# Lm (MCP server)

> Lm is an MCP server that connects Claude to any OpenAI-compatible LLM endpoint and offload routine work to a local model. It has 120 GitHub stars, is released under the Apache-2.0 license and runs locally with npx -y @houtini/lm. It works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code and needs an API key.

Houtini LM is an MCP server that lets Claude (or any MCP client) hand bounded work to another model - a local LLM on your GPU, OpenAI's latest GPT models, a LiteLLM router, OpenRouter or a cheap cloud API - while you carry on working in the AI platform you already like. It cuts your token bill, and it gives you a second model to review your code whenever you want one.

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/houtini-ai/houtini-lm |
| GitHub stars | 120 |
| License | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript |
| Transport | stdio |
| Packages | npm: @houtini/lm |
| Remote URL | none |
| Needs API key | yes |
| Official | no |
| Works with | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code |
| Category | Developer tools |
| Latest release | v2.8.0 (Mar 18, 2026) |
| Last commit | Oct 6, 2026 |
| MCP registry name | io.github.houtini-ai/lm |

## Install

### Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lm": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@houtini/lm"
      ],
      "env": {
        "HOUTINI_LM_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

### Claude Code

```sh
claude mcp add --env HOUTINI_LM_API_KEY=your-value --transport stdio lm -- npx -y @houtini/lm
```

### Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lm": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@houtini/lm"
      ],
      "env": {
        "HOUTINI_LM_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

### VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "houtini_lm_api_key",
      "description": "HOUTINI_LM_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "lm": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@houtini/lm"
      ],
      "env": {
        "HOUTINI_LM_API_KEY": "${input:houtini_lm_api_key}"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Config formats checked against the official docs on 2026-10-07.

## Environment variables

- `HOUTINI_LM_ENDPOINT_URL`: Base URL of the OpenAI-compatible API endpoint (e.g. http://localhost:1234, https://openrouter.ai/api). Legacy alias: LMSTUDIOURL.
- `HOUTINI_LM_API_KEY` (secret): Bearer token for API authentication (no auth if blank). Legacy aliases: LMSTUDIOPASSWORD, LMPASSWORD, OPENROUTERAPI_KEY.
- `HOUTINI_LM_MODEL`: Model identifier to use for requests (auto-detected if not set). Legacy alias: LMSTUDIOMODEL.
- `HOUTINI_LM_PROVIDER`: Optional provider override: 'openrouter' forces OpenRouter-specific handling (attribution headers, reasoning.exclude, no inference serialisation)…

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