# What is this project

This project implements stdio MCP server, so that Claude can search data by sending requests to an API backend running on localhost:8000

**Documentation:** [docs/](docs/README.md) — implementation overview and full `pm_*` tool reference.

This is the **entry point** for your MCP server. Breaking it down:

**`@click.command()` + `@click.option`** — CLI interface with two flags:
- `--base-url`: override the API URL without changing env vars (e.g. `--base-url http://staging:8000`)
- `--transport`: how Claude communicates with the server — `stdio` (default, used by Claude Desktop via stdin/stdout pipes), `sse` or `streamable-http` for network-based transports

**`def main(...)`**:
1. Creates a `ProjectManagerClient` — your HTTP client that talks to the FastAPI backend
2. Calls `build_mcp(client)` — registers all the `pm_*` tools with the MCP framework, wrapping the client's methods as Claude-callable tools
3. `mcp.run(transport=transport)` — starts the server loop, listening for tool calls from Claude
4. `client.close()` in `finally` — cleanly shuts down the HTTP client when the process exits

**Why `stdio` is the default:** Claude Desktop launches this as a subprocess and communicates via stdin/stdout pipes — no network port needed. The `sse`/`streamable-http` options would be for remote deployments where Claude connects over HTTP instead.

In short: this boots the bridge between Claude and your project manager API, using whichever communication channel fits the deployment context.

# How to register this local MCP server with Claude Desktop
You add below into ```mcpServers``` section of ```%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json``` 

What does this achieve in ```%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json``` 

```json
 "project-manager": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--directory",
        "c:\\Users\\amrusub\\programming\\pet_projects\\project_manager_mcp",
        "project-manager-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PROJECT_MANAGER_API_BASE": "http://127.0.0.1:8000"
      }
    }
  },
```

This registers a local MCP server called **"project-manager"** with Claude Desktop. Here's what each part does:

**`command: "uv"`** — uses `uv` (the fast Python package manager) to run the server

**`args`** — tells uv to run the `project-manager-mcp` entry point from your local project directory at `c:\Users\amrusub\programming\pet_projects\project_manager_mcp`

**`env`** — sets an environment variable so the MCP server knows to talk to your locally running API at `http://127.0.0.1:8000`

**Net effect:** When Claude Desktop starts, it spins up your local `project-manager-mcp` Python process in the background. Claude then gets access to whatever tools that server exposes (in your case, the `project-manager:pm_*` tools visible in this conversation — create tasks, list projects, manage users, etc.), all backed by your local FastAPI server on port 8000.

So it's essentially a bridge: Claude ↔ MCP server process ↔ your local REST API.