Wowza Streaming MCP Server (Beta)

Seamlessly control Wowza Streaming Engine from natural-language prompts or straightforward API calls.

Wowza Streaming MCP Server converts high-level requests into Wowza REST commands, giving AI agents, scripts, and services instant access to the engine’s full power without boilerplate.

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Prerequisites

• Docker installed and running to run Docker Compose
• A Wowza Streaming Engine Trial License Key

Documentation

For more information about the Wowza Streaming Engine REST API:

• Wowza Streaming Engine REST API Documentation

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Setup and Installation

Follow these steps to get the Wowza MCP server running locally.

Step 1: Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory with credentials as in the .env.example file present in the repo.

Step 2: Choose Your MCP Mode

The MCP server supports two connection modes:

Option 1: STDIO Mode

In this mode, the Google ADK Client spawns the MCP server as a subprocess and communicates via stdin/stdout.

Requirements:

• WOWZA_FLAGS must be set in .env file (e.g., WSE_FLAGS=application)
• The agent passes flags to the MCP subprocess via environment variables
• No authentication required (trusted subprocess)
• OPENAI_API_KEY must be set in .env file (required for Google ADK Client UI testing)

Start the services:

docker compose --profile stdio up --build -d

Stop the services:

docker compose --profile stdio down

Access the services:

• Google ADK Client UI: http://localhost:3005/
• Wowza Streaming Engine Manager: http://localhost:8088/

Option 2: HTTP Mode

In this mode, the MCP server runs as a separate HTTP service that the agent connects to. This allows external clients (like VS Code, Claude Desktop, or other MCP clients) to connect to the server.

Requirements:

• MCP_KEY MUST be set (not empty) in .env file for HTTP mode
• X-Wowza-Flags header MUST be provided in every HTTP request
• X-Wowza-MCP-Key header MUST be provided and match MCP_KEY value
• All requirements are enforced - server will reject requests that don't comply
• OPENAI_API_KEY must be set in .env file (required for Google ADK Client UI testing)

Start the services:

docker compose --profile http up --build -d

Stop the services:

docker compose --profile http down

Access the services:

• Google ADK Client UI: http://localhost:3005/
• Wowza Streaming Engine Manager: http://localhost:8088/
• MCP Server (External): http://localhost:8002/mcp

Connecting External Clients:

To connect external MCP clients (like VS Code, Claude Desktop, or Windsurf) to the HTTP MCP server, add the following configuration:

Example configuration for **VS Code ** (mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "wowza-streaming-engine": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8002/mcp",
      "type": "http",
      "headers": {
        "X-Wowza-Flags": "application",
        "X-Wowza-MCP-Key": "your-secret-key-here"
      }
    }
  },
  "inputs": []
}

Example configuration for Windsurf (mcp_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wowza-streaming-engine": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8002/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-Wowza-Flags": "application",
        "X-Wowza-MCP-Key": "your-secret-key-here"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "disabledTools": []
    }
  }
}

Example configuration for Cursor (mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wowza-streaming-engine": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8002/mcp",
      "type": "http",
      "headers": {
        "X-Wowza-Flags": "application",
        "X-Wowza-MCP-Key": "your-secret-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Important Notes:

• X-Wowza-MCP-Key: REQUIRED - must match the MCP_KEY value in your .env file.
• X-Wowza-Flags: REQUIRED - Controls which tools are available.
  • Examples: read, write, all, application, publisher,monitoring
  • See Tool Filtering with X-Wowza-Flags for details
• Both headers are strictly validated on every request. Missing or invalid headers will result in errors.

Tool Filtering with X-Wowza-Flags

The Wowza Streaming MCP server provides granular control over which tools are exposed through the X-Wowza-Flags header (HTTP mode) or WSE_FLAGS environment variable (STDIO mode).

Flag System Logic

The flag system works with OR logic for category flags and filtering logic for access modifiers:

Category Flags (combined with OR logic):

• If you specify application,publisher, you get ALL tools from BOTH categories
• Use specific categories to narrow down available tools

Access Modifier Flags (filter existing selections):

• read: Filters out all write/destructive operations from your selected categories
• write: Only shows write operations (create, update, delete) from your selected categories

Main Category Flags

Flag	Description
application	Application management - create, update, configure applications and instances
publisher	Publisher/live stream management - manage incoming streams and publishers
transcoder	Transcoder operations - templates, encoding, and overlay settings
mediacache	Media cache management - sources, stores, and cached assets
mediacaster	MediaCaster operations - pull streams from external sources (IP cameras, streaming servers)
monitoring	Server monitoring and statistics - performance metrics, analytics, and tuning configuration
streaming_engine	Streaming engine operations - live sources and stream targets management
vhost	Virtual host management - vHost configuration and stats
server-action	Server actions - restart, stop server operations
server-config	Server configuration - general server settings
server-info	Server information - REST API version and build details
server-license	Server license management
server-listener	Server listener configuration
server-logs	Server log management - access and read log files
server-status	Server status information
user	User management operations
log4j	Logging configuration - log levels and settings
all	All available tools

Access Modifier Flags

Flag	Description
read	Filters to only read operations - removes all write/destructive capabilities
write	Filters to only write operations (create, update, delete) from selected categories

Read Flag Behavior

The read flag acts as a filter on your selected categories:

• "application,read" = All application tools BUT only read operations
• "publisher,monitoring,read" = All publisher AND monitoring tools BUT only read operations
• "read" = All tools BUT only read operations

Flag Combination Examples

Category OR Logic:

"X-Wowza-Flags": "application"                    // All application tools
"X-Wowza-Flags": "application,publisher"          // All application AND publisher tools
"X-Wowza-Flags": "monitoring,transcoder"          // All monitoring AND transcoder tools

Read-Only Filter:

"X-Wowza-Flags": "application,read"               // All application tools, read-only
"X-Wowza-Flags": "publisher,monitoring,read"      // Publisher AND monitoring, read-only
"X-Wowza-Flags": "read"                           // All tools, read-only

Write-Only Filter (create, update, delete):

"X-Wowza-Flags": "application,write"              // Only write operations for application
"X-Wowza-Flags": "publisher,write"                // Only write operations for publisher

Multiple Categories:

"X-Wowza-Flags": "application,publisher,transcoder"      // All tools from these categories
"X-Wowza-Flags": "application,publisher,transcoder,read" // Same tools, but read-only