MCP Server Scaffolder

Starting an MCP server from a blog post means inheriting its mistakes — a vague tool description, a loose schema, the wrong transport for where it'll run. This skill scaffolds a correct, runnable server skeleton from a one-line description: it picks the SDK and transport for your case, generates a first tool that already follows the naming/schema/description discipline that makes a server usable, and leaves you with the exact commands to test and register it.

When to use this skill

• Starting a brand-new MCP server and you want a runnable skeleton with one good tool, not a pile of boilerplate.
• You know what the server should expose but want the transport choice, schema shape, and project layout decided correctly up front.
• Standing up a server to test an integration idea quickly, with Inspector testing already wired in.

Instructions

1. Clarify the capability and where it runs. From the description, identify the first tool (one job, clearly named) and whether the server runs local (stdio) or remote/shared (Streamable HTTP). If it's ambiguous, default to stdio for a local prototype and note how to promote it to HTTP later.
2. Pick the SDK and detect the ecosystem. Match the project's language: the official Python or TypeScript MCP SDK, or a higher-level framework like FastMCP for Python. Check for an existing project to slot into (package manager, lockfile, conventions) rather than scaffolding in isolation.
3. Generate the server skeleton. Create the entrypoint, the transport setup (stdio or Streamable HTTP), and one tool with: a verb-object name, a description written as a routing signal (what it does, what it returns, when to use it), and a strict input schema (required vs. optional, enums, per-field descriptions). Stub the handler with a clear TODO and a concise, model-ready return shape.
4. Wire in testing. Add the command to launch the MCP Inspector against the server (npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector ...) so the first thing the developer can do is connect, list the tool, and call it.
5. Emit the registration command. Provide the exact claude mcp add invocation (correct transport, scope, and any --env for secrets) — or point to the Add MCP Server command — so the server can be connected to a client immediately.
6. Leave a clear extension path. Document where to add the next tool, resource, or prompt, and flag that a remote server still needs auth and stateless scaling before production (link the deploy guide).

[!TIP] Scaffold one good tool, not five mediocre ones. The first tool sets the pattern the rest of the server copies — get its name, schema, and description right and the server stays usable as it grows.

[!WARNING] A scaffold is a starting point, not a production server. The generated handler must still validate its inputs, and a remote (HTTP) server is not safe to expose until it has authentication and input validation — see Deploying a Remote MCP Server.

Output

A runnable MCP server skeleton: entrypoint and transport wired up, one well-shaped tool with a strict schema and routing-quality description, the Inspector test command, and the client-registration snippet — plus a short note on where to add the next capability and what hardening is still required before production.