Mcp

MCP (Model Context Protocol) - AI-Native Server Development

Overview

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for connecting AI assistants to external data sources and tools. Build servers that expose tools (functions LLMs can call), resources (data LLMs can read), and prompts (templates LLMs can use).

Key Concepts:

• Tools: Functions LLMs can execute (read files, query APIs, run commands)
• Resources: Data sources LLMs can access (files, databases, APIs)
• Prompts: Reusable templates with arguments for common tasks
• Client-Server: MCP servers expose capabilities, clients (like Claude Desktop) consume them
• Transport: STDIO (local), SSE (Server-Sent Events), HTTP (network)

Official SDKs:

• TypeScript: @modelcontextprotocol/sdk
• Python: mcp

Installation:

# TypeScript server
npx @modelcontextprotocol/create-server@latest my-server
cd my-server && npm install

# Python server
pip install mcp
# Or use uv (recommended)
uv pip install mcp

Quick Start - TypeScript Server

1. Create Server with CLI

# Interactive setup
npx @modelcontextprotocol/create-server@latest my-filesystem-server

# Options prompt:
# - Server name: my-filesystem-server
# - Language: TypeScript
# - Include example tools: Yes

2. Define Tools

// src/index.ts
import { Server } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/index.js";
import { StdioServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js";
import {
  CallToolRequestSchema,
  ListToolsRequestSchema,
} from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/types.js";
import * as fs from "fs/promises";
import * as path from "path";

const server = new Server(
  {
    name: "filesystem-server",
    version: "1.0.0",
  },
  {
    capabilities: {
      tools: {},
    },
  }
);

// List available tools
server.setRequestHandler(ListToolsRequestSchema, async () => {
  return {
    tools: [
      {
        name: "read_file",
        description: "Read contents of a file",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            path: {
              type: "string",
              description: "Path to the file to read",
            },
          },
          required: ["path"],
        },
      },
      {
        name: "list_directory",
        description: "List contents of a directory",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            path: {
              type: "string",
              description: "Directory path to list",
            },
          },
          required: ["path"],
        },
      },
    ],
  };
});

// Handle tool calls
server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const { name, arguments: args } = request.params;

  switch (name) {
    case "read_file": {
      const filePath = args.path as string;
      const content = await fs.readFile(filePath, "utf-8");
      return {
        content: [{ type: "text", text: content }],
      };
    }

    case "list_directory": {
      const dirPath = args.path as string;
      const entries = await fs.readdir(dirPath, { withFileTypes: true });
      const listing = entries
        .map((entry) => `${entry.isDirectory() ? "📁" : "📄"} ${entry.name}`)
        .join("\n");
      return {
        content: [{ type: "text", text: listing }],
      };
    }

    default:
      throw new Error(`Unknown tool: ${name}`);
  }
});

// Start server
async function main() {
  const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
  await server.connect(transport);
  console.error("Filesystem MCP server running on stdio");
}

main();

3. Configure Claude Desktop

// ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS)
// %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (Windows)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/my-filesystem-server/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

4. Build and Test

# Build TypeScript
npm run build

# Restart Claude Desktop (Cmd+Q and reopen)
# Server appears in 🔌 menu

Quick Start - Python Server

1. Create Server

# server.py
import asyncio
from mcp.server import Server
from mcp.server.stdio import stdio_server
from mcp.types import Tool, TextContent
import json
import os

# Create server instance
app = Server("filesystem-server")

# Define tools
@app.list_tools()
async def list_tools() -> list[Tool]:
    return [
        Tool(
            name="read_file",
            description="Read contents of a file",
            inputSchema={
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "path": {"type": "string", "description": "File path to read"}
                },
                "required": ["path"],
            },
        ),
        Tool(
            name="list_directory",
            description="List directory contents",
            inputSchema={
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "path": {"type": "string", "description": "Directory path"}
                },
                "required": ["path"],
            },
        ),
    ]

# Handle tool calls
@app.call_tool()
async def call_tool(name: str, arguments: dict) -> list[TextContent]:
    if name == "read_file":
        file_path = arguments["path"]
        with open(file_path, "r") as f:
            content = f.read()
        return [TextContent(type="text", text=content)]

    elif name == "list_directory":
        dir_path = arguments["path"]
        entries = os.listdir(dir_path)
        listing = "\n".join(
            f"{'📁' if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(dir_path, e)) else '📄'} {e}"
            for e in entries
        )
        return [TextContent(type="text", text=listing)]

    else:
        raise ValueError(f"Unknown tool: {name}")

# Start server
async def main():
    async with stdio_server() as (read_stream, write_stream):
        await app.run(read_stream, write_stream, app.create_initialization_options())

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

2. Configure Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

3. Test

# Test server standalone
python server.py

# Restart Claude Desktop
# Tools appear in 🔌 menu

Resources - Exposing Data to LLMs

Resources provide read-only access to data sources.

TypeScript Resource Example

import {
  ListResourcesRequestSchema,
  ReadResourceRequestSchema,
} from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/types.js";

// List available resources
server.setRequestHandler(ListResourcesRequestSchema, async () => {
  return {
    resources: [
      {
        uri: "file:///docs/readme.md",
        name: "README",
        description: "Project README documentation",
        mimeType: "text/markdown",
      },
      {
        uri: "file:///config/settings.json",
        name: "Settings",
        description: "Application settings",
        mimeType: "application/json",
      },
    ],
  };
});

// Handle resource reads
server.setRequestHandler(ReadResourceRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const uri = request.params.uri;

  if (uri.startsWith("file://")) {
    const filePath = uri.replace("file://", "");
    const content = await fs.readFile(filePath, "utf-8");
    return {
      contents: [
        {
          uri,
          mimeType: "text/plain",
          text: content,
        },
      ],
    };
  }

  throw new Error(`Unknown resource: ${uri}`);
});

Python Resource Example

from mcp.types import Resource, ResourceContent

@app.list_resources()
async def list_resources() -> list[Resource]:
    return [
        Resource(
            uri="file:///docs/readme.md",
            name="README",
            description="Project README",
            mimeType="text/markdown",
        ),
        Resource(
            uri="file:///config/settings.json",
            name="Settings",
            description="App settings",
            mimeType="application/json",
        ),
    ]

@app.read_resource()
async def read_resource(uri: str) -> ResourceContent:
    if uri.startswith("file://"):
        file_path = uri.replace("file://", "")
        with open(file_path, "r") as f:
            content = f.read()
        return ResourceContent(uri=uri, mimeType="text/plain", text=content)

    raise ValueError(f"Unknown resource: {uri}")

Prompts - Reusable Templates

Prompts are templates that LLMs can use with arguments.

TypeScript Prompt Example

import {
  ListPromptsRequestSchema,
  GetPromptRequestSchema,
} from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/types.js";

// List prompts
server.setRequestHandler(ListPromptsRequestSchema, async () => {
  return {
    prompts: [
      {
        name: "code_review",
        description: "Review code for best practices",
        arguments: [
          {
            name: "language",
            description: "Programming language",
            required: true,
          },
          {
            name: "code",
            description: "Code to review",
            required: true,
          },
        ],
      },
    ],
  };
});

// Handle prompt requests
server.setRequestHandler(GetPromptRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const { name, arguments: args } = request.params;

  if (name === "code_review") {
    const language = args?.language || "unknown";
    const code = args?.code || "";

    return {
      messages: [
        {
          role: "user",
          content: {
            type: "text",
            text: `Review this ${language} code for best practices, security issues, and improvements:\n\n\`\`\`${language}\n${code}\n\`\`\``,
          },
        },
      ],
    };
  }

  throw new Error(`Unknown prompt: ${name}`);
});

Python Prompt Example

from mcp.types import Prompt, PromptMessage, PromptArgument

@app.list_prompts()
async def list_prompts() -> list[Prompt]:
    return [
        Prompt(
            name="code_review",
            description="Review code for best practices",
            arguments=[
                PromptArgument(
                    name="language", description="Programming language", required=True
                ),
                PromptArgument(name="code", description="Code to review", required=True),
            ],
        )
    ]

@app.get_prompt()
async def get_prompt(name: str, arguments: dict) -> list[PromptMessage]:
    if name == "code_review":
        language = arguments.get("language", "unknown")
        code = arguments.get("code", "")

        return [
            PromptMessage(
                role="user",
                content={
                    "type": "text",
                    "text": f"Review this {language} code:\n\n```{language}\n{code}\n```",
                },
            )
        ]

    raise ValueError(f"Unknown prompt: {name}")

Advanced Patterns

1. Error Handling

// TypeScript
server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  try {
    const { name, arguments: args } = request.params;

    if (name === "risky_operation") {
      // Validate inputs
      if (!args.required_param) {
        throw new Error("Missing required parameter: required_param");
      }

      // Perform operation with proper error handling
      const result = await performRiskyOperation(args.required_param);

      return {
        content: [{ type: "text", text: JSON.stringify(result) }],
      };
    }
  } catch (error) {
    // Return error to LLM with helpful message
    return {
      content: [
        {
          type: "text",
          text: `Error: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`,
        },
      ],
      isError: true,
    };
  }
});

# Python
@app.call_tool()
async def call_tool(name: str, arguments: dict) -> list[TextContent]:
    try:
        if name == "risky_operation":
            if "required_param" not in arguments:
                raise ValueError("Missing required parameter: required_param")

            result = await perform_risky_operation(arguments["required_param"])
            return [TextContent(type="text", text=json.dumps(result))]

    except Exception as e:
        return [TextContent(type="text", text=f"Error: {str(e)}", isError=True)]

2. Async Operations

// TypeScript - Async API calls
import axios from "axios";

server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const { name, arguments: args } = request.params;

  if (name === "fetch_api_data") {
    const url = args.url as string;
    const response = await axios.get(url);

    return {
      content: [
        {
          type: "text",
          text: JSON.stringify(response.data, null, 2),
        },
      ],
    };
  }
});

# Python - Async database queries
import aiosqlite

@app.call_tool()
async def call_tool(name: str, arguments: dict) -> list[TextContent]:
    if name == "query_database":
        query = arguments["query"]

        async with aiosqlite.connect("database.db") as db:
            async with db.execute(query) as cursor:
                rows = await cursor.fetchall()
                result = json.dumps(rows)

        return [TextContent(type="text", text=result)]

3. Environment Variables & Configuration

// TypeScript - Load config from environment
import dotenv from "dotenv";
dotenv.config();

const API_KEY = process.env.API_KEY;
const BASE_URL = process.env.BASE_URL || "https://api.example.com";

server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  if (request.params.name === "api_call") {
    const response = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/endpoint`, {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${API_KEY}` },
    });
    // ...
  }
});

# Python - Load config from environment
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()

API_KEY = os.getenv("API_KEY")
BASE_URL = os.getenv("BASE_URL", "https://api.example.com")

@app.call_tool()
async def call_tool(name: str, arguments: dict) -> list[TextContent]:
    if name == "api_call":
        headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"}
        async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
            async with session.get(f"{BASE_URL}/endpoint", headers=headers) as resp:
                data = await resp.json()
                return [TextContent(type="text", text=json.dumps(data))]

4. Streaming Responses (Large Data)

// TypeScript - Stream large file contents
server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  if (request.params.name === "read_large_file") {
    const filePath = request.params.arguments.path as string;
    const stream = fs.createReadStream(filePath, { encoding: "utf-8" });

    let content = "";
    for await (const chunk of stream) {
      content += chunk;
      // Could yield chunks incrementally in future MCP versions
    }

    return {
      content: [{ type: "text", text: content }],
    };
  }
});

5. Dynamic Tool Registration

// TypeScript - Register tools from config
interface ToolConfig {
  name: string;
  description: string;
  schema: object;
  handler: (args: any) => Promise;
}

const toolRegistry = new Map();

function registerTool(config: ToolConfig) {
  toolRegistry.set(config.name, config);
}

// Register custom tools
registerTool({
  name: "custom_tool",
  description: "Dynamically registered tool",
  schema: {
    type: "object",
    properties: {
      input: { type: "string" },
    },
  },
  handler: async (args) => {
    return { result: `Processed: ${args.input}` };
  },
});

// List tools dynamically
server.setRequestHandler(ListToolsRequestSchema, async () => {
  return {
    tools: Array.from(toolRegistry.values()).map((tool) => ({
      name: tool.name,
      description: tool.description,
      inputSchema

…

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [bobmatnyc](https://github.com/bobmatnyc)
- **Source:** [bobmatnyc/claude-mpm-skills](https://github.com/bobmatnyc/claude-mpm-skills)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.