Deployment options
Local MCP Server
The local MCP Server is an open-source binary (snmcp) that runs on your machine. It connects to StreamNative Cloud, standalone Kafka clusters, or standalone Pulsar clusters.
Best for:
- Individual developers who want full control over their MCP setup
- Connecting to external Kafka or Pulsar clusters outside StreamNative Cloud
- Air-gapped or restricted environments where outbound connections to managed services are limited
- Quick experimentation and prototyping
Remote MCP Server
The Remote MCP Server is a managed service hosted athttps://mcp.streamnative.cloud. StreamNative operates the server so you do not need to install or update anything locally.
Best for:
- Teams that want a shared, always-current MCP endpoint with no local setup
- Organizations that require centralized governance and access controls
- Production environments where administrators control which tools and clusters are available
Comparison
| Feature | Local MCP Server | Remote MCP Server |
|---|---|---|
| Installation | Install binary locally | No installation required |
| Updates | Manual (Homebrew, Docker, or from source) | Automatic — always current |
| StreamNative Cloud clusters | Yes | Yes |
| External Kafka clusters | Yes | No |
| External Pulsar clusters | Yes | No |
| Cluster-level governance | No | Yes — access modes and allowed tools |
| Authentication | Service account API keys | OAuth 2.1 or service account API keys |
| Multi-user sharing | Self-managed sharing (for example, SSE deployment with your own access controls) | Shared endpoint across teams |
| Agents as tools | No | Yes — Agents as Tools |
| Functions as tools | Yes (Pulsar Functions) | Yes — Functions as Tools |
Get started
Local MCP Server
Install the open-source binary and connect to any Pulsar or Kafka cluster from your machine.
Remote MCP Server
Connect to the managed MCP endpoint and start using tools with no local setup.
Learn more
- MCP Tools Reference — browse all available tool groups for Pulsar and Kafka.
- Governance & Permissions — configure cluster-level access modes and allowed tools.
- Feature Flags — control which tool groups are active at connection time.
- Local MCP Server setup — configure stdio/SSE mode and local feature flags.