What is Skybridge?
Skybridge is a framework for MCP servers that return interactive views, not just text: product carousels, maps, dashboards and forms that render inside Claude, ChatGPT, VS Code and other clients that support MCP Apps. You register tools on the server and write the views as React components; types flow from the tool definition to the view, in the style of tRPC.
The dev server includes a local emulator, hot module reload and a tunnel so a local app can be opened from Claude or ChatGPT. The framework smooths over differences between clients, and the 2.1 release adds ChatGPT-specific entry points such as the sidebar and file viewers, native form input and an experimental events API. There are example apps for flight booking, e-commerce, analytics and OAuth with Auth0, Clerk, WorkOS, Stytch and Descope, plus an agent skill so a coding agent can scaffold and migrate apps.
It is MIT-licensed and maintained by Alpic, which sells hosting for MCP servers. Apps can also be self-hosted on any Node.js platform.
Is Skybridge worth it?
Skybridge fills the gap the official MCP Apps SDKs leave: they define the protocol, while Skybridge gives you React hooks, end-to-end types and a dev loop that does not require redeploying to see a change in ChatGPT. That matters because the hard part of an MCP App is keeping three parties in step, the user clicking in the view, the model deciding what to call, and the server holding state.
Adoption is real. The repository has about 2,184 stars and 41 contributors, and the skybridge package was downloaded 53,881 times on npm in the last week. Releases are frequent, with v2.0.3, v2.0.4 and v2.1.0 all in October 2026, and the 2.1 notes add evals with LLM-graded judgements and stubbed tool calls, which few MCP frameworks offer.
There are trade-offs. Several 2.1 features, including entry points, form input and settings, are ChatGPT-only, so write-once-run-everywhere has limits that depend on which client moves first. The CLI and the server runtime send anonymous telemetry by default, a counter per tools/call and command details from the CLI; the docs say it never includes tool names, arguments or prompts and explain how to switch it off. The package also pulls in Express, the MCP SDK packages and PostHog, so it is not a light dependency.
The commercial link is open. Deploying to Alpic is free up to 10,000 requests a month and $50 a month for 200,000 on Pro, with longer analytics retention and help submitting to the ChatGPT app directory. Nothing in the framework requires it, and self-hosting on Node is documented.
Where it earns its place
A travel startup's two-person web team
Put a flight-search carousel inside ChatGPT conversations
Start from the flight-booking example with npm create skybridge@latest, test in the local emulator, then deploy; Alpic Free covers 10,000 requests a month while the app is in review.
A B2B SaaS product manager
Ship one analytics dashboard that works in both Claude and ChatGPT
Build the view once in React and let Skybridge handle client differences; add login with the Auth0 or WorkOS example. Self-host on existing Node infrastructure, or Pro at $50 a month for 200,000 requests.
A developer using Claude Code or Cursor
Turn an existing MCP server into an app with UI
npx skills add alpic-ai/skybridge -s skybridge, then ask the agent to migrate the server to Skybridge and add a view; review the diff like any other change.
Before you commit
- Setup
- npm create skybridge@latest my-app, then the dev server with its emulator; React 18+, Vite 7.3.1+ and Zod 4 are peer dependencies.
- Integrations
- Claude, ChatGPT, VS Code and other MCP Apps clients; Auth0, Clerk, WorkOS AuthKit, Stytch, Descope and Authplane examples; deploys to Alpic or any Node.js host.
- Data and privacy
- MIT licence. Anonymous telemetry from the CLI and a per-call counter from the server runtime, documented and switchable off; no tool arguments, results or prompts collected, per the docs.
- Cost at scale
- Self-hosted, only your Node hosting. On Alpic, Pro is $50 a month for 200,000 requests with 30 days of analytics; higher volumes, unlimited analytics retention and bring-your-own-cloud are Enterprise.
- Limits
- ChatGPT-only features in 2.1; 36 open issues; MCP Apps support differs between clients, so test each target.
What’s good
- Typed data flow from MCP tool to React view
- Local emulator, hot reload and a tunnel to Claude and ChatGPT
- Built-in evals with LLM judgements and tool stubs
- Large set of working examples, including five OAuth providers
What’s not
- Several new features work only in ChatGPT
- Anonymous telemetry is on by default
- Heavy dependency tree for a framework
- Maker's hosting is the default deploy path in the docs
Best for
TypeScript teams building interactive apps for ChatGPT and Claude who want types and a fast local loop instead of the raw SDKs.
Skybridge alternatives
Skybridge: common questions
- Is Skybridge worth it?
- The framework to start an MCP App with today, as long as you are comfortable that its maker also sells the hosting it nudges you towards. We rate it 4.2 out of 5.
- How much does Skybridge cost?
- Framework free under the MIT licence. Optional Alpic hosting: Free with 10,000 requests a month, Pro $50/month with 200,000 requests, Enterprise custom.
- What are the downsides of Skybridge?
- Several new features work only in ChatGPT; anonymous telemetry is on by default; heavy dependency tree for a framework; maker's hosting is the default deploy path in the docs.
- Who is Skybridge best for?
- TypeScript teams building interactive apps for ChatGPT and Claude who want types and a fast local loop instead of the raw SDKs.
- How much does Skybridge cost for a team or in production?
- Self-hosted, only your Node hosting. On Alpic, Pro is $50 a month for 200,000 requests with 30 days of analytics; higher volumes, unlimited analytics retention and bring-your-own-cloud are Enterprise.
- Is Skybridge safe for company data?
- MIT licence. Anonymous telemetry from the CLI and a per-call counter from the server runtime, documented and switchable off; no tool arguments, results or prompts collected, per the docs.
- What are the best Skybridge alternatives?
- The closest alternatives we have reviewed are MCP Python SDK.
Answers checked Nov 3, 2026.
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