How to integrate Bart MCP with Mastra AI

This guide walks you through connecting Bart to Mastra AI using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Bart agent that can find next departures from embarcadero station, get real-time trip updates for richmond line, check current bart service advisories and alerts through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your Mastra AI agent real control over a Bart account through Composio's Bart MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Bart logoBart
Api Key

Bart is the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, providing fast public transportation across the San Francisco Bay Area. It helps commuters and travelers get real-time schedule info, plan routes, and stay updated on service changes.

18 Tools

Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Bart to Mastra AI using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Bart agent that can find next departures from embarcadero station, get real-time trip updates for richmond line, check current bart service advisories and alerts through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Mastra AI agent real control over a Bart account through Composio's Bart MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Also integrate Bart with

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Set up your environment so Mastra, OpenAI, and Composio work together
  • Create a Tool Router session in Composio that exposes Bart tools
  • Connect Mastra's MCP client to the Composio generated MCP URL
  • Fetch Bart tool definitions and attach them as a toolset
  • Build a Mastra agent that can reason, call tools, and return structured results
  • Run an interactive CLI where you can chat with your Bart agent

What is Mastra AI?

Mastra AI is a TypeScript framework for building AI agents with tool support. It provides a clean API for creating agents that can use external services through MCP.

Key features include:

  • MCP Client: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol servers
  • Toolsets: Organize tools into logical groups
  • Step Callbacks: Monitor and debug agent execution
  • OpenAI Integration: Works with OpenAI models via @ai-sdk/openai

What is the Bart MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Bart MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to BART's public transit data. It provides structured and secure access to real-time schedules, route information, station details, and service advisories, so your agent can plan trips, fetch live updates, check advisories, and explore routes for you.

  • Trip planning with live schedules: Instantly retrieve train arrival or departure times and help users plan journeys between any BART stations based on the latest schedule data.
  • Live service advisories and alerts: Keep travelers informed by fetching up-to-date system-wide or station-specific service advisories, ensuring users know about delays or disruptions before they travel.
  • Route and station discovery: Access detailed information about BART routes and stations, including amenities and configuration, so your agent can answer travel questions or recommend stations.
  • Real-time trip and schedule updates: Get the latest trip updates and schedule changes in real time, allowing users to adapt plans quickly if there are changes or issues along their route.
  • Access to static and GTFS feeds: Download the latest BART GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification) data for offline schedule planning, analysis, or integration with third-party transit tools.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Node.js 18 or higher
  • A Composio account with an active API key
  • An OpenAI API key
  • Basic familiarity with TypeScript
2

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key.
  • You need credits or a connected billing setup to use the models.
  • Store the key somewhere safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Go to Settings and copy your API key.
  • This key lets your Mastra agent talk to Composio and reach Bart through MCP.
3

Install dependencies

bash
npm install @composio/core @mastra/core @mastra/mcp @ai-sdk/openai dotenv

Install the required packages.

What's happening:

  • @composio/core is the Composio SDK for creating MCP sessions
  • @mastra/core provides the Agent class
  • @mastra/mcp is Mastra's MCP client
  • @ai-sdk/openai is the model wrapper for OpenAI
  • dotenv loads environment variables from .env
4

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_USER_ID=your_user_id_here
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates your requests to Composio
  • COMPOSIO_USER_ID tells Composio which user this session belongs to
  • OPENAI_API_KEY lets the Mastra agent call OpenAI models
5

Import libraries and validate environment

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Agent } from "@mastra/core/agent";
import { MCPClient } from "@mastra/mcp";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";

import type { AiMessageType } from "@mastra/core/agent";

const openaiAPIKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!openaiAPIKey) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey as string,
});
What's happening:
  • dotenv/config auto loads your .env so process.env.* is available
  • openai gives you a Mastra compatible model wrapper
  • Agent is the Mastra agent that will call tools and produce answers
  • MCPClient connects Mastra to your Composio MCP server
  • Composio is used to create a Tool Router session
6

Create a Tool Router session for Bart

typescript
async function main() {
  const session = await composio.create(
    composioUserID as string,
    {
      toolkits: ["bart"],
    },
  );

  const composioMCPUrl = session.mcp.url;
  console.log("Bart MCP URL:", composioMCPUrl);
What's happening:
  • create spins up a short-lived MCP HTTP endpoint for this user
  • The toolkits array contains "bart" for Bart access
  • session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that Mastra's MCPClient will connect to
7

Configure Mastra MCP client and fetch tools

typescript
const mcpClient = new MCPClient({
    id: composioUserID as string,
    servers: {
      nasdaq: {
        url: new URL(composioMCPUrl),
        requestInit: {
          headers: session.mcp.headers,
        },
      },
    },
    timeout: 30_000,
  });

console.log("Fetching MCP tools from Composio...");
const composioTools = await mcpClient.getTools();
console.log("Number of tools:", Object.keys(composioTools).length);
What's happening:
  • MCPClient takes an id for this client and a list of MCP servers
  • The headers property includes the x-api-key for authentication
  • getTools fetches the tool definitions exposed by the Bart toolkit
8

Create the Mastra agent

typescript
const agent = new Agent({
    name: "bart-mastra-agent",
    instructions: "You are an AI agent with Bart tools via Composio.",
    model: "openai/gpt-5",
  });
What's happening:
  • Agent is the core Mastra agent
  • name is just an identifier for logging and debugging
  • instructions guide the agent to use tools instead of only answering in natural language
  • model uses openai("gpt-5") to configure the underlying LLM
9

Set up interactive chat interface

typescript
let messages: AiMessageType[] = [];

console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n");

const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: "> ",
});

rl.prompt();

rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
  const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

  if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log("\nGoodbye!");
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

  if (!trimmedInput) {
    rl.prompt();
    return;
  }

  messages.push({
    id: crypto.randomUUID(),
    role: "user",
    content: trimmedInput,
  });

  console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

  try {
    const response = await agent.generate(messages, {
      toolsets: {
        bart: composioTools,
      },
      maxSteps: 8,
    });

    const { text } = response;

    if (text && text.trim().length > 0) {
      console.log(`Agent: ${text}\n`);
        messages.push({
          id: crypto.randomUUID(),
          role: "assistant",
          content: text,
        });
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nError:", error);
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    console.log("\nSession ended.");
    await mcpClient.disconnect();
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});
What's happening:
  • messages keeps the full conversation history in Mastra's expected format
  • agent.generate runs the agent with conversation history and Bart toolsets
  • maxSteps limits how many tool calls the agent can take in a single run
  • onStepFinish is a hook that prints intermediate steps for debugging

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Bart and Mastra AI:

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Agent } from "@mastra/core/agent";
import { MCPClient } from "@mastra/mcp";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";

import type { AiMessageType } from "@mastra/core/agent";

const openaiAPIKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!openaiAPIKey) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: composioAPIKey as string });

async function main() {
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID as string, {
    toolkits: ["bart"],
  });

  const composioMCPUrl = session.mcp.url;

  const mcpClient = new MCPClient({
    id: composioUserID as string,
    servers: {
      bart: {
        url: new URL(composioMCPUrl),
        requestInit: {
          headers: session.mcp.headers,
        },
      },
    },
    timeout: 30_000,
  });

  const composioTools = await mcpClient.getTools();

  const agent = new Agent({
    name: "bart-mastra-agent",
    instructions: "You are an AI agent with Bart tools via Composio.",
    model: "openai/gpt-5",
  });

  let messages: AiMessageType[] = [];

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: "> ",
  });

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on("line", async (input: string) => {
    const trimmed = input.trim();
    if (["exit", "quit"].includes(trimmed.toLowerCase())) {
      rl.close();
      return;
    }

    messages.push({ id: crypto.randomUUID(), role: "user", content: trimmed });

    const { text } = await agent.generate(messages, {
      toolsets: { bart: composioTools },
      maxSteps: 8,
    });

    if (text) {
      console.log(`Agent: ${text}\n`);
      messages.push({ id: crypto.randomUUID(), role: "assistant", content: text });
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.disconnect();
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main();

Conclusion

You've built a Mastra AI agent that can interact with Bart through Composio's Tool Router. You can extend this further by:
  • Adding other toolkits like Gmail, Slack, or GitHub
  • Building a web-based chat interface around this agent
  • Using multiple MCP endpoints to enable cross-app workflows
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Bart action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Get BART API Version

Get the current version of the BART API.

Get Elevator Status

Tool to fetch current elevator status across all BART stations.

Get Estimated Departures

Tool to get real-time estimated departure times for a specified BART station.

Get BART Fare

Get fare information between two BART stations including Clipper and cash prices.

Get GTFS-RT Service Alerts

Tool to fetch GTFS-RT service alerts in protobuf format for integration with GTFS static feed.

Get GTFS-RT Trip Updates

Tool to fetch real-time trip updates in GTFS-Realtime format.

Download GTFS Static Schedule Feed

Downloads the BART static GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification) schedule feed as a ZIP archive.

Get Route Info

Tool to fetch detailed information about a specific BART route.

Get Route Schedule

Tool to get detailed schedule information for a specific BART route showing all trains and their stops.

Get BART Schedule Arrive

Tool to retrieve schedule information based on a specified arrival time.

Get BART Schedule Depart

Get BART train schedules departing from an origin station to a destination station at a specified time.

Get Service Advisories

Tool to fetch current BART service advisories.

Get Station Access

Get comprehensive station access information including parking, transit, bike facilities, and lockers.

Get Station Info

Get detailed information for a specific BART station by its abbreviation code.

Get BART Stations

Get a list of all BART stations with their complete information.

Get Station Schedule

Get detailed scheduled departure information for a specific BART station.

Get Train Count

Tool to fetch current count of trains active in the BART system.

List BART Routes

Tool to get a list of all current BART routes/lines with basic information.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Bart MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Bart tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Bart and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Mastra AI fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Bart tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Bart scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Bart data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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