create-typescript-server

Once the scaffolding is complete, follow these steps to prepare your server for development or use:

1. Navigate to the directory: cd <your-server-directory>
2. Install dependencies: npm install
3. Build the project: Use npm run build for a one-time compilation, or npm run watch to run the TypeScript compiler in watch mode for continuous development.
4. (Optional) Global link: Use npm link to make your server binary available globally on your system.

cd my-server
npm install
npm run build

Use npx @modelcontextprotocol/create-server to quickly scaffold a new Model Context Protocol (MCP) server project. You can specify a directory name and optional metadata like the server name and description.

To create a server in a directory named my-server with default settings:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/create-server my-server

To include custom metadata:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/create-server my-server --name "My MCP Server" --description "A custom MCP server"

This server demonstrates the three core MCP primitives:

Resources

Allows clients to list and access data via URIs. In this implementation, notes are accessed using note:// URIs. Each resource includes a title, content, and metadata, typically using a plain text mime type.

Tools

Allows clients to perform actions. This server provides the create_note tool, which takes title and content as required parameters to store a new note in the server state.

Prompts

Allows clients to use pre-defined templates for LLM interaction. This server provides the summarize_notes prompt, which embeds all note contents as resources and returns a structured prompt designed for LLM summarization.

The create-mcp-server CLI includes an automated feature to add your new server to the Claude.app configuration.

• Supported Platforms: macOS (darwin) and Windows (win32).
• Behavior: During the scaffolding process, you will be prompted: Would you like to install this server for Claude.app?.
• Configuration File: It modifies claude_desktop_config.json located in:
  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Config Format: The tool adds an entry to the mcpServers object using the server name, pointing to the build output:

"<name>": {
  "command": "node",
  "args": ["/absolute/path/to/your/server/build/index.js"]
}

If a server with the same name already exists in the config, the CLI will prompt you for permission to replace it.

To use the server with Claude Desktop, you must add its configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json file.

Config File Locations:

• MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add an entry under the mcpServers key pointing to the absolute path of the compiled index.js file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "<%= name %>": {
      "command": "/path/to/<%= name %>/build/index.js"
    }
  }
}

To work on the server locally, you need to install dependencies, build the TypeScript code, or run a watch mode for continuous development.

Use npm install to set up the environment, npm run build to compile the TypeScript source, and npm run watch to enable auto-rebuilds during development.

Because MCP servers communicate via stdio, standard debugging is difficult. Use the MCP Inspector to provide a web-based interface for inspecting server capabilities and messages.

Run the following command to start the inspector:

npm run inspector

The command will provide a URL that you can open in your browser to access the debugging tools.