icon for mcp server

OpenAI Tool Bridge

STDIO

Bridge wrapping OpenAI's built-in tools as MCP servers for Claude compatibility.

openai-tool2mcp

Release Build status codecov Commit activity License

openai-tool2mcp is a lightweight, open-source bridge that wraps OpenAI's powerful built-in tools as Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. It enables you to use high-quality OpenAI tools like web search and code interpreter with Claude and other MCP-compatible models.

  • 🔍 Use OpenAI's robust web search in Claude App
  • 💻 Access code interpreter functionality in any MCP-compatible LLM
  • 🔄 Seamless protocol translation between OpenAI and MCP
  • 🛠️ Simple API for easy integration
  • 🌐 Full compatibility with the MCP SDK

🔍 OpenAI Search Integration Demo with Claude App! 🚀

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f1f10e2c-b995-4e03-8b28-61eeb2b2bfe9

OpenAI tried to keep their powerful, LLM-optimized tools locked within their own agent platform, but they couldn't stop the unstoppable open-source movement of MCP!

The Developer's Dilemma

AI developers currently face a challenging choice between two ecosystems:

graph TD
    subgraph "Developer's Dilemma"
        style Developer fill:#ff9e64,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        Developer((Developer))
    end

    subgraph "OpenAI's Ecosystem"
        style OpenAITools fill:#bb9af7,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style Tracing fill:#bb9af7,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style Evaluation fill:#bb9af7,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style VendorLock fill:#f7768e,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px,stroke-dasharray: 5 5

        OpenAITools["Built-in Tools<br/>(Web Search, Code Interpreter)"]
        Tracing["Advanced Tracing<br/>(Visual Debugging)"]
        Evaluation["Evaluation Dashboards<br/>(Performance Metrics)"]
        VendorLock["Vendor Lock-in<br/>⚠️ Closed Source ⚠️"]

        OpenAITools --> Tracing
        Tracing --> Evaluation
        OpenAITools -.-> VendorLock
        Tracing -.-> VendorLock
        Evaluation -.-> VendorLock
    end

    subgraph "MCP Ecosystem"
        style MCPStandard fill:#7dcfff,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style MCPTools fill:#7dcfff,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style OpenStandard fill:#9ece6a,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style LimitedTools fill:#f7768e,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px,stroke-dasharray: 5 5

        MCPStandard["Model Context Protocol<br/>(Open Standard)"]
        MCPTools["MCP-compatible Tools"]
        OpenStandard["Open Ecosystem<br/>✅ Interoperability ✅"]
        LimitedTools["Limited Tool Quality<br/>⚠️ Less Mature (e.g., web search, computer use) ⚠️"]

        MCPStandard --> MCPTools
        MCPStandard --> OpenStandard
        MCPTools -.-> LimitedTools
    end

    Developer -->|"Wants powerful tools<br/>& visualizations"| OpenAITools
    Developer -->|"Wants open standards<br/>& interoperability"| MCPStandard

    classDef highlight fill:#ff9e64,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:4px;
    class Developer highlight

openai-tool2mcp bridges this gap by letting you use OpenAI's mature, high-quality tools within the open MCP ecosystem.

🌟 Features

  • Easy Setup: Get up and running with a few simple commands
  • OpenAI Tools as MCP Servers: Wrap powerful OpenAI built-in tools as MCP-compliant servers
  • Seamless Integration: Works with Claude App and other MCP-compatible clients
  • MCP SDK Compatible: Uses the official MCP Python SDK
  • Tool Support:
    • 🔍 Web Search
    • 💻 Code Interpreter
    • 🌐 Web Browser
    • 📁 File Management
  • Open Source: MIT licensed, hackable and extensible

🚀 Installation

# Install from PyPI
pip install openai-tool2mcp

# Or install the latest development version
pip install git+https://github.com/alohays/openai-tool2mcp.git

# Recommended: Install uv for better MCP compatibility
pip install uv

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.10+
  • OpenAI API key with access to the Assistant API
  • (Recommended) uv package manager for MCP compatibility

🛠️ Quick Start

  1. Set your OpenAI API key:
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
  1. Start the MCP server with OpenAI tools:
# Recommended: Use uv for MCP compatibility (recommended by MCP documentation)
uv run openai_tool2mcp/server_entry.py --transport stdio

# Or use the traditional method with the CLI
openai-tool2mcp start --transport stdio
  1. Use with Claude for Desktop:

Configure your Claude for Desktop to use the server by editing the claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openai-tools": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/absolute/path/to/your/openai-tool2mcp",
        "run",
        "openai_tool2mcp/server_entry.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

The config file is located at:

  • MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
  • Windows: %AppData%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

💻 Usage Examples

Basic Server Configuration

# server_script.py
from openai_tool2mcp import MCPServer, ServerConfig, OpenAIBuiltInTools

# Configure with OpenAI web search
config = ServerConfig(
    openai_api_key="your-api-key",
    tools=[OpenAIBuiltInTools.WEB_SEARCH.value]
)

# Create and start server with STDIO transport (for MCP compatibility)
server = MCPServer(config)
server.start(transport="stdio")

Run it with uv as recommended by MCP:

uv run server_script.py

MCP-Compatible Configuration for Claude Desktop

Create a standalone script:

# openai_tools_server.py
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from openai_tool2mcp import MCPServer, ServerConfig, OpenAIBuiltInTools

# Load environment variables
load_dotenv()

# Create a server with multiple tools
config = ServerConfig(
    openai_api_key=os.environ.get("OPENAI_API_KEY"),
    tools=[
        OpenAIBuiltInTools.WEB_SEARCH.value,
        OpenAIBuiltInTools.CODE_INTERPRETER.value
    ]
)

# Create and start the server with stdio transport for MCP compatibility
server = MCPServer(config)
server.start(transport="stdio")

Configure Claude Desktop to use this script with uv:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openai-tools": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/absolute/path/to/your/project/folder",
        "run",
        "openai_tools_server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

📊 How It Works

The library serves as a bridge between the OpenAI Assistant API and the MCP protocol:

sequenceDiagram
    participant Claude as "Claude App"
    participant MCP as "MCP Client"
    participant Server as "openai-tool2mcp Server"
    participant OpenAI as "OpenAI API"

    Claude->>MCP: User query requiring tools
    MCP->>Server: MCP request
    Server->>OpenAI: Convert to OpenAI format
    OpenAI->>Server: Tool response
    Server->>MCP: Convert to MCP format
    MCP->>Claude: Display result

🔄 MCP SDK Integration

openai-tool2mcp is now fully compatible with the MCP SDK. You can use it with the Claude for Desktop app by:

  1. Installing the package with pip install openai-tool2mcp
  2. Configuring your claude_desktop_config.json to include:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openai-tools": {
      "command": "openai-tool2mcp",
      "args": [
        "start",
        "--transport",
        "stdio",
        "--tools",
        "retrieval",
        "code_interpreter"
      ]
    }
  }
}

The config file is located at:

  • MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
  • Windows: %AppData%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community! Here's how you can help:

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Clone your fork to your local machine
  3. Create a branch for your feature or bugfix
  4. Make your changes and commit them
  5. Push to your fork and submit a pull request

Please make sure to follow our coding standards and add tests for any new features.

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/alohays/openai-tool2mcp.git
cd openai-tool2mcp

# Install in development mode
make install

# Run tests
make test

# Run linting
make lint

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgements

  • The OpenAI team for their excellent tools and APIs
  • The MCP community for developing an open standard for tool usage
  • All contributors who have helped improve this project

⚠️ Project Status

This project is in active development. While the core functionality works, expect frequent updates and improvements. If you encounter any issues, please submit them on our issue tracker.

openai-tool2mcp is part of the broader MCPortal initiative to bridge OpenAI's tools with the open-source MCP ecosystem.

Be the First to Experience MCP Now