cybersecurity-mcp-server 🔐

Security-first MCP (Model Context Protocol) backend built with Node.js and Express.

🚀 Overview

This repository contains a secure, production-oriented MCP backend focusing on best practices for hardening, monitoring and safe defaults. It uses Express 5, Helmet for headers, rate limiting middleware, and structured logging (winston + winston-daily-rotate-file).

⚙️ Features

• Express 5 backend

• Security middleware (Helmet, rate limiting)

• Structured logging with winston and winston-daily-rotate-file

• Docker-friendly with a Dockerfile

• Simple, modular architecture (controllers, services, middleware)

📁 Project Structure

A short map of core folders and important files so contributors know where to look.

src/
  ├─ server.js         # App entrypoint (starts HTTP server)
  ├─ app.js            # Express app, middleware, routes registration
  ├─ routes/           # API route definitions (e.g., mcp.routes.js)
  ├─ controllers/      # Request handlers (mcp.controller.js)
  ├─ services/         # Business logic & integrations (mcp.service.js)
  ├─ middleware/       # auth, rateLimit, and other cross-cutting concerns
  ├─ config/           # env.js, security.js and config helpers
  └─ utils/            # logger.js and helper utilities

logs/                  # Rotated log files written by winston
Dockerfile             # Container image build instructions
package.json           # Scripts & dependencies
README.md              # This document

Notes:

• src/config/env.js centralizes environment variable loading and defaults.

• utils/logger.js uses winston + winston-daily-rotate-file for structured, rotated logs.

• Keep business logic in services/ and handlers in controllers/ to keep tests and mocking straightforward.

🧑‍💻 Local Development

Below are platform-specific steps so contributors on Linux/macOS and Windows can get started quickly.

Linux / macOS

1. Clone and install:

git clone https://github.com/Krishsakaria26/cybersecurity-mcp-server.git
cd cybersecurity-mcp-server
npm install

2. Create a .env file (optional but recommended)

# copy example if present
cp .env.example .env || true

# or create manually
cat > .env <<EOF
PORT=3000
NODE_ENV=development
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=60000
RATE_LIMIT_MAX=100
LOG_LEVEL=debug
EOF

3. Start in development mode (auto-reloads on change)

npm run dev

4. Production run

npm start

Tips:

• Use your IDE debugger attached to src/server.js for breakpoints.

• Add tests (Jest/Mocha) and a test npm script before merging features.

• Use pre-commit hooks for linting/formatting consistency.

Windows (PowerShell / CMD / WSL)

For the closest parity with Linux/macOS behavior, use WSL or Git Bash. PowerShell and CMD work, but some shell behaviors differ (path separators, quoting).

1. Clone and install (PowerShell / CMD):

git clone https://github.com/Krishsakaria26/cybersecurity-mcp-server.git
cd cybersecurity-mcp-server
npm install

2. Create a .env file (PowerShell / CMD)

• PowerShell:

New-Item -Path . -Name '.env' -ItemType 'file' -Force
Add-Content -Path .env -Value 'PORT=3000'
Add-Content -Path .env -Value 'NODE_ENV=development'
Add-Content -Path .env -Value 'RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=60000'
Add-Content -Path .env -Value 'RATE_LIMIT_MAX=100'
Add-Content -Path .env -Value 'LOG_LEVEL=debug'

• CMD:

echo PORT=3000> .env
echo NODE_ENV=development>> .env
echo RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=60000>> .env
echo RATE_LIMIT_MAX=100>> .env
echo LOG_LEVEL=debug>> .env

3. Start in development mode

npm run dev

Notes for Windows:

• If using Windows Defender / Firewall you'll be prompted when the server listens on a port—allow local access.

• If you need POSIX tools or to match Linux behavior (e.g., volume mounts in Docker), prefer using WSL or Git Bash.

🐳 Docker Deployment

Docker commands differ slightly across shells; below are examples for both platforms and tips for Windows users.

Linux / macOS

Build the image:

docker build -t mcp-server:latest .

Run (basic):

docker run -p 3000:3000 --rm --name mcp-server mcp-server:latest

Run with env-file and persistent logs:

docker run -p 3000:3000 --env-file .env -v "$(pwd)/logs:/app/logs" --restart unless-stopped --name mcp-server mcp-server:latest

Windows (PowerShell / Docker Desktop)

Build the image (same):

docker build -t mcp-server:latest .

Run (basic):

docker run -p 3000:3000 --rm --name mcp-server mcp-server:latest

Run with env-file and persistent logs (PowerShell):

docker run -p 3000:3000 --env-file .\.env -v "${PWD}\logs:/app/logs" --restart unless-stopped --name mcp-server mcp-server:latest

If ${PWD} path doesn't mount correctly, provide the full Windows path for the volume mapping (replace C:\path\to\repo):

docker run -p 3000:3000 --env-file .\.env -v "C:\full\path\to\repo\logs:/app/logs" --restart unless-stopped --name mcp-server mcp-server:latest

Notes & recommendations:

• On Windows prefer Docker Desktop with WSL2 integration enabled for better compatibility.

• Use full absolute paths for volume mounts if relative mounts fail in PowerShell/CMD.

• When running containers in production, pass secrets via your orchestrator or Docker secrets (avoid committing .env).

Optional: Docker Compose (works cross-platform if file paths are adjusted):

version: '3.8'
services:
  mcp-server:
    build: .
    image: mcp-server:latest
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    env_file: .env
    volumes:
      - ./logs:/app/logs
    restart: unless-stopped

Health & deployment notes:

• Provide resource limits and environment secrets via your orchestrator (Kubernetes/Swarm).

• Mount logs/ for host access or forward logs to a log aggregator for production.

• Consider adding a container healthcheck for orchestrators that rely on it.

🧩 Configuration

Environment settings are loaded from src/config/env.js. Common variables:

• PORT - server port (default: 3000)

• NODE_ENV - environment (development/production)

• Rate limit options in src/config/security.js (window, max requests)

Tip: Create a .env file in the project root for local development.

Logging

The app uses winston with winston-daily-rotate-file for rotated logs stored in the logs/ folder. Logs include structured timestamps and levels for easier parsing and aggregation.

🧪 Tests

There are no automated tests included yet. Contributions adding tests (Jest/Mocha) are welcomed.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome — please open issues or pull requests on the GitHub repository. Follow existing code patterns and keep security considerations in mind.

📄 License

MIT — see the LICENSE file.

👤 Author

Krish Sakaria : Cybersecurity & Backend Engineering

Manish Shah : Backend Engineering

Madhusmita Choudhary : Fullstack Engineering

Aryan Karna : Frontend Developer