MCP Apps — Minimal Next.js Starter

A minimal Next.js starter for building MCP Apps — interactive UIs that MCP hosts render alongside tool calls.

How it works

The Next.js app serves two roles:

1. MCP server (app/mcp/route.ts) — registers tools and resources via mcp-handler and @modelcontextprotocol/ext-apps.

2. Widget UI (app/page.tsx) — a React page that MCP hosts render inside a sandboxed iframe. The MCP route self-fetches the rendered page HTML and serves it as an MCP resource.

The useMcpApp hook (app/hooks/use-mcp-app.ts) connects to the host via the App class from @modelcontextprotocol/ext-apps and provides tool input/result data as React state.

Related MCP server: ChatGPT Apps SDK Next.js Starter

Getting started

pnpm install

Local development with a tunnel

MCP Apps need a public HTTPS URL. Use ngrok (or any tunnel):

ngrok http 3000

Copy the HTTPS URL and set it in .env:

BASE_URL=https://xxxx-xxx-xxx.ngrok-free.app

Then start the dev server:

pnpm dev

Connect to a host

Add your MCP server URL to any MCP host that supports Apps:

https://xxxx-xxx-xxx.ngrok-free.app/mcp

For example, in ChatGPT, Cursor, or Claude.ai: Settings > Apps > add the URL above.

Project structure

app/
  page.tsx              — Homepage (widget UI)
  about/page.tsx        — Example sub-page (navigation demo)
  counter/page.tsx      — Example sub-page (interactivity demo)
  mcp/route.ts          — MCP server endpoint
  hooks/use-mcp-app.ts  — React hook for the MCP Apps bridge
  layout.tsx            — Root layout with iframe bootstrap patches
baseUrl.ts              — Public URL resolver (tunnel / Vercel)
middleware.ts           — CORS headers for cross-origin iframe access
next.config.ts          — assetPrefix for iframe asset loading

Key files

• app/mcp/route.ts — Define your tools and resources here. The greet tool is a minimal example.

• app/page.tsx — Your widget UI. Edit this like any Next.js page. It receives tool data via useMcpApp().

• app/hooks/use-mcp-app.ts — Singleton App bridge with sessionStorage persistence. Provides toolInput, toolResult, and connected state.

Deploy

Deploy to Vercel — no additional configuration needed. The BASE_URL is automatically derived from Vercel's environment variables in production.

Once deployed, connect it to any MCP host using:

https://your-app.vercel.app/mcp

For example, in ChatGPT, Cursor, or Claude.ai: Settings > Apps > add the URL above as a connector.

Learn more

• MCP Apps specification

• @modelcontextprotocol/ext-apps

• mcp-handler