# What is a remote MCP server?

DevFeed: [What is a remote MCP server?](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/what-is-a-remote-mcp-server-13356.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://circleci.com/blog/what-is-a-remote-mcp-server/>)

Author: Jacob Schmitt

Published: 2026-07-24T16:00:00Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [The CircleCI Blog Feed | CircleCI](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/the-circleci-blog-feed-circleci.md>)

Topics: [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/model-context-protocol-mcp.md>), [MCP Server](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/mcp-server.md>), [AI Agent](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai-agent.md>), [HTTP](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/http.md>), [Command-line interface](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cli.md>)

Tags: [ai-agent](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai-agent.md>), [circleci-mcp-server](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/circleci-mcp-server.md>), [hosted-mcp-server](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/hosted-mcp-server.md>), [how-to](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/how-to.md>), [http](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/http.md>), [local-vs-remote-mcp](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/local-vs-remote-mcp.md>), [mcp](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mcp.md>), [mcp-oauth](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mcp-oauth.md>), [mcp-server](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mcp-server.md>), [model-context-protocol](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/model-context-protocol.md>), [remote-mcp-server](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/remote-mcp-server.md>), [remote-vs-local-mcp-server](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/remote-vs-local-mcp-server.md>), [what-is-a-remote-mcp-server](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/what-is-a-remote-mcp-server.md>)

## AI overview

This explainer defines remote or hosted MCP servers, which let AI agents access external tools over HTTP from cloud-based or background environments. It compares remote and local MCP servers and describes connecting an AI agent to CircleCI through a hosted MCP server.

## Source excerpt

A remote MCP server is a hosted MCP server your AI agent reaches over HTTP instead of running locally. Here's how remote and local MCP servers differ, and how to connect an AI agent to CircleCI using the new remote MCP.