mlx-mcp-server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that gives Claude Code and Claude Desktop a set of tools to talk to a locally-running LLM. Optimised for oMLX and MLX LM on Apple Silicon, with support for any OpenAI-compatible backend (Ollama, LM Studio, etc.).

The idea: Claude stays Claude. Your local model becomes a tool Claude can call — fast, private, free, and clearly labelled 🏠 LOCAL in every response.

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How it works

You (in Claude Code or Claude Desktop)
        │
        ▼
  Claude (Sonnet / your tier)          ← still the primary AI
        │
        │  calls MCP tools when useful
        ▼
  mlx-mcp-server  (subprocess)         ← this repo
        │
        │  HTTP  POST /v1/chat/completions
        ▼
  Your local LLM backend               ← oMLX · MLX LM · Ollama · LM Studio
        │
        ▼
  Response with 🏠 LOCAL badge         ← so you always know which model answered

Claude Code spawns mlx-mcp-server as a background subprocess at startup. The server sits idle until you — or Claude — explicitly invoke one of its tools. Nothing is routed automatically; you're always talking to real Claude unless a tool is called.

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Quick install

macOS with Homebrew Python — use uv (pip is blocked by PEP 668):

uv tool install mlx-mcp-server

Other environments:

pip install mlx-mcp-server

oMLX (recommended on Apple Silicon)

# Add to Claude Code
mlx-mcp-server install --claude-code \
  --base-url http://localhost:8000 \
  --api-key YOUR_OMLX_KEY \
  --model "Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit"

# Add to Claude Desktop
mlx-mcp-server install \
  --base-url http://localhost:8000 \
  --api-key YOUR_OMLX_KEY \
  --model "Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit"

MLX LM

# Start the server first
mlx_lm.server --model mlx-community/Mistral-7B-Instruct-v0.3-4bit

# Then install (no API key needed, model auto-detected)
mlx-mcp-server install --claude-code --base-url http://localhost:8080

Ollama

ollama serve && ollama pull mistral

mlx-mcp-server install --claude-code \
  --base-url http://localhost:11434 \
  --model mistral

Restart Claude Code / Claude Desktop after installing.

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Tools

These are the MCP tools Claude can call. You can invoke them directly by name in conversation, or ask Claude to use the local model for a specific task.

chat

Send a message to your local LLM and get a response.

# In Claude Code — just say it:
"Use the local model to write a SQL migration for adding a users table"
"Ask the local model to summarise this error log"
"Use local: write boilerplate for a new Go HTTP handler"

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
message	string	required	The prompt to send
system_prompt	string	""	Optional system prompt (overrides default)
temperature	float	0.7	Sampling temperature
max_tokens	int	512	Max response tokens
top_p	float	1.0	Nucleus sampling
top_k	int	0	Top-k sampling (0 = disabled)

Response format:

🏠 LOCAL · Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit

[model response here]

---
Tokens: 12 prompt + 48 completion = 60 total | 1.24s

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quick_test

Run a predefined diagnostic prompt to benchmark your model and verify it's working.

quick_test math        # 347 × 28 — tests reasoning + speed
quick_test hello       # intro prompt — tests personality / identity
quick_test creative    # two-sentence robot story — tests creativity
quick_test code_review # Python snippet review — tests code understanding

Response format:

Test: math
Prompt: What is 347 × 28? Show your working.

Response:
347 × 28 = 9,716  [working shown]

---
🏠 LOCAL · Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit · 54.7 tok/s · 312 tokens · 5.71s

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health_check

Verify your LLM backend is reachable and report what's loaded.

health_check

Response (oMLX):

{
  "status": "ok",
  "url": "http://localhost:8000",
  "models_loaded": "1/2"
}

Response (unreachable):

{
  "status": "unreachable",
  "url": "http://localhost:8000",
  "hint": "Make sure your LLM backend is running at http://localhost:8000."
}

---

list_models

List the models available on your backend.

list models

Response:

- Qwen3.5-27B-4bit
- Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit

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Configuration

Set via environment variables, or use the install command to write them automatically.

Variable	Default	Description
MLX_BASE_URL	http://localhost:8080	Backend URL
MLX_DEFAULT_MODEL	""	Model name. If empty, auto-detected from /v1/models on first call
MLX_API_KEY	""	API key for secured backends (e.g. oMLX)
MLX_TIMEOUT	30	Request timeout in seconds

Auto-detection

When MLX_DEFAULT_MODEL is not set, the server queries /v1/models on the first chat call and uses whatever model the backend reports. The result is cached for the session. This works well for single-model backends (MLX LM, Ollama). For oMLX with multiple configured models, set MLX_DEFAULT_MODEL explicitly since oMLX lists all configured models, not just the loaded one.

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Install command reference

mlx-mcp-server install [options]

Flag	Description
--claude-code	Target Claude Code (~/.claude/settings.json) instead of Claude Desktop
--base-url URL	Backend URL (default: http://localhost:8080)
--model NAME	Model name — optional, auto-detected if omitted
--api-key KEY	API key for secured backends
--dry-run	Print the config that would be written without touching any files

Preview before writing:

mlx-mcp-server install --claude-code \
  --base-url http://localhost:8000 \
  --api-key mykey \
  --model "Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit" \
  --dry-run

Update model without changing other settings (just re-run with new --model):

mlx-mcp-server install --claude-code \
  --base-url http://localhost:8000 \
  --api-key mykey \
  --model "Qwen3.5-27B-4bit"

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Manual config

If you prefer to edit the config file directly:

Claude Desktop — ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS)

Claude Code — ~/.claude/settings.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mlx": {
      "command": "mlx-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "MLX_BASE_URL": "http://localhost:8000",
        "MLX_DEFAULT_MODEL": "Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit",
        "MLX_API_KEY": "your-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

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Supported backends

Backend	Platform	Default port	Notes
oMLX	macOS (Apple Silicon)	8000	Requires API key + explicit model name
MLX LM	macOS (Apple Silicon)	8080	No auth needed, model auto-detected
Ollama	macOS / Linux / Windows	11434	Set MLX_DEFAULT_MODEL to model name
LM Studio	macOS / Windows	1234	Enable "Local Server" in LM Studio

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oMLX-specific notes

oMLX is a native macOS GUI for running MLX models on Apple Silicon. A few quirks to know:

• Port: listens on 127.0.0.1:8000 (not 8080)
• API key required: set one in oMLX settings and pass it via --api-key
• Model field required: oMLX returns 422 if model is omitted from requests — always set MLX_DEFAULT_MODEL
• /health endpoint: unauthenticated, returns engine pool info — health_check uses this first
• MoE models: Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-4bit activates only ~3B params per token — 5–6× faster than dense 27B models at the same quality level

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Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• A running OpenAI-compatible LLM backend

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Development

git clone https://github.com/deresolution20/mlx-mcp-server
cd mlx-mcp-server

# Install with dev dependencies
uv sync --dev

# Run tests
uv run pytest tests/ -v

# Install locally for testing
uv tool uninstall mlx-mcp-server 2>/dev/null
uv tool install . --no-cache

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License

MIT