MCP overview and editions
CloudGrid ships an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server so AI assistants can build
and deploy for you. It exposes the grid actions as grid_* tools. Ask your
assistant to “deploy this on CloudGrid” and it runs the tools, returning a live
URL.
The server is published as @cloudgrid-io/mcp.
Two editions
Section titled “Two editions”The server ships in two editions from one codebase. The difference is only the identity model and which tools are available.
| Local (stdio) | Web (hosted HTTP) | |
|---|---|---|
| Transport | stdio (a subprocess on your machine) | MCP Streamable HTTP (hosted) |
| Clients | Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop | claude.ai and any HTTP MCP client |
| Tools | Full set, including the CLI-wrapping tools | Light set: the direct-API tools only |
| Identity | ~/.cloudgrid/credentials (shared with the CLI) |
A per-session token held in memory |
| Runtimes | Can build multi-file apps and agents | Inline single-file pages only |
Local (stdio)
Section titled “Local (stdio)”The local edition runs as a subprocess and wraps the grid CLI for authenticated
operations, plus calls the API directly for publish, claim, and login. It reuses
the CLI’s credentials, so no separate login is needed. It has the full
toolset, including everything that needs a local machine — building multi-file
apps, reading logs, managing env and secrets.
npx -y @cloudgrid-io/mcpWeb (hosted HTTP)
Section titled “Web (hosted HTTP)”The web edition is hosted — no install, nothing runs on your machine. It carries no CLI, so it exposes only the direct-API tools (publish, claim, login, visibility, and the read/fetch tools). It can publish a single self-contained HTML page inline as an inspiration, but it cannot build a multi-file runtime app — that needs the local edition.
Which to choose
Section titled “Which to choose”- Publishing a single HTML page, or trying it out from claude.ai — the web edition is enough, and anonymous publishing works with no account.
- Building a real app or agent, or you want the full toolset — use the local edition (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or Cursor), which drives the CLI on your machine.
See Connecting clients for setup and the connect URLs,
and the Tools reference for every grid_* tool.