openai-tool2mcp

openai-tool2mcp is a lightweight, open-source bridge that wraps OpenAI's powerful built-in tools as Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. It enables you to use high-quality OpenAI tools like web search and code interpreter with Claude and other MCP-compatible models.

• 🔍 Use OpenAI's robust web search in Claude App
• 💻 Access code interpreter functionality in any MCP-compatible LLM
• 🔄 Seamless protocol translation between OpenAI and MCP
• 🛠️ Simple API for easy integration
• 🌐 Full compatibility with the MCP SDK

🔍 OpenAI Search Integration Demo with Claude App! 🚀

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f1f10e2c-b995-4e03-8b28-61eeb2b2bfe9

OpenAI tried to keep their powerful, LLM-optimized tools locked within their own agent platform, but they couldn't stop the unstoppable open-source movement of MCP!

The Developer's Dilemma

AI developers currently face a challenging choice between two ecosystems:

graph TD
    subgraph "Developer's Dilemma"
        style Developer fill:#ff9e64,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        Developer((Developer))
    end

    subgraph "OpenAI's Ecosystem"
        style OpenAITools fill:#bb9af7,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style Tracing fill:#bb9af7,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style Evaluation fill:#bb9af7,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style VendorLock fill:#f7768e,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px,stroke-dasharray: 5 5

        OpenAITools["Built-in Tools<br/>(Web Search, Code Interpreter)"]
        Tracing["Advanced Tracing<br/>(Visual Debugging)"]
        Evaluation["Evaluation Dashboards<br/>(Performance Metrics)"]
        VendorLock["Vendor Lock-in<br/>⚠️ Closed Source ⚠️"]

        OpenAITools --> Tracing
        Tracing --> Evaluation
        OpenAITools -.-> VendorLock
        Tracing -.-> VendorLock
        Evaluation -.-> VendorLock
    end

    subgraph "MCP Ecosystem"
        style MCPStandard fill:#7dcfff,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style MCPTools fill:#7dcfff,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style OpenStandard fill:#9ece6a,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px
        style LimitedTools fill:#f7768e,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:2px,stroke-dasharray: 5 5

        MCPStandard["Model Context Protocol<br/>(Open Standard)"]
        MCPTools["MCP-compatible Tools"]
        OpenStandard["Open Ecosystem<br/>✅ Interoperability ✅"]
        LimitedTools["Limited Tool Quality<br/>⚠️ Less Mature (e.g., web search, computer use) ⚠️"]

        MCPStandard --> MCPTools
        MCPStandard --> OpenStandard
        MCPTools -.-> LimitedTools
    end

    Developer -->|"Wants powerful tools<br/>& visualizations"| OpenAITools
    Developer -->|"Wants open standards<br/>& interoperability"| MCPStandard

    classDef highlight fill:#ff9e64,stroke:#fff,stroke-width:4px;
    class Developer highlight

openai-tool2mcp bridges this gap by letting you use OpenAI's mature, high-quality tools within the open MCP ecosystem.

🌟 Features

• Easy Setup: Get up and running with a few simple commands
• OpenAI Tools as MCP Servers: Wrap powerful OpenAI built-in tools as MCP-compliant servers
• Seamless Integration: Works with Claude App and other MCP-compatible clients
• MCP SDK Compatible: Uses the official MCP Python SDK
• Tool Support:
  • 🔍 Web Search
  • 💻 Code Interpreter
  • 🌐 Web Browser
  • 📁 File Management
• Open Source: MIT licensed, hackable and extensible

🚀 Installation

# Install from PyPI
pip install openai-tool2mcp

# Or install the latest development version
pip install git+https://github.com/alohays/openai-tool2mcp.git

# Recommended: Install uv for better MCP compatibility
pip install uv

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• OpenAI API key with access to the Assistant API
• (Recommended) uv package manager for MCP compatibility

🛠️ Quick Start

1. Set your OpenAI API key:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

2. Start the MCP server with OpenAI tools:

# Recommended: Use uv for MCP compatibility (recommended by MCP documentation)
uv run openai_tool2mcp/server_entry.py --transport stdio

# Or use the traditional method with the CLI
openai-tool2mcp start --transport stdio

3. Use with Claude for Desktop:

Configure your Claude for Desktop to use the server by editing the claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openai-tools": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/absolute/path/to/your/openai-tool2mcp",
        "run",
        "openai_tool2mcp/server_entry.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

The config file is located at:

• MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %AppData%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

💻 Usage Examples

Basic Server Configuration

# server_script.py
from openai_tool2mcp import MCPServer, ServerConfig, OpenAIBuiltInTools

# Configure with OpenAI web search
config = ServerConfig(
    openai_api_key="your-api-key",
    tools=[OpenAIBuiltInTools.WEB_SEARCH.value]
)

# Create and start server with STDIO transport (for MCP compatibility)
server = MCPServer(config)
server.start(transport="stdio")

Run it with uv as recommended by MCP:

uv run server_script.py

MCP-Compatible Configuration for Claude Desktop

Create a standalone script:

# openai_tools_server.py
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from openai_tool2mcp import MCPServer, ServerConfig, OpenAIBuiltInTools

# Load environment variables
load_dotenv()

# Create a server with multiple tools
config = ServerConfig(
    openai_api_key=os.environ.get("OPENAI_API_KEY"),
    tools=[
        OpenAIBuiltInTools.WEB_SEARCH.value,
        OpenAIBuiltInTools.CODE_INTERPRETER.value
    ]
)

# Create and start the server with stdio transport for MCP compatibility
server = MCPServer(config)
server.start(transport="stdio")

Configure Claude Desktop to use this script with uv:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openai-tools": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/absolute/path/to/your/project/folder",
        "run",
        "openai_tools_server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

📊 How It Works

The library serves as a bridge between the OpenAI Assistant API and the MCP protocol:

sequenceDiagram
    participant Claude as "Claude App"
    participant MCP as "MCP Client"
    participant Server as "openai-tool2mcp Server"
    participant OpenAI as "OpenAI API"

    Claude->>MCP: User query requiring tools
    MCP->>Server: MCP request
    Server->>OpenAI: Convert to OpenAI format
    OpenAI->>Server: Tool response
    Server->>MCP: Convert to MCP format
    MCP->>Claude: Display result

🔄 MCP SDK Integration

openai-tool2mcp is now fully compatible with the MCP SDK. You can use it with the Claude for Desktop app by:

1. Installing the package with pip install openai-tool2mcp
2. Configuring your claude_desktop_config.json to include:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openai-tools": {
      "command": "openai-tool2mcp",
      "args": [
        "start",
        "--transport",
        "stdio",
        "--tools",
        "retrieval",
        "code_interpreter"
      ]
    }
  }
}

The config file is located at:

• MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %AppData%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community! Here's how you can help:

1. Fork the repository
2. Clone your fork to your local machine
3. Create a branch for your feature or bugfix
4. Make your changes and commit them
5. Push to your fork and submit a pull request

Please make sure to follow our coding standards and add tests for any new features.

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/alohays/openai-tool2mcp.git
cd openai-tool2mcp

# Install in development mode
make install

# Run tests
make test

# Run linting
make lint

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgements

• The OpenAI team for their excellent tools and APIs
• The MCP community for developing an open standard for tool usage
• All contributors who have helped improve this project

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⚠️ Project Status

This project is in active development. While the core functionality works, expect frequent updates and improvements. If you encounter any issues, please submit them on our issue tracker.

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openai-tool2mcp is part of the broader MCPortal initiative to bridge OpenAI's tools with the open-source MCP ecosystem.