ACP to MCP Adapter
**Connect ACP Agents to MCP Applications Seamlessly**
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The **ACP to MCP Adapter** is a lightweight standalone server that acts as a bridge between two AI ecosystems: **Agent Communication Protocol (ACP)** for agent-to-agent communication and **Model Context Protocol (MCP)** for connecting AI models to external tools. It allows MCP applications (like **Claude Desktop**) to discover and interact with ACP agents as resources.
## Capabilities & Tradeoffs
This adapter enables interoperability between ACP and MCP with specific benefits and tradeoffs:
### Benefits
- Makes ACP agents discoverable as MCP resources
- Exposes ACP agent runs as MCP tools
- Bridges two ecosystems with minimal configuration
### Current Limitations
- ACP agents become MCP tools instead of conversational peers
- No streaming of incremental updates
- No shared memory across servers
- Basic content translation between formats without support for complex data structures
This adapter is best for situations where you need ACP agents in MCP environments and accept these compromises.
## Requirements
- Python 3.11 or higher
- Installed Python packages: `acp-sdk`, `mcp`
- An ACP server running (Tip: Follow the [ACP quickstart](https://github.com/i-am-bee/acp/blob/main/README.md#quickstart) to start one easily)
- An MCP client application (We use [Claude Desktop](https://claude.ai/download) in the quickstart)
## Quickstart
**1. Run the Adapter**
Start the adapter and connect it to your ACP server:
```sh
uvx acp-mcp http://localhost:8000
```
> [!NOTE]
> Replace `http://localhost:8000` with your ACP server URL if different.
Prefer Docker?
```sh
docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/i-am-bee/acp-mcp http://host.docker.internal:8000
```
**Tip:** `host.docker.internal` allows Docker containers to reach services running on the host (adjust if needed for your setup).
**2. Connect via Claude Desktop**
To connect via Claude Desktop, follow these steps:
1. Open the Claude menu on your computer and navigate to Settings (note: this is separate from the in-app Claude account settings).
2. Navigate to Developer > Edit Config
3. The config file will be created here:
- macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
- Windows: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
4. Edit the file with the following:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"acp-local": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["acp-mcp", "http://localhost:8000"]
}
}
}
```
Prefer Docker?
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"acp-docker": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"ghcr.io/i-am-bee/acp-mcp",
"http://host.docker.internal:8000"
]
}
}
}
```
**3. Restart Claude Desktop and Invoke Your ACP Agent**
After restarting, invoke your ACP agent with:
```
use "echo" agent with the "Good morning!" input
```
Accept the integration and observe the agent running.
> [!TIP]
> ACP agents are also registered as **MCP resources** in Claude Desktop.
> To attach them manually, click the Resources icon (two plugs connecting) in the sidebar, labeled "Attach from MCP", then select an agent like `acp://agents/echo`.
## How It Works
1. The adapter connects to your ACP server.
2. It automatically discovers all registered ACP agents.
3. Each ACP agent is registered in MCP as a resource using the URI: `acp://agents/{agent_name}`
4. The adapter provides a new MCP tool called `run_agent`, letting MCP apps easily invoke ACP agents.
## Supported Transports
- Currently supports Stdio transport
---
Developed by contributors to the BeeAI project, this initiative is part of the [Linux Foundation AI & Data program](https://lfaidata.foundation/projects/). Its development follows open, collaborative, and community-driven practices.