Skip to content

This working group is hosted by @Joffref

MCP Hosting Working Group (WG) – Vision & Roadmap

This document is intended as a preliminary proposal and does not represent an official statement or policy of any organization.

Prepared by: [Mathis Joffre] (Blaxel)
Date: March 24, 2025

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) has seen significant adoption, driven largely by the needs of consumers and server authors. However, as MCP deployments scale and diversify, hosting challenges have emerged that require a dedicated focus from across the ecosystem. This document outlines an expanded vision for forming an MCP Hosting Working Group (WG) dedicated to collaboratively addressing these evolving challenges.

Background

The current MCP ecosystem is evolving rapidly:

  • Scaling Requirements: As usage grows, deploying, managing, and scaling MCP servers effectively across various environments (cloud, on-premise, local) presents new technical hurdles.
  • Community Feedback: Recent discussions underscore the importance of incorporating diverse perspectives, including those of hosting providers and large-scale deployers, into the ongoing development of the MCP specification and related tooling. There's a growing need to address topics beyond the core protocol, such as multi-tenancy, standardized deployment, and operational concerns.

Scope of Work

The WG will focus on a range of key areas crucial for robust MCP hosting. While priorities will be determined collectively, potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Transport Protocol Enhancements & Standardization:
  • Evaluating, standardizing and improving approaches for various transport protocols (e.g., SSE, Plain HTTP, Websockets, MQTT, …) within MCP environments.
  • Developing documentation, RFCs, and best practices for implementation.

Related issues/discussions:

Related issues/discussions:

Related issues/discussions:

Related issues/discussions:

Related issues/discussions:

Purpose & Vision

Purpose

The MCP Hosting WG is envisioned as a collaborative forum where hosting providers, developers, infrastructure operators, and other stakeholders can:

  • Identify, discuss, and propose solutions for hosting-specific challenges outlined in the scope.
  • Help standardize protocols, configurations, and tools that facilitate seamless, efficient, and secure MCP hosting.
  • Share insights and best practices for deploying and scaling MCP servers.

Vision

We aspire to build a robust, community-driven ecosystem where:

  • Interoperability is Seamless: Standards ensure that MCP servers work harmoniously across different hosting environments and deployment models.
  • Scalability is Built-in: Solutions are designed to meet the growing demands of MCP deployments, ensuring high performance and reliability.
  • Innovation is Collaborative: By pooling expertise, the WG will drive continuous improvement and foster innovative solutions for the entire MCP community.

Objectives

Short-term:

  • Establish the WG framework, governance model, and invite initial participants.
  • Identify and prioritize key areas from the scope based on community needs.
  • Initiate technical discussions and draft preliminary proposals or best practice documents for high-priority areas.
  • Explore existing solutions and frameworks relevant to packaging, plugin architectures, discovery, and multi-tenancy.
  • Create a shared repository for documentation, discussions, and sample implementations.
  • Identify and specify the available communication channels (e.g., Slack, Discord, Email, etc.).

Medium-term:

  • Develop reference implementations or prototypes for agreed-upon standards (e.g., regarding transports, packaging).
  • Conduct pilot projects and gather real-world feedback from diverse hosting environments.
  • Organize regular WG meetings and community calls to track progress and align on priorities.

Long-term:

  • Achieve broad adoption of the developed standards and best practices within the MCP community.
  • Integrate relevant hosting improvements into the official MCP specification where appropriate.
  • Establish ongoing maintenance and evolution of hosting standards to adapt to future technological advancements.

Membership & Governance

Membership

The WG is open to:

  • Hosting providers and infrastructure operators with experience related to MCP (e.g., Glama, Blaxel, Smithery, ToolBase, InstantMCP…).
  • Developers and architects building or consuming MCP-based services.
  • Representatives from organizations deploying MCP at scale.
  • Community members interested in contributing to the hosting aspects of MCP.

Governance

  • Steering Committee: A small group representing different stakeholder types to oversee WG activities and ensure balanced decision-making.
  • Workstreams: Focused efforts on specific topics (e.g., transport protocols, packaging) led by interested members to drive detailed work.
  • Open Communication: Regular meetings, public mailing lists, and collaborative tools to maintain transparency and encourage broad community input.

Roadmap & Next Steps

  • Kickoff Meeting: Schedule an initial WG meeting to discuss this vision, refine priorities, and establish initial roles/responsibilities.
  • Define WG Charter: Formally agree on the scope, objectives, governance model, and communication channels.
  • Initiate Workstreams: Begin focused work on priority topics based on initial discussions, potentially starting with requirements gathering or drafting initial proposals.
  • Regular Updates: Set up a cadence for reporting progress, gathering feedback, and iterating on the WG's output.

The proposed MCP Hosting WG represents a vital opportunity to collaboratively address the evolving challenges of deploying and scaling MCP servers. By developing shared standards, best practices, and tooling, the group can ensure continued MCP adoption and deliver significant benefits to consumers, authors, and hosting providers alike. We invite all interested parties to join us in this collaborative effort. Come be part of this journey and help shape the future of MCP hosting!

Participants

[CONTACT DETAILS REDACTED FOR GH]