Pipedream MCP

How to Install and Use Pipedream MCP

Pipedream MCP is a tool that lets you run your own MCP server, which connects to over 2,800 apps and APIs. You can use it to manage user accounts, connect apps, handle authentication, and make API requests. This guide will walk you through installing and running the Pipedream MCP server with easy steps and example code.

Getting Ready to Install

Before you start installing Pipedream MCP, you need to prepare a few things. You must have an account with Pipedream and create a project there. You will also need to set up OAuth credentials to securely use the MCP server.

Here’s what you do to get ready:

1. Sign up for a Pipedream account at pipedream.com.
2. Create a new project on Pipedream following the instructions at Creating Projects.
3. Create an OAuth client to get credentials like client ID and secret. Learn how at Creating an OAuth client.

Once you have your client ID, client secret, and project ID, you can move on to setting up your environment.

Setting Environment Variables

To run Pipedream MCP, you need to provide some secret keys to keep your data safe. These are set as environment variables.

Here’s an example of how you set them in your terminal:

export PIPEDREAM_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
export PIPEDREAM_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
export PIPEDREAM_PROJECT_ID=your_project_id
export PIPEDREAM_PROJECT_ENVIRONMENT=development

Replace the values after = with the actual IDs from your Pipedream account.

Installing the MCP Server

Now that your environment variables are ready, it’s time to install the MCP server itself.

Use this command to install the MCP package with npm or pnpm:

pnpm install

You need to also copy the example environment file to create a working .env file. Do this by running:

cp .env.example .env

Then, open .env and paste in your client ID, secret, and project ID as shown earlier.

Starting the MCP Server

When installation and environment setup are done, you can start the server. Pipedream MCP supports different ways to run, but here is how you run it using the HTTP server with streamable transport:

pnpm dev:http

If you want to see all communication with the Pipedream APIs for debugging, run:

PD_SDK_DEBUG=true pnpm dev:http

This will print useful logs for understanding what happens behind the scenes.

Using the MCP Server

Once your MCP server is running on your local machine, you can start making requests. Here’s how you can connect a user (external_user_id) to a specific app:

Use this URL pattern in your client or API calls:

http://localhost:3010/v1/{external_user_id}/{app}

For example, if your user ID is 123 and the app is slack, the URL becomes:

http://localhost:3010/v1/123/slack

This makes API requests on behalf of user 123 with Slack credentials stored and managed securely.

Summary

To install and use Pipedream MCP:

• Sign up for Pipedream and create a project.
• Set up your OAuth client and get client secrets.
• Set environment variables in your shell.
• Install dependencies with pnpm install.
• Copy and fill .env with your info.
• Start the server using pnpm dev:http.
• Use the local server URL format to connect users to apps.

Following these steps allows you to manage apps and APIs for your users with your own MCP server!