mcp-use OpenAPI to MCP Skill

openapi-to-mcp is an Agent Skill in mcp-use/mcp-use for converting OpenAPI or Swagger specs into MCP servers. It tells a coding agent how to scope the API, dereference the spec, scaffold with create-mcp-use-app, map operations to tools, generate Zod schemas, wire authentication, test the server, and deploy it as a streamable HTTP MCP endpoint.

This is a strong fit for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and other coding agents when a user says things like "turn this OpenAPI spec into an MCP server," "make this API usable from Claude," or "wrap this Swagger doc as MCP tools."

Knowledge Freshness

The skill is tied to active mcp-use TypeScript SDK patterns and current MCP transport/deployment expectations. OpenAPI tooling, mcp-use scaffold templates, MCP Apps support, streamable HTTP behavior, inspector testing, and deployment paths can change.

Use the skill for its end-to-end workflow, then verify exact commands, template names, package versions, transport guidance, auth conventions, and deployment requirements against the current mcp-use repository and docs.

Retrieval Sources

This listing is grounded in:

• The upstream skills/openapi-to-mcp/SKILL.md file.
• The OpenAPI mapping, auth, and testing reference files in the same skill folder.
• The public skills.sh listing for openapi-to-mcp.
• Current GitHub repository metadata for mcp-use/mcp-use.

Core Workflow

Install the skill from the mcp-use repository:

npx skills add https://github.com/mcp-use/mcp-use --skill openapi-to-mcp

Update installed skills:

npx skills update

Then invoke it before starting an OpenAPI wrapper:

Use the mcp-use OpenAPI to MCP Skill to turn this OpenAPI spec into an MCP server.

The skill starts by locking the spec source, server base URL, auth scheme, operation filter, and widget requirements before code generation. That prevents the common failure mode where an agent exposes hundreds of low-value or unsafe tools from a large API.

Capability Scope

The skill covers a full OpenAPI-to-MCP build path:

Production Rules

Use this skill with source-of-truth discipline:

• Treat the OpenAPI document as the contract for tool names, descriptions, parameter shapes, request bodies, response shapes, and auth requirements.
• Do not invent operations or broaden the exposed API beyond the selected filter.
• Prefer mechanical fidelity to the spec over hand-written creative summaries.
• Keep auth secrets in environment variables and document only variable names in .env.example.
• Review generated write operations, admin operations, bulk mutations, and payment/account-changing tools before giving an agent access to credentials.
• Run local mcp-use client or inspector tests before deployment.
• Deploy only after checking transport, auth, CORS, rate limits, logging, observability, and public reachability.

Use Cases

• Convert an internal OpenAPI spec into a private MCP server for Claude Code.
• Wrap a third-party REST API as a small set of filtered MCP tools.
• Generate typed tool schemas from a Swagger document instead of hand-writing brittle argument schemas.
• Test an API wrapper with the mcp-use inspector before connecting it to production credentials.
• Build a streamable HTTP MCP endpoint that can later support Claude, ChatGPT, or other remote MCP clients.

Source Review

• The skill describes an end-to-end recipe: scope, ingest spec, map operations, scaffold, generate tools, wire auth, test, and deploy.
• The entrypoint explicitly covers OpenAPI 3.x and Swagger 2.0 specs from a file, URL, or pasted source.
• The skill says each operation becomes one MCP tool and that the OpenAPI document is the source of truth.
• It instructs agents to filter large specs by tag or operation list to avoid polluting the model's tool list.
• The mapping reference covers operation naming, parameter and request-body handling, response-shape gotchas, and schema conversion.
• The auth and testing references cover environment-variable auth wiring and live validation with mcp-use tooling.

Duplicate Review

Checked current content/skills/, content/mcp/, content/agents/, content/tools/, open pull requests, and repository-wide content for openapi-to-mcp, OpenAPI to MCP Skill, mcp-use OpenAPI, Swagger to MCP, generate MCP server from OpenAPI, and wrap REST API as MCP. Existing content includes general MCP authoring/security skills and some OpenAPI-related MCP servers, but no dedicated mcp-use OpenAPI-to-MCP Agent Skill entry, exact source URL duplicate, target file, or open duplicate PR was found.

Disclosure

Editorial listing. No paid placement or affiliate link is used. The skill lives in the mcp-use/mcp-use repository and should be reviewed against the upstream license files before redistributing bundled artifacts.