toolmux

Smart MCP proxy with code execution. Connect N MCP servers, expose one endpoint with 2 tools.

Instead of dumping 50+ tool definitions into your agent's context window, toolmux gives the agent 2 tools — execute and search — and lets it write code against a typed tool surface.

The problem

When you connect multiple MCP servers to an agent, every tool gets injected into the context window. 5 servers with 20 tools each = 100 tool definitions the model has to parse on every turn. This wastes tokens, degrades tool selection accuracy, and hits context limits fast.

Even worse: when an agent needs to chain 5 API calls, each call round-trips through the LLM. The model reads the result, decides the next call, outputs it, reads that result... burning tokens and time on what should be a simple script.

How toolmux solves it

Agent ←→ toolmux (2 tools) ←→ GitHub MCP (28 tools)
                              ←→ Slack MCP (15 tools)
                              ←→ Filesystem MCP (14 tools)
                              ←→ Linear MCP (22 tools)

The agent sees 2 tools instead of 79. The token cost is O(1) — it stays the same regardless of how many upstream tools exist:

Scenario                      Direct      Toolmux    Reduction
1 server × 14 tools             2229        1474       34%
3 servers × 45 tools            8859        1474       83%
5 servers × 100 tools          19125        1474       92%
10 servers × 200 tools         37925        1474       96%

How the agent uses it

The agent writes JavaScript that calls tools.* directly. Multiple calls execute in one shot — no round trips through the LLM between each call:

// Agent writes this, toolmux executes it in a V8 sandbox
const repos = await tools.github__list_repos({ owner: "octocat" });
const issues = await Promise.all(
  repos.slice(0, 3).map(r =>
    tools.github__list_issues({ owner: r.owner, repo: r.name })
  )
);
return { repoCount: repos.length, issues };

The execute tool's description includes auto-generated TypeScript type declarations for every connected tool, so the LLM knows exactly what arguments to pass.

When the agent doesn't know what tools are available, it uses search:

search({ query: "create github issue", include_schema: true })

Quick start

Install from npm

npm install -g toolmux

Or use directly with npx:

npx toolmux --help

Create a config

cat > toolmux.json << 'EOF'
{
  "servers": [
    {
      "name": "filesystem",
      "transport": {
        "type": "stdio",
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/you/projects"]
      }
    }
  ]
}
EOF

From source

git clone https://github.com/tylergibbs1/toolmux
cd toolmux
bun install
bun run src/cli.ts --help

Add to your agent

Claude Code

claude mcp add toolmux -- npx toolmux

If your toolmux.json is in a specific directory:

claude mcp add toolmux -- npx toolmux --config /path/to/toolmux.json

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "toolmux": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["toolmux"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "toolmux": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["toolmux"]
    }
  }
}

Config

toolmux looks for config in this order:

1. --config <path> or positional arg
2. ./toolmux.json
3. ./.toolmux.json
4. ~/.config/toolmux/config.json
5. ~/toolmux.json

Config format

{
  "servers": [
    {
      "name": "github",
      "transport": {
        "type": "stdio",
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
        "env": {
          "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "$GITHUB_TOKEN"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "slack",
      "transport": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "https://mcp.slack.com/sse",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer $SLACK_TOKEN"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "old-server",
      "transport": {
        "type": "sse",
        "url": "https://legacy.example.com/mcp/sse"
      },
      "disabled": true
    }
  ]
}

Transport types

Type	Use case
stdio	Local MCP servers (most common). Spawns a process.
http	Remote MCP servers using Streamable HTTP transport.
sse	Legacy MCP servers using SSE transport.

Environment variables

All string values in config support $VAR and ${VAR} expansion:

{
  "env": { "API_KEY": "$MY_API_KEY" }
}

Tools exposed to the agent

execute

Write and run JavaScript in a sandboxed V8 context. Call any connected tool via await tools.qualified_name(args). Auto-generated TypeScript type declarations are included in the tool description so the LLM knows exact signatures.

const weather = await tools.weather__get_current({ location: "Austin, TX" });
if (weather.temperature > 90) {
  await tools.slack__post_message({ channel: "#team", text: "It's hot in Austin!" });
}
return weather;

The sandbox:

• Runs in a forked Node.js process with vm.createContext (V8 context isolation)
• No access to fetch, require, process, fs, or the network
• Only tools.* calls can reach external systems
• 30 second timeout
• console.log() output is captured and returned

search

Find available tools by intent. Use before execute when you don't know the tool name or need its input schema.

search({ query: "send a message" })                    // concise list
search({ query: "github issues", include_schema: true }) // with full JSON schemas
search({ query: "" })                                   // list all tools

The include_schema flag lets the agent get tool names + full input schemas in one round trip (replaces the old discover → describe two-step).

How tool names work

Each tool gets a qualified name: {server}__{original_name}.

• Server name is lowercased and sanitized (non-alphanumeric → _)
• Original tool name is preserved as-is
• Example: server "GitHub" + tool "create_issue" → github__create_issue

Architecture

┌─────────┐     stdio      ┌──────────┐     stdio/http/sse     ┌───────────┐
│  Agent   │◄──────────────►│ toolmux  │◄──────────────────────►│ MCP Srv 1 │
│ (Claude, │                │          │◄──────────────────────►│ MCP Srv 2 │
│  Cursor) │  2 meta-tools  │  Pool +  │◄──────────────────────►│ MCP Srv 3 │
│          │                │  Index   │    N upstream servers   │    ...    │
└─────────┘                 │  V8 VM   │                        └───────────┘
                            └──────────┘

When the agent uses execute:

1. Agent writes code using tools.* calls
2. toolmux spawns a forked process with a V8 sandbox
3. Code runs — tools.* calls are proxied via IPC to the parent
4. Parent dispatches each call to the correct upstream MCP server
5. Results flow back through IPC → sandbox continues execution
6. Final result + console logs returned to agent

• No daemon — single process, starts and stops with the agent
• No database — tool index lives in memory
• No auth layer — credentials pass through to upstream servers via config
• V8 isolation — sandboxed code can't access filesystem, network, or process

Examples

These require cloning the repo (git clone https://github.com/tylergibbs1/toolmux && cd toolmux && bun install):

# Run the agent test (Claude + toolmux + filesystem MCP)
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-... npx tsx examples/agent-test.ts

# Force code execution mode
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-... npx tsx examples/agent-test.ts --execute

# Token efficiency benchmark
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-... npx tsx examples/token-benchmark.ts

Inspired by

• Cloudflare Code Mode — the insight that LLMs are better at writing code than making tool calls
• Executor — local-first execution environment for AI agents
• Rhys Sullivan's Execution Layer post — the case for a typed execution layer

License

MIT