The Three MCP Layers

PraisonAI has three distinct MCP roles across three packages — connecting to servers, serving a small tool set, and hosting the full capability registry.

from praisonaiagents import Agent, MCP

agent = Agent(
    name="assistant",
    instructions="Use connected tools to help the user.",
    tools=MCP("npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp"),
)
agent.start("List files in /tmp.")

The snippet above is the client layer. Serving your own agents uses the light or heavy layer instead.

Which Layer Do I Need?

The Layers

Each layer maps to one package and one job.

Layer	Package	Install	Role
Client	`praisonaiagents/mcp/`	`pip install "praisonaiagents[mcp]"`	Connect agents to external MCP servers
Light server	`praisonai-code`	`pip install praisonai-code`	Config-driven basic tool hosting (`ToolsMCPServer`)
Heavy host	`praisonai-mcp`	`pip install "praisonai-mcp[all]"`	Full `MCPServer`, adapters, recipe bridge, HTTP-stream auth

Client

Connect an agent to any external MCP server and use its tools.

from praisonaiagents import Agent, MCP

agent = Agent(
    instructions="You can read and write files.",
    tools=MCP("npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp"),
)
agent.start("Create notes.txt with 'Hello World'.")

Light server

Serve a small, config-driven tool set from the terminal CLI.

pip install praisonai-code
praisonai serve mcp

Heavy host

Serve the full PraisonAI capability registry, recipes, and auth.

pip install "praisonai-mcp[all]"
praisonai-mcp serve --transport stdio

Best Practices

Client for consuming, host for serving

Use the agents-tier MCP class to consume external tools. Use praisonai-mcp to expose your own agents to MCP clients.

Light server for a fixed tool set

praisonai serve mcp is the lightest way to publish a handful of config-driven tools without the heavy host.

Heavy host for auth and recipes

Reach for praisonai-mcp when you need OAuth 2.1 / OIDC, HTTP-stream transport, or recipe serving.

praisonai-mcp Package

Standalone heavy-host package guide.

MCP Integration

Connect agents to external MCP servers.

PraisonAI MCP Server

Heavy MCP host reference.

Package Tiers

How the seven packages stack.

praisonai-mcp Package

MCP Tool Filtering

​Which Layer Do I Need?

​The Layers

​Client

​Light server

​Heavy host

​Best Practices

​Related

praisonai-mcp Package

MCP Integration

PraisonAI MCP Server

Package Tiers

Which Layer Do I Need?

The Layers

Client

Light server

Heavy host

Best Practices

Related