Claude.ai (Web)

Claude.ai (web) and Claude mobile apps (iOS/Android) connect to AutoMem through a remote MCP sidecar — a separately deployed HTTPS service that bridges the MCP protocol to AutoMem’s HTTP API. This is required because cloud-based Claude cannot spawn local processes.

Unlike ChatGPT, Claude.ai supports both header-based and URL-based authentication.

Architecture

graph TB
    subgraph "Remote MCP (HTTP/SSE Transport)"
        CW["Claude.ai Web / Claude Mobile"]
        SIDECAR["MCP Sidecar (separate deployment) — POST /mcp / GET /mcp/sse"]
        AUTOMEM["AutoMem API :8001"]

        CW -->|"HTTPS"| SIDECAR
        SIDECAR -->|"HTTP"| AUTOMEM
    end

The sidecar service (mcp-sse-server) is included in the AutoMem server repository. It implements:

Streamable HTTP (recommended): POST /mcp — full-duplex MCP-over-HTTP, MCP protocol version 2025-03-26
SSE (legacy): GET /mcp/sse — server→client event stream, MCP protocol version 2024-11-05

Sessions are maintained server-side with a 1-hour TTL and 5-minute sweep interval. The Streamable HTTP transport supports Last-Event-ID for resumability.

Prerequisites

A deployed AutoMem service
The MCP sidecar deployed and accessible over HTTPS
A Claude.ai account (Pro recommended for MCP features)

Deploy the MCP Sidecar

Required environment variables:

Variable	Purpose
`AUTOMEM_API_URL`	AutoMem service URL
`AUTOMEM_API_TOKEN`	API token for authentication
`PORT`	Listen port (default: `8080`)

AUTOMEM_ENDPOINT is supported as a legacy alias for AUTOMEM_API_URL.

Railway deployment (recommended):

Deploy via Railway one-click template
Go to mcp-sse-server service → Settings → Networking → Generate Domain
Your sidecar URL will be: https://your-mcp-bridge.up.railway.app

Sidecar endpoints:

Endpoint	Method	Transport	Purpose
`/mcp`	POST	Streamable HTTP	Full-duplex MCP (recommended)
`/mcp/sse`	GET	SSE	Server→client event stream (legacy)
`/mcp/messages?sessionId=<id>`	POST	SSE	Client→server JSON-RPC (legacy)
`/health`	GET	HTTP	Health probe

Connect Claude.ai Web

Open Claude.ai → Settings → MCP Servers
Add a new server

Streamable HTTP (recommended):

https://your-mcp-bridge.up.railway.app/mcp?api_token=YOUR_AUTOMEM_TOKEN

SSE (fallback):

https://your-mcp-bridge.up.railway.app/mcp/sse?api_token=YOUR_AUTOMEM_TOKEN

Connect Claude Mobile (iOS/Android)

Open the Claude app → Settings → MCP Servers
Add server URL:

Streamable HTTP:

https://your-mcp-bridge.up.railway.app/mcp?api_token=YOUR_AUTOMEM_TOKEN

The mobile apps use the same MCP configuration as the web interface.

Authentication Options

Claude.ai supports both authentication methods:

URL-based (simpler):

https://your-mcp-bridge.up.railway.app/mcp?api_token=YOUR_TOKEN

Header-based (more secure):

Server URL: https://your-mcp-bridge.up.railway.app/mcp
Header: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN

Token extraction priority (sidecar getAuthToken() function):

Authorization: Bearer <token> header
X-API-Key: <token> header
X-API-Token: <token> header
?api_key=<token> query parameter
?apiKey=<token> query parameter
?api_token=<token> query parameter
AUTOMEM_API_TOKEN environment variable (fallback)

Available Memory Tools

All six AutoMem tools are available via remote MCP:

Tool	Type	Description
`store_memory`	Write	Store content with tags, importance, metadata
`recall_memory`	Read	Hybrid search (semantic + keyword + tags + time)
`associate_memories`	Write	Create typed relationships between memories
`update_memory`	Write/Destructive	Modify existing memory fields
`delete_memory`	Write/Destructive	Permanently remove a memory
`check_database_health`	Read	Check FalkorDB and Qdrant connection status

The recall_memory tool supports advanced parameters including expand_relations, expand_entities, auto_decompose, expand_min_importance, expand_min_strength, context, language, active_path, context_tags, context_types, and priority_ids.

Verification

Test the connection:

Check the health of the AutoMem service

Test storing and recalling:

Store a memory: I prefer concise responses without unnecessary preamble.

What are my communication preferences?

Migrating from SSE to Streamable HTTP

Streamable HTTP is the recommended transport. To migrate:

Before (SSE):

https://your-mcp-bridge.up.railway.app/mcp/sse?api_token=<token>

After (Streamable HTTP):

https://your-mcp-bridge.up.railway.app/mcp?api_token=<token>

Benefits of Streamable HTTP:

Lower latency (fewer round-trips)
No sessionId management needed
Full-duplex communication
Better error handling
Supports Last-Event-ID for stream resumability

Troubleshooting

Claude.ai cannot connect to MCP endpoint

Check sidecar health: curl https://your-mcp-bridge.up.railway.app/health
Verify DNS resolves for your domain
Ensure valid TLS certificate (Railway auto-provisions)
Check firewall allows HTTPS (443)

401 Unauthorized

Verify AUTOMEM_API_TOKEN in sidecar environment variables
Check that the token matches between sidecar and memory service
Test token: curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" https://your-automem.up.railway.app/health

SSE connection drops

The sidecar sends heartbeats every 20 seconds to maintain SSE connections. If Claude.ai drops the connection before 20 seconds:

Check if a reverse proxy is buffering the SSE stream
The sidecar sets anti-buffering headers (X-Accel-Buffering: no, Cache-Control: no-cache)
Consider switching to Streamable HTTP transport

Stream replay (Streamable HTTP)

The sidecar’s InMemoryEventStore persists events for 1 hour with a maximum of 1000 events per stream. If Claude.ai sends a Last-Event-ID header on reconnect, the sidecar replays missed events automatically.

Other cloud platforms using the same remote MCP sidecar:

ChatGPT — URL auth only, Streamable HTTP or SSE
ElevenLabs — SSE with header auth, 30s idle timeout handled by heartbeat