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Hosted MCP vs local MCP — which should you use?

Local MCP runs small programs on your laptop. Private and fast—good for solo experiments.

Zephex is a hosted MCP server: the same ten tools for Cursor, Claude Code, VS Code, and your teammates—one API key, package audits included, no reinstalling MCP servers on every machine.

Use local when you must keep everything on-device. Use hosted when the team needs the same setup and real package intelligence.

	Local MCP (stdio)	Zephex
Setup per editor	Install + config per client	One snippet; same tools everywhere
Setup per teammate	Repeat for each developer	Share docs + API key policy
Package CVE scanning	Bring your own scripts	check_package + audit_package built in
Code search quality	Depends on which server you picked	find_code + read_code (AST-aware)
Usage visibility	None central	Dashboard per API key
Offline use	Works offline (local only)	Requires network to zephex.dev
Process management	You babysit Node versions	No local scanner processes
Security boundary	Data stays on disk	Ephemeral processing; see /data-use

How it works

Local MCP runs a process on your machine (often Node via stdio). Zephex is still usually reached through npx zephex in the editor, but the heavy tools run on the hosted endpoint—same version for everyone, with usage visible in the dashboard.

Developer
    │
    ▼
Cursor / Claude Code / VS Code  (MCP client)
    │
    ▼
npx zephex  (stdio bridge)  OR  HTTPS + Bearer
    │
    ▼
https://zephex.dev/mcp  (hosted MCP server)
    │
    ▼
10 tools: get_project_context, find_code, read_code,
          check_package, audit_package, explain_architecture, …

Step-by-step: try Zephex in 5 minutes

Create an API key at zephex.dev.
Replace local MCP entries with the Zephex snippet from your editor guide.
Restart the editor completely.
Verify ten zephex tools connect.
Run get_project_context, then check_package on a dependency you plan to add.

Quickstart · Install

Migration path (local → Zephex)

Create an API key at install.
Replace local server entries with the Zephex block from your editor guide.
Restart the editor fully; verify ten tools connect.
Remove unused local MCP npm installs to avoid duplicate tool names.

Workflow: dependency upgrade with hosted tools

Local grep cannot tell you if a major bump removed an API your app calls. With Zephex, chain audit_package → scope_task → read_code in one session. See audit dependency upgrades.

Common questions

Is hosted MCP less private than local MCP?

Local MCP keeps tool execution on your machine. Zephex processes tool inputs ephemerally to answer the request and does not train models on your code. Read Security and Data Use before sending highly sensitive trees.

Can I still use stdio with Zephex?

Yes. Cursor and Claude Code commonly use npx -y zephex in mcp.json — stdio transport to the CLI, which authenticates to the hosted backend. You get local editor compatibility without maintaining separate MCP server repos.

When should our team stay on local MCP?

Stay local if policy requires all tooling on-device, you only need a filesystem reader, or you are prototyping a custom MCP internally. Move to hosted when config drift and missing package audits slow the team down.

Get started free Quickstart