AI engineering glossary · Agents tools MCP
What is stdio transport?
stdio transport: An MCP transport where the client launches the server as a local subprocess and they exchange messages through the process's standard input and output streams. It is simple and needs no network, so it suits tools that run on the user's own machine.
stdio transport: an example
A host starts a local server with the command 'npx some-mcp-server' and talks to it over stdin and stdout.
Related terms
- MCP transport
- Streamable HTTP
- MCP server
- Subprocess
More Agents tools MCP terms
- Stop condition
- Streamable HTTP
- Subagent
- Supervisor agent
- Task success rate
- Thought-action-observation
- Tool argument validation
- Tool error handling
Where you learn it
stdio transport is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.