MCP and AI basics
Streamable HTTP
The transport used by remote MCP servers: requests go over HTTPS to a vendor-hosted endpoint, often with OAuth sign-in. Nothing to install locally.
Streamable HTTP is the transport used by remote MCP servers. The server is an HTTPS endpoint; the client sends requests to it and the server can stream responses back. For the person connecting, it means adding a URL in the assistant's settings and, in most cases, completing an OAuth sign-in with the vendor.
Most official servers from e-commerce vendors use this form: payment providers, email platforms, CRMs and site builders host their own endpoints. Because nothing runs on your machine, these servers work in web assistants and on mobile, and access can be revoked from the vendor's account settings.
It replaces the earlier HTTP with Server-Sent Events transport, which you may still see in older documentation and in some clients' configuration options. If a client refuses a server URL, check whether it expects the older form, and confirm the current endpoint in the vendor documentation rather than copying one from a blog post.