Remote MCP Server

[!NOTE] The Remote MCP Server is designed for web-based agents and cloud-hosted platforms. For local desktop agents like Cursor or Claude Code, use the stdio-based MCP Server instead.

Overview

The Remote MCP Server (rigour-mcp) exposes Rigour's quality gates via HTTP using the Model Context Protocol's SSE (Server-Sent Events) transport. This enables web-based agent environments that cannot use stdio-based communication to benefit from Rigour's quality gates.

Official Production Server: https://mcp.rigour.run/

[!TIP] Rigour provides a free, public MCP server at https://mcp.rigour.run/ — no authentication required, no setup needed, always available. Perfect for testing and development.

When to Use

Scenario	Use Remote MCP	Use Stdio MCP
Web-based AI agents	✅
Cloud-hosted agent platforms	✅
Multi-tenant agent systems	✅
Browser-based tools	✅
Local desktop agents (Cursor, Claude)		✅
Single-user development		✅
Direct CLI integration		✅

Quick Start

Using the Public Server

The fastest way to get started is using Rigour's public server:

# Health check
curl https://mcp.rigour.run/api/health

# Connect via SSE
# GET https://mcp.rigour.run/api/mcp/sse?sessionId=123

Self-Hosting

For production deployments with authentication or custom configurations:

# Clone and deploy
git clone https://github.com/rigour-labs/rigour-mcp
cd rigour-mcp

# Deploy to Vercel (recommended)
vercel

Authentication

Authentication is optional and controlled via the RIGOUR_MCP_TOKEN environment variable.

Open Mode (No Authentication)

# No RIGOUR_MCP_TOKEN set - server accepts all requests
npm run dev

[!WARNING] Only use open mode for private deployments or internal tools. For public-facing servers, always enable authentication.

Bearer Token Authentication

# Generate a secure token
openssl rand -hex 32

# Set environment variable
export RIGOUR_MCP_TOKEN="your-generated-token-here"

# Start server
npm run dev

Clients must include the token in requests:

curl -X POST https://your-server.vercel.app/api/mcp/messages?sessionId=123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your-generated-token-here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ ... }'

Client Integration

Web-Based Agents (TypeScript)

import { SSEClientTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/sse.js";
import { Client } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/index.js";

const transport = new SSEClientTransport(
  new URL("https://mcp.rigour.run/api/mcp/sse?sessionId=unique-id")
);

const client = new Client({
  name: "my-web-agent",
  version: "1.0.0"
}, {
  capabilities: {}
});

await client.connect(transport);

// Call Rigour tools
const result = await client.callTool({
  name: "rigour_status",
  arguments: {
    cwd: "/path/to/project"
  }
});

Available Tools

The remote server exposes the same tools as the stdio version:

Tool	Description
rigour_check	Run full quality gate audit
rigour_explain	Get human-readable failure explanations
rigour_status	Quick PASS/FAIL check (JSON)
rigour_get_fix_packet	Get prioritized fix instructions
rigour_list_gates	List active quality gates
rigour_get_config	Get project configuration
rigour_record_failure	Record a failure for retry loop detection
rigour_clear_failure	Clear failure history after resolution

See MCP Server for detailed tool documentation.

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
PORT	No	3000	Server port
RIGOUR_MCP_TOKEN	No	—	Bearer token for authentication

Architecture

Component	Technology
Framework	Next.js (App Router)
Transport	Standard SSE + HTTP POST
Protocol	MCP v2024-11-05+
Deployment	Vercel (Native)

Troubleshooting

"Unauthorized" Error

Ensure your Authorization header matches the RIGOUR_MCP_TOKEN set on the server:

curl -X POST https://your-server.vercel.app/api/mcp/messages?sessionId=123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"

Timeout Errors

Serverless platforms have execution limits (e.g., Vercel: 60s). For long-running checks:

1. Optimize your quality gates configuration
2. Deploy to a platform with longer timeouts (Cloud Run, Fly.io)
3. Split large checks into smaller batches

"rigour.yml not found"

The remote server requires a rigour.yml file in the project directory:

1. Initialize the project: rigour init
2. Ensure the cwd path is absolute and correct
3. Verify the server has filesystem access to the project

Security Best Practices

1. Always use HTTPS in production
2. Set RIGOUR_MCP_TOKEN for public deployments
3. Rotate tokens periodically (monthly recommended)
4. Use environment variables — never commit tokens to git
5. Monitor access logs for suspicious activity
6. Rate limit using platform features (Vercel/Cloudflare)

Next Steps

• Configure Quality Gates
• Understand Fix Packets
• Explore CLI Commands