mcp-server-starter

Production-ready TypeScript template for building MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP client.

Quick Start

# Clone the template
git clone https://github.com/fix2015/mcp-server-starter.git my-mcp-server
cd my-mcp-server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Run the server
npm start

Project Structure

src/
  index.ts                 # Server entry point — registers tools, resources, and prompts
  tools/
    example-tool.ts        # Example tool implementation (process_text)
  resources/
    example-resource.ts    # Example resource implementation (server-info)

How to Add a New Tool

Create a new file in src/tools/:

// src/tools/my-tool.ts
import { z } from "zod";
import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";

export function registerMyTool(server: McpServer): void {
  server.tool(
    "my_tool_name",
    "Description of what the tool does",
    {
      input: z.string().describe("Input parameter description"),
    },
    async ({ input }) => {
      // Your tool logic here
      return {
        content: [{ type: "text", text: `Result: ${input}` }],
      };
    }
  );
}

Then register it in src/index.ts:

import { registerMyTool } from "./tools/my-tool.js";

registerMyTool(server);

How to Add a New Resource

Create a new file in src/resources/:

// src/resources/my-resource.ts
import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";

export function registerMyResource(server: McpServer): void {
  server.resource("my-resource", "custom://my-data", async (uri) => {
    return {
      contents: [
        {
          uri: uri.href,
          mimeType: "application/json",
          text: JSON.stringify({ key: "value" }),
        },
      ],
    };
  });
}

Then register it in src/index.ts:

import { registerMyResource } from "./resources/my-resource.js";

registerMyResource(server);

Configuration

Claude Code

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/my-mcp-server/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

With Environment Variables

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/my-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Development

# Watch mode — recompiles on file changes
npm run dev

# Test with the MCP Inspector
npm run inspect

Included Examples

Type	Name	Description
Tool	`process_text`	Transforms text with uppercase and word counting
Resource	`server-info`	Returns server metadata as JSON
Prompt	`summarize`	Generates a summary prompt for a given topic

Deployment

As a Local Server

Build and point your MCP client config to the built dist/index.js.

As an npm Package

Update name in package.json to your package name
Run npm publish
Users can then run: npx your-package-name

With Docker

FROM node:22-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --omit=dev
COPY dist/ ./dist/
ENTRYPOINT ["node", "dist/index.js"]

docker build -t my-mcp-server .
docker run -i my-mcp-server

Requirements

Node.js >= 18
TypeScript >= 5.7

License

MIT