Upstream MCP Server

Upstream.so — MCP Server

The official Model Context Protocol server for Upstream.so, the cloud live-streaming platform. Point an AI assistant at one URL and it can run your channels: start and stop streams, reorder playback queues, search your media library, plan schedules, and manage multistream destinations.

It is a remote server — nothing to install, no npm package, no local process. It mirrors the public Upstream API one-to-one, so every tool runs the same validation, ownership rules and rate limits as the REST endpoint behind it.

  ┌───────────────┐   MCP (Streamable HTTP)   ┌────────────────────┐
  │  your AI       │ ────────────────────────► │ studio.upstream.so │
  │  (Claude, ...) │ ◄──── tool results ────── │        /mcp        │
  └───────────────┘                            └─────────┬──────────┘
                                                         │ same code path
                                                         ▼
                                              ┌────────────────────┐
                                              │  Upstream API v1    │
                                              └────────────────────┘

Endpoint

Authentication

Connect with OAuth when your client supports it. Add the server URL, sign in directly on studio.upstream.so, and review the requested access. Your AI client receives an access token, never your Upstream password. Remove its access under Profile → Connected apps.

For clients with custom request headers, a Personal Access Token remains available under Profile → API Keys. Create a dedicated key for each client and store it in the client's secret settings. Existing API-key connections keep working.

Both methods grant access to the supported MCP tools for your account, including actions that change or delete data. OAuth's mcp:use scope is not a read-only mode. Enable your client's approval prompts and begin with a read-only request.

The legacy X-Upstream-Api-Key header still works. New API-key connections should send Authorization: Bearer.

Connecting

ChatGPT

1. Enable Developer mode under Settings → Security and login, if your account and workspace allow it.
2. Open Plugins, select the plus button, and name the connection Upstream.
3. Enter https://studio.upstream.so/mcp. Choose OAuth authentication when prompted.
4. Sign in on Upstream, review the consent screen, and approve the connection.
5. Start a new conversation and select Upstream from the tools menu.

This uses a custom MCP connection. It does not require a published ChatGPT app. See OpenAI's connection guide for current availability and settings.

Claude

1. Open Customize → Connectors and select + → Add custom connector.
2. Name it Upstream and enter https://studio.upstream.so/mcp.
3. Add the connector, select Connect, and sign in on Upstream to review and approve access.
4. Enable Upstream from the conversation's Connectors menu.

Custom connectors depend on your plan. Team and Enterprise owners must first add the connector for their organization. See Claude's custom connector guide.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user upstream \
  https://studio.upstream.so/mcp

Open Claude Code, run /mcp, and select Upstream to authenticate. Sign in on Upstream and approve access, then run /mcp again to check the connection. See the Claude Code MCP guide.

VS Code

Run MCP: Open User Configuration from the Command Palette and add Upstream to mcp.json, keeping any other servers already configured:

{
  "servers": {
    "upstream": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://studio.upstream.so/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Start Upstream from the server configuration and follow the authentication prompt. Sign in on Upstream and approve access. VS Code discovers the OAuth settings automatically; no API key or client secret is needed. See the VS Code MCP guide.

Kimi Code

Add Upstream to ~/.kimi-code/mcp.json, keeping any other servers already configured:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstream": {
      "url": "https://studio.upstream.so/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Start a new Kimi Code session and run /mcp-config login upstream. Sign in on Upstream and approve access, then run /mcp to check the connection. You can also add the server interactively with /mcp-config. See the Kimi Code MCP guide.

Switching an existing connection to OAuth

Existing API-key connections keep working. To switch, remove the saved Authorization header or API-key setting from the Upstream server configuration, then reconnect and follow your client's sign-in steps above. A configured API-key header can prevent the client from starting OAuth.

API-key alternative

Scripts and clients without OAuth can use a dedicated key from Profile → API Keys. Use the same endpoint and store this header in the client's secret settings:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_UPSTREAM_TOKEN

Replace the placeholder with your key only in those settings. Never paste a real key into a prompt, shared project configuration, support ticket, or directory submission.

Other clients need remote Streamable HTTP and OAuth or custom request headers. OAuth callback compatibility depends on the client.

Verify the connection with a read-only call: ask the assistant to list your streams.

Tools

Tools use the same account ownership, validation, and rate limits as the public API.

Streams

Scheduling is part of a stream rather than a separate tool: create_stream and update_stream both take a schedule object covering start and end times, repeats, and continuous mode with its own run and break durations.

Playback queues

Each stream owns queues by type: video, audio, audio-secondary, external-videos.

Media library

A freshly uploaded file is processing until get_media reports is_processing: false. It can only be queued after that.

Folders

Multistream destinations

Tags and account

Uploading files

MCP carries JSON, not file bytes, so create_upload_ticket hands the upload back to the client: it returns a TUS endpoint and a 24-hour token, and the assistant's own shell moves the bytes.

Reuse one ticket per batch when practical. Minting a new ticket renews the same family without revoking in-flight uploads. Use revoke_upload_tickets to invalidate active tickets. Runnable examples in several languages live in upstream-upload-examples.

Rate limits and errors

Tool calls share the REST API's budget of 60 requests/minute per account. On HTTP 429, back off.

Resources belong to the token's account only: a foreign id returns 403, an unknown id returns 404. Destructive tools carry MCP annotations, so clients that render confirmations will ask before deleting or stopping something.

Reference

• API documentation · OpenAPI spec · Postman collection
• Model Context Protocol
• Connection setup · Publishing and directory submissions

About Upstream

Upstream runs live video in the cloud, without OBS or a machine of your own left switched on:

• 24/7 live streaming — loop a library as a channel that never goes down
• Pre-recorded live streaming — schedule finished videos to go live
• Live Studio — browser production with up to 10 guests
• Multistreaming — one feed to YouTube, Twitch, Kick, TikTok and more

Licence

MIT — see LICENSE.