LinkedIn HTTP MCP Server

A production-ready HTTP/Streamable Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for LinkedIn. It supports both Streamable HTTP (recommended) and Server-Sent Events (SSE) transports. It is designed to be directly deployable to Render and registered as a Custom Connector on Grok.

This project preserves and reuses the exact LinkedIn business logic and authentication flow from the original felipfr/linkedin-mcpserver repository, replacing only the stdio bootstrap layer with a dual-compatible HTTP/SSE/Streamable Express subsystem.

Features

• Standard HTTP Transport: Exposes standard endpoints compliant with the latest @modelcontextprotocol/sdk.
• Dual Transport Support: Automatically negotiates Streamable HTTP (GET/POST/DELETE /mcp) and Legacy SSE (GET /sse, POST /messages).
• Production Routing: Built on a robust, graceful, and session-managed Express.js platform supporting multiple concurrent clients.
• Render Deployment Ready: Dynamic port binding, Dockerfile, and render.yaml blueprint included.
• Graceful Shutdown: Cleans up active client transports and terminates connections cleanly.
• Structured Logging: Powered by Pino structured logger.
• Environment Validation: Strict environment checking at startup using Zod.

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Exposed MCP Tools

The server registers and runs the following LinkedIn tools with identical behavior and interfaces as the original:

1. search-jobs: Search for LinkedIn job postings.
2. search-people: Search for profiles based on keywords, locations, current companies, and industries.
3. get-profile: Retrieve detail on a profile by Public ID or URN ID.
4. get-my-profile: Fetch detail on the authenticated user's profile.
5. get-network-stats: Fetch network size statistics for the authenticated user.
6. get-connections: Retrieve a list of connections.
7. send-message: Send a connection message.

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Setup & Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the project root:

cp .env.example .env

Define the following environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default
PORT	HTTP Server Port (Render overrides this dynamically)	5050
LOG_LEVEL	Logging level (trace, debug, info, warn, error)	info
MCP_SERVER_NAME	The identifier name of this MCP server	linkedin-mcp-http
MCP_SERVER_VERSION	The version of this MCP server	1.0.0
LINKEDIN_CLIENT_ID	Required. LinkedIn developer app client ID	None
LINKEDIN_CLIENT_SECRET	Required. LinkedIn developer app client secret	None

Get your client ID and secret from the LinkedIn Developer Portal.

[!WARNING] By default, standard self-serve LinkedIn Developer Apps do not have access to private endpoints like /search/people, /connections, /messages, or /jobs. Your LinkedIn Developer App must be approved for special Partner Programs (e.g., Talent Solutions, Sales Navigator, or Community Management) to access these endpoints, or you will encounter 403 Forbidden errors during execution.

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Local Development

1. Install Dependencies

npm install

2. Run in Development Mode

Builds and watches typescript code in real-time:

npm run dev

3. Build & Run in Production Mode

npm run build
npm start

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Grok Custom Connector Setup

Once deployed to a public URL (e.g. https://your-app.onrender.com), configure it on Grok:

1. Go to grok.com/connectors.
2. Click "New Connector".
3. Choose "Custom".
4. Enter your MCP Server URL. Grok supports Streamable HTTP and SSE:
   • For Streamable HTTP: https://your-app.onrender.com/mcp
   • For Legacy SSE: https://your-app.onrender.com/sse
5. Click "Save". Grok will auto-discover the tools and expose them in your chat session!

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Deploying to Render

Deploying to Render requires no code changes:

1. Push this codebase to a GitHub repository.
2. In the Render Dashboard, click "New" -> "Blueprint" (or Web Service).
3. Connect your repository. Render will automatically detect the render.yaml configuration.
4. Input your LINKEDIN_CLIENT_ID and LINKEDIN_CLIENT_SECRET environment variables.
5. Click "Deploy".

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Troubleshooting

• Server fails on boot: Ensure that your .env contains valid non-empty LINKEDIN_CLIENT_ID and LINKEDIN_CLIENT_SECRET values.
• API Request Errors: Check console logs. If you get 401 Unauthorized or token errors, verify your credentials on the LinkedIn Developer Portal and ensure your application is approved for the relevant scopes.
• Port Conflict: If port 5050 is in use locally, define PORT=6060 (or any other number) in your .env.