python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate     # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
2️⃣ Install dependencies
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pip install -r requirements.txt
3️⃣ Run MCP server (manual testing)
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python main.py
⚠️ For Claude Desktop, Claude itself starts this process via MCP configuration.

🤖 Claude Desktop Configuration (Windows Example)
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{
  "mcpServers": {
    "LeaveManagerPython": {
      "command": "C:\\Users\\<USERNAME>\\path\\to\\.venv\\Scripts\\python.exe",
      "args": [
        "C:\\Users\\<USERNAME>\\path\\to\\main.py"
      ],
      "cwd": "C:\\Users\\<USERNAME>\\path\\to\\leave-manager-mcp"
    }
  }
}
🔁 Restart Claude Desktop after updating the config.

🧪 Example Prompts (Claude)
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Check leave balance for employee E001
Apply leave for employee E002 on 2025-04-17 and 2025-04-18
Show leave history of E001
Use greeting://Akash
Claude will automatically call the correct MCP tools.

⚠️ Key Learnings
MCP requires a pure stdio process

FastAPI & MCP must be separated

Claude Desktop caches MCP configs aggressively

Execution teaches more than tutorials

🔮 Future Improvements
Add FastAPI (dual-mode: REST + MCP)

Persist data using PostgreSQL

Add authentication & roles

Build AI agents on top of MCP tools

Production deployment

📌 Final Thought
Reading tutorials gives comfort.
Watching reels gives motivation.

But execution gives clarity.

This repo exists because of curiosity — not perfection.

yaml
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---

## ✅ Why This README Works

✔ Clean headings  
✔ Clear story hook  
✔ Explains MCP simply  
✔ Recruiter / dev friendly  
✔ Medium-article ready  
✔ No fluff, no noise  

---

### 🚀 Next (Recommended)
Now that GitHub is ready, next we should:
1. **Write the Medium article using this repo**
2. **Add FastAPI back cleanly (dual-mode)**
3. **Create an AI agent on top of this**

Just say **which one** and we continue 🔥