Build Your Own MCP Server

What is MCP?

Model Context Protocol (MCP) lets Claude access external services in a safe, standardized way. Build the server once and it works in Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and other MCP-compatible IDEs.

Pick a transport

New remote servers usually pick HTTP.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ (or Python 3.10+)
• Claude Code installed
• A service or data source to expose

Initialize (TypeScript example)

mkdir my-mcp-server && cd my-mcp-server
npm init -y
npm install @modelcontextprotocol/sdk
npm install -D typescript @types/node
npx tsc --init

Server building blocks

An MCP server has three primitives:

1. Tools — functions Claude can call
2. Resources — data Claude can read (files, DB rows, etc.)
3. Prompts — predefined prompt templates

Most servers only need Tools.

Define a Tool (weather example)

import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
import { z } from "zod";

const server = new McpServer({
  name: "weather-server",
  version: "1.0.0",
});

server.registerTool(
  "get-weather",
  {
    title: "Get current weather",
    description: "Returns current weather for a city",
    inputSchema: {
      city: z.string().describe("City name in English"),
    },
  },
  async ({ city }) => {
    const weather = await fetchWeather(city);
    return {
      content: [{ type: "text", text: JSON.stringify(weather, null, 2) }],
    };
  }
);

The description is the key signal Claude uses to decide when to call the tool. Make it specific.

Run on stdio transport

import { StdioServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js";

const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
await server.connect(transport);

Build and run:

npx tsc
node dist/index.js

Connect to Claude Code

1. Local stdio server

claude mcp add weather -- node /absolute/path/to/dist/index.js

Add --scope user to make it available across all projects, or --scope project to share with the team via .mcp.json.

2. Remote HTTP server

claude mcp add --transport http weather https://mcp.example.com/mcp

If OAuth is required, run /mcp in Claude Code to get the auth link.

3. Share at the project level (.mcp.json)

A .mcp.json at the project root lets your team share MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "weather": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.example.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Connect to Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop loads stdio MCP servers from its own config file. Instead of claude mcp add, you edit the JSON directly.

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Create the file if it doesn’t exist.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "weather": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

After saving, fully quit (Cmd+Q) and relaunch the Desktop app — closing the window is not enough. Once it’s back, you can see the exposed tools from the tools panel below the chat input.

Designing permission-sensitive tools

When you expose anything powerful — shell execution, the file system, outbound network — split the surface into narrow tools. Claude Desktop’s permission model is per-tool allow/deny, so the wider one tool’s input schema is, the more dangerous a single “always allow” click becomes.

Bad — exposing a generic shell

server.registerTool("run_shell", {
  description: "Runs an arbitrary shell command",
  inputSchema: { command: z.string() },
}, async ({ command }) => { /* ... */ });

This one tool covers everything from ls to rm -rf and curl under the same permission grant. Once a user clicks “always allow,” it’s effectively unrestricted shell access.

Good — split by intent

server.registerTool("list_files", {
  description: "Lists files in a directory",
  inputSchema: { path: z.string() },
}, /* ... */);

server.registerTool("read_file", {
  description: "Reads a text file",
  inputSchema: { path: z.string() },
}, /* ... */);

server.registerTool("git_status", {
  description: "Returns git status for the current repo",
  inputSchema: {},
}, /* ... */);

Each tool has a constrained input schema, so unintended operations don’t slip through, and users can set different approval policies per tool.

Design principles

• Constrain with the schema, not the prompt — narrow inputSchema beats telling the model “don’t do dangerous things” in description.
• Make tools with side effects (writes, executes) visually distinct from read-only ones by name and return value.
• Re-validate path and URL arguments server-side against an allowlist — don’t trust whatever Claude passes in.

Test

claude

/mcp

The added server’s status and exposed tools show up. Then ask Claude in plain language to call the tool and confirm the result.

Distribution patterns

• Official SaaS — host an HTTP MCP server at your domain (e.g. https://mcp.notion.com/mcp) with OAuth login.
• Personal tool — publish as an npm package; document claude mcp add in the README.
• Marketplace listing — list on claude.com/plugins for discoverability and one-click install.

Next steps

• Read the implementations of Notion MCP, GitHub MCP, and Slack MCP for patterns.
• See the official MCP docs for advanced features (Resources, Prompts, OAuth providers).
• Token usage and latency matter — keep tool responses short and return structured JSON.