Local vs hosted MCP

A local MCP server runs on your computer and can read a file you point it at. A hosted MCP server cannot see your disk. For X drafts, a local agent can attach photos, and a hosted connection adds them in the app. Neither path should let the agent publish.

What is a local MCP server?

A local MCP server runs on your computer and can read a file you point it at, because it shares that machine's disk. For Evenpost drafts, a local agent can attach photos from a path on that computer. Local is about disk access, not a synonym for every stdio server in general.

CircleCI's "What is a remote MCP server?", dated 24 July 2026 and checked 10 November 2026, describes a common packaging: a local server "runs on your own machine, launched by the client as a child process," talking over standard input and output. That is a useful picture of many desktop setups. It is not the definition this page uses. The capability that matters for drafts is whether the server can see a file on your disk.

What is a hosted MCP server?

A hosted MCP server runs on someone else's machine and cannot see the files on your computer. For Evenpost, a hosted connection drafts over the network and cannot attach a local photo; you add the image in the Evenpost app. Hosted is about missing disk access, not a synonym for every HTTP server.

Connect a hosted agent, updated 7 November 2026 and fetched 10 November 2026, gives the hosted address as https://beta.evenpost.app/mcp. It says the hosted agent "can draft" and "cannot approve or post." You still approve in the app.

How does that split change photo uploads for X drafts?

For X drafts in Evenpost, a local agent can attach photos from a file on the machine. A hosted connection cannot read that file, so you add the photo in the Evenpost app. Do not treat photo attach as available on every MCP path. This page leaves video off.

What your agent can do, updated 7 November 2026 and fetched 10 November 2026, describes add_photo as taking a "Path to the image file on this machine." That path only works when the server can read the disk in front of it. After a photo is on the draft, compression is a separate question: see Does X compress photos?.

A planned check still needs to capture the hosted failure message. The hosted failure message is not guessed here.

How do stdio and HTTP fit this picture?

For Evenpost, the local CLI speaks stdio and can attach files from disk. The hosted server speaks HTTP at the published MCP address, and attaching a photo through that hosted connection fails. The capability that matters is disk access, not the transport name. Do not treat stdio as always local or HTTP as always hosted in general.

CircleCI's page, cited above, maps local to stdio and remote to HTTP as a typical packaging choice. Other stacks can put an HTTP server on your laptop, or reach a remote service through a local bridge. Can X's official server for AI agents post tweets? describes X's official MCP as a remote server reached through a local bridge. That arrangement does not change Evenpost's disk-access split, and it does not give either Evenpost path a publish tool.

API versus MCP is a different question. Nearby automation rules live on Does X allow AI agents to post?.

Should either path let the agent publish on its own?

No. Neither a local path nor a hosted path should let the agent publish. Evenpost tools draft only. You approve every post in the Evenpost app, then Evenpost posts. That rule does not change because the server can or cannot see your disk.

Evenpost is an app for X (Twitter) for solo founders. You and your agent draft, you approve each post in the Evenpost app, and it posts with natural spacing, or right away if you choose Post now. Updates: @evenpost.

Live /docs/tools, fetched 10 November 2026, states: "There is no post tool and no approve tool." Approving, queueing, and posting stay in the app.

If you needed to remove a server and revoke its key, that is the disconnect page. If you needed API versus MCP, that is the other sibling.

FAQ

Can a hosted MCP server read a file on my laptop?

No. A hosted server cannot see the files on your computer. For Evenpost, add photos in the app instead of asking the hosted connection to read a local path.

Can I attach a photo through a hosted connection?

Not from a file on your computer. Hosted add_photo fails because that connection cannot read your disk. Add the photo in the Evenpost app.

Is stdio the same thing as local?

Not in general. For Evenpost, the local CLI speaks stdio and can read a file you point it at. Other stacks may use stdio differently. Disk access is the split that matters here.

Is HTTP the same thing as hosted?

Not in general. For Evenpost, the hosted server speaks HTTP at the published MCP address and cannot see your disk. An HTTP server on your own machine would still be local if it could read that disk.

Does official X MCP change this split?

No. Official X MCP is a separate connection, documented on the live official-MCP answer. It does not change Evenpost's local versus hosted photo split, and it does not give the agent an Evenpost publish tool.