Setting Up MCP Servers in llama-server Web UI: A Practical Guide

llama-server recently added MCP (Model Context Protocol) support, and a Reddit user documented the exact steps to get it working in the web UI. This guide provides concrete setup instructions for developers who want to integrate MCP servers with their local llama-server instance.

Setup Requirements

First, ensure uv is installed. The guide references the official installation documentation at https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/.

Configuration File

Create a config.json file in your chosen directory with MCP server definitions. The example includes three servers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "time": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "mcp-server-time", "--local-timezone=America/Chicago"]
    },
    "fetch": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-fetch"]
    },
    "ddg-search": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["duckduckgo-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Running the Proxy

From the same directory, run this command:

uvx mcp-proxy --named-server-config config.json --allow-origin "*" --port 8001 --stateless

When you run this command, it lists the name of each MCP server. You need to replace the sse at the end of each URL with mcp for the servers to work in the llama-server web UI.

Example: Change http://127.0.0.1:8001/servers/time/sse to http://127.0.0.1:8001/servers/time/mcp

Web UI Configuration

In the llama-server web UI, go to Settings → MCP → Add New Server, and add each server from your config. For example:

• http://127.0.0.1:8001/servers/time/mcp
• http://127.0.0.1:8001/servers/fetch/mcp
• http://127.0.0.1:8001/servers/ddg-search/mcp

Click Add to finish adding each server, then check the toggle to activate it. The configured MCP servers should now work in the llama-server web UI.