {
$tools = $client->getToolsList();
} catch (\Exception $e) {
return response()->json(['error' => $e->getMessage()], 500);
}
return response()->json($tools);
}
}
3. Frontend: Display the List
Fetch from this endpoint as a regular API and display tools visually as desired.
Summary
- MCP’s use of SSE means you need to read an HTTP stream, not just send a request/response.
- PHP can do this with stream contexts (
fopen), and you can wrap that in a Laravel service. - This is a simple, quick approach for just listing tools; for heavier use or multiple users, consider using queue jobs, WebSockets, or offloading MCP connections to a Node.js or Go microservice.
Further Reading/Packages:
- SSE client in PHP gist
- PHP event-stream (composer) (though often used for sending, can adapt as necessary)
If your MCP server is different or more complex, or you have authentication/session requirements, let me know for a more tailored answer!