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MCP Apps Server

by teilorbarcelos
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TypeScript
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MCP Apps Server

Deploy to mcp-use

An MCP server template with OpenAI Apps SDK integration for ChatGPT-compatible widgets.

Features

  • 🤖 OpenAI Apps SDK: Full compatibility with ChatGPT widgets

  • 🎨 Official UI Components: Integrated OpenAI Apps SDK UI components for consistent, accessible widgets

  • 🛒 Ecommerce Widgets: Complete ecommerce example with carousel, search, map, and order confirmation

  • 🔄 Automatic Registration: Widgets auto-register from resources/ folder

  • 📦 Props Schema: Zod schema validation for widget props

  • 🌙 Theme Support: Dark/light theme detection via useWidget hook

  • 🛠️ TypeScript: Complete type safety

  • 🔧 Widget Capabilities: Full support for callTool, sendFollowUpMessage, and persistent state

What's New: Apps SDK Integration

This template demonstrates how to build ChatGPT-compatible widgets using OpenAI's Apps SDK:

import { useWidget } from 'mcp-use/react'; const MyWidget: React.FC = () => { const { props, theme } = useWidget<MyProps>(); // props contains validated inputs from OpenAI // theme is 'dark' or 'light' based on ChatGPT setting }

Getting Started

Development

# Install dependencies npm install # Start development server npm run dev

This starts:

  • MCP server on port 3000

  • Widget serving at /mcp-use/widgets/*

  • Inspector UI at /inspector

Production

# Build the server and widgets npm run build # Run the built server npm start

Project Structure

mcp-apps/ ├── resources/ # React widget components │ ├── display-weather.tsx # Weather widget example │ ├── ecommerce-carousel.tsx # Ecommerce product carousel │ ├── product-search-result.tsx # Product search with filters │ ├── stores-locations-map.tsx # Store locations map │ └── order-confirmation.tsx # Order confirmation widget ├── index.ts # Server entry point (includes brand info tool) ├── package.json ├── tsconfig.json └── README.md

How Automatic Registration Works

All React components in the resources/ folder are automatically registered as MCP tools and resources when they export widgetMetadata:

import { z } from 'zod'; import type { WidgetMetadata } from 'mcp-use/react'; const propSchema = z.object({ city: z.string().describe('The city name'), temperature: z.number().describe('Temperature in Celsius'), }); export const widgetMetadata: WidgetMetadata = { description: 'My widget description', props: propSchema, }; const MyWidget: React.FC = () => { const { props } = useWidget<z.infer<typeof propSchema>>(); // Your widget implementation }; export default MyWidget;

This automatically creates:

  • Tool: display-weather - Accepts parameters via OpenAI

  • Resource: ui://widget/display-weather - Static access

Building Widgets with Apps SDK

Using the useWidget Hook

import { useWidget } from 'mcp-use/react'; interface MyProps { title: string; count: number; } const MyWidget: React.FC = () => { const { props, theme, isPending } = useWidget<MyProps>(); // IMPORTANT: Widgets render before tool execution completes // Always check isPending to handle the loading state if (isPending) { return <div>Loading...</div>; } // Now props are safely available // props are validated and typed based on your schema // theme is automatically set by ChatGPT return ( <div className={theme === 'dark' ? 'dark-theme' : 'light-theme'}> <h1>{props.title}</h1> <p>Count: {props.count}</p> </div> ); };

Note: Widgets render before the tool execution completes. On first render, props will be empty {} and isPending will be true. Always check isPending before accessing props. See the Widget Lifecycle documentation for more details.

Defining Widget Metadata

Use Zod schemas to define widget inputs:

import { z } from 'zod'; import type { WidgetMetadata } from 'mcp-use/react'; const propSchema = z.object({ name: z.string().describe('Person name'), age: z.number().min(0).max(120).describe('Age in years'), email: z.string().email().describe('Email address'), }); export const widgetMetadata: WidgetMetadata = { description: 'Display user information', props: propSchema, };

Theme Support

Automatically adapt to ChatGPT's theme:

const { theme } = useWidget(); const bgColor = theme === 'dark' ? 'bg-gray-900' : 'bg-white'; const textColor = theme === 'dark' ? 'text-gray-100' : 'text-gray-800';

Official UI Components

This template uses the OpenAI Apps SDK UI component library for building consistent, accessible widgets. The library provides:

  • Button: Primary, secondary, and outline button variants

  • Card: Container component for content sections

  • Carousel: Image and content carousel with transitions

  • Input: Form input fields

  • Icon: Consistent iconography

  • Transition: Smooth animations and transitions

Import components like this:

import { Button, Card, Carousel, CarouselItem, Transition, Icon, Input, } from '@openai/apps-sdk-ui';

Ecommerce Widgets

This template includes a complete ecommerce example with four widgets:

1. Ecommerce Carousel (ecommerce-carousel.tsx)

A product carousel widget featuring:

  • Title and description

  • Carousel of product items with placeholder images

  • Info button and Add to Cart button for each item

  • Uses official Carousel, Card, Button, Icon, and Transition components

  • Integrates with callTool for cart operations

  • Persistent state management

2. Product Search Result (product-search-result.tsx)

A search results widget with:

  • Search input with real-time filtering

  • Price range filters and stock status filter

  • Grid layout of product cards

  • Uses callTool to perform searches

  • Uses sendFollowUpMessage to update conversation

  • Persistent filter state

3. Stores Locations Map (stores-locations-map.tsx)

A store locator widget featuring:

  • Interactive map display (placeholder)

  • List of store locations with details

  • Distance calculation

  • Get directions functionality

  • Store details on click

  • Uses callTool for directions and store info

4. Order Confirmation (order-confirmation.tsx)

An order confirmation widget with:

  • Order summary and items list

  • Shipping information

  • Order status tracking

  • Track order and view receipt actions

  • Uses callTool for order tracking

Brand Info Tool

The template includes a get-brand-info tool (normal MCP tool, not a widget) that returns brand information:

// Call the tool await client.callTool('get-brand-info', {}); // Returns brand details including: // - Company name, tagline, description // - Mission and values // - Contact information // - Social media links

Example: Weather Widget

The included display-weather.tsx widget demonstrates:

  1. Schema Definition: Zod schema for validation

  2. Metadata Export: Widget registration info

  3. Theme Detection: Dark/light mode support

  4. Type Safety: Full TypeScript support

// Get props from OpenAI Apps SDK const { props, theme } = useWidget<WeatherProps>(); // props.city, props.weather, props.temperature are validated

Using Widgets in ChatGPT

Via Tool Call

await client.callTool('display-weather', { city: 'San Francisco', weather: 'sunny', temperature: 22 });

Via Resource Access

await client.readResource('ui://widget/display-weather');

Customization Guide

Adding New Widgets

  1. Create a React component in resources/my-widget.tsx:

import React from 'react'; import { z } from 'zod'; import { useWidget, type WidgetMetadata } from 'mcp-use/react'; const propSchema = z.object({ message: z.string().describe('Message to display'), }); export const widgetMetadata: WidgetMetadata = { description: 'Display a message', props: propSchema, }; type Props = z.infer<typeof propSchema>; const MyWidget: React.FC = () => { const { props, theme } = useWidget<Props>(); return ( <div> <h1>{props.message}</h1> </div> ); }; export default MyWidget;

  1. The widget is automatically registered!

Adding Traditional MCP Tools

You can mix Apps SDK widgets with regular MCP tools:

import { text } from 'mcp-use/server'; server.tool({ name: 'get-data', description: 'Fetch data from API', cb: async () => { return text('Data'); }, });

Testing Your Widgets

Via Inspector UI

  1. Start the server: npm run dev

  2. Open: http://localhost:3000/inspector

  3. Test widgets interactively

Direct Browser Access

Visit: http://localhost:3000/mcp-use/widgets/display-weather

Via MCP Client

import { createMCPClient } from 'mcp-use/client'; const client = createMCPClient({ serverUrl: 'http://localhost:3000/mcp', }); await client.connect(); // Call widget as tool const result = await client.callTool('display-weather', { city: 'London', weather: 'rain', temperature: 15 });

Apps SDK vs Other Widget Types

Feature

Apps SDK

External URL

Remote DOM

ChatGPT Compatible

✅ Yes

❌ No

❌ No

Theme Detection

✅ Automatic

❌ Manual

❌ Manual

Props Validation

✅ Zod Schema

❌ Manual

❌ Manual

React Support

✅ Full

✅ Full

❌ Limited

OpenAI Metadata

✅ Yes

❌ No

❌ No

Benefits of Apps SDK

✅ ChatGPT Native - Works seamlessly in ChatGPT ✅ Theme Aware - Automatic dark/light mode ✅ Type Safe - Full TypeScript with Zod validation ✅ Simple API - One hook for all props ✅ Auto Registration - Export metadata and done

Troubleshooting

Widget Not Loading

  • Ensure widget has widgetMetadata export

  • Check Zod schema is valid

  • Verify widget exists in dist/resources/mcp-use/widgets/

Props Not Passed

  • Ensure schema includes all props

  • Check .describe() for each prop

  • Verify useWidget hook is called

Theme Not Applied

  • Theme is only available in ChatGPT

  • Use theme from useWidget() hook

  • Test in actual ChatGPT interface

Migration from Other Templates

Moving from starter to mcp-apps:

// Before: Manual props handling const params = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search); const city = params.get('city'); // After: Apps SDK hook const { props } = useWidget(); const city = props.city;

Using Widget Capabilities

The widgets in this template demonstrate the full capabilities of the Apps SDK:

Calling Tools (callTool)

Widgets can call other MCP tools:

const { callTool } = useWidget(); const handleAction = async () => { const result = await callTool('add-to-cart', { productId: '123', productName: 'Product Name', price: 29.99 }); };

Sending Follow-up Messages (sendFollowUpMessage)

Widgets can send messages to the ChatGPT conversation:

const { sendFollowUpMessage } = useWidget(); await sendFollowUpMessage('Product added to cart successfully!');

Persistent State (setState)

Widgets can maintain state across interactions:

const { setState, state } = useWidget(); // Save state await setState({ cart: [...cart, newItem] }); // Read state const savedCart = state?.cart || [];

Component Library Note

This template uses the OpenAI Apps SDK UI component library. The exact component API may vary based on the library version. If you encounter import errors, check the official documentation for the correct component names and props.

If the official library is not available, you can replace the imports with custom React components or other UI libraries while maintaining the same widget structure.

Learn More

Happy building! 🚀

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