MCP Template

🚀 MCP Server Template

A clean template for building a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.

🚀 Quick Start

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard developed by Anthropic that enables AI systems like Claude to interact seamlessly with various data sources and tools, establishing a secure two-way connection.

This template provides a starting point for building your own MCP server, which can be used with Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any other MCP client.

✨ Features

This template includes:

• A basic server structure with the MCP SDK
• Example tool definitions with annotated placeholders
• Error handling settings
• Environment variable configuration via dotenv

📦 Installation

Prerequisites 🔧

Before you start, ensure you have the following:

• API keys for the services you're using (if applicable)
• Node.js (v20 or higher)
• An MCP client such as Claude Desktop or Cursor

Steps

1. Clone this template repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/mcp-server-template.git
cd mcp-server-template

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the project:

npm run build

📚 Documentation

Customization Guide 🔧

To customize this template for your own MCP server:

1. Update package.json to set your server name and details.
2. Modify src/index.ts to:
   • Define your API response interface.
   • Add actual tools and their schemas.
   • Implement tool functionality.
   • Update formatting logic.

Key File Modifications

• src/index.ts: The main server implementation file.
• package.json: Package metadata and dependencies.
• .env: Create this file to store your API keys (make sure to add it to .gitignore).

Running Your Server 🖥️

You can run your server directly:

npm run build
node build/index.js

Integrating with MCP Clients

Configuring the Claude Desktop App

For macOS:

# Create the configuration file if it doesn't exist
touch "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json"

# Open the file in TextEdit
open -e "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json"

For Windows:

code %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add your server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "your-server-name": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/your/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "YOUR_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuring Cursor

1. Open Cursor settings.
2. Navigate to Features > MCP Server.
3. Click the "+ Add New MCP Server" button.
4. Fill in the following information:
   • Name: Enter a nickname for your server (e.g., "your-server-name").
   • Type: Select "Command" as the type.
   • Command: Enter the command to run your server:

     env YOUR_API_KEY=your-api-key node /path/to/your/build/index.js
     

🔧 Technical Details

• Server Setup: This template creates a basic MCP server with stdio transport.
• Tool Definitions: Example tool schemas with annotated placeholders.
• Error Handling: Basic error handling settings and console logging.
• Request Handling: A request handling template using a switch/case structure.

🤝 Contribution

Feel free to use this template as a starting point for your own MCP server. If you improve the template, consider contributing back via a pull request!

📄 License

Acknowledgments ✨

• Model Context Protocol for providing the MCP specification.
• Anthropic's Claude Desktop.
• Tavily MCP Server, on which this template is based.