How do I use Basic MCP Server?

1. Click on "Install Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@Basic MCP Server echo Hello, world!" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

Minimal MCP Server Example (fastmcp)

This repo is a minimal, working MCP server example exposing two tools via fastmcp:

echo(text): returns text unchanged
now(utc=True): returns current time in ISO 8601

It’s designed as a small, copy‑pasteable starting point.

Prerequisites

Python 3.11+ (3.12 recommended) or Docker

Run Locally (Python)

python -m venv .venv source .venv/bin/activate # Windows (PowerShell): .venv\\Scripts\\Activate.ps1 pip install -r requirements.txt python server.py

Run with Docker

Build the image (tag matches the example config below):

docker build -t mcp-basic:latest .

Run it (stdio transport):

docker run --rm -i mcp-basic:latest

Codex CLI / MCP Client Config

Configure your Codex MCP client (e.g., ~/.codex/config.toml) with either Docker or direct Python.

Docker-based (uses the image built above):

[mcp_servers.basic] command = "docker" args = ["run", "--rm", "-i", "mcp-basic:latest"] # optional env passthrough: # env = { "EXAMPLE_API_KEY" = "..." }

Direct Python (runs from your checkout):

[mcp_servers.basic] command = "python" args = ["server.py"] # Optionally set working directory if needed: # workingDirectory = "/path/to/repo"

How It Works

The server is defined in server.py and uses fastmcp.FastMCP("basic") with stdio transport.
Tools are registered via @mcp.tool decorators and exposed to the client.

Extending

Add new tools by defining functions with type hints and decorating with @mcp.tool.
Keep the interface simple and return JSON-serializable values.

Troubleshooting

If the client can’t start the server, verify fastmcp is installed (pip show fastmcp).
For Docker, ensure the image is built (docker images | grep mcp-basic) and that docker run --rm -i mcp-basic:latest works.