Installation Guide

Installation Guide

This guide will help you install and configure the Azure Pricing MCP Server.

Quick Install (Recommended)

Option 1: Docker 🐳 (Easiest - No Python Setup Required)

# Build the Docker image
docker build -t azure-pricing-mcp .

docker run -i azure-pricing-mcp

Option 2: Python Virtual Environment

Windows (PowerShell):

# Run from the project root directory
.\scripts\setup.ps1

Linux/Mac/Cross-Platform:

# Run from the project root directory
python scripts/install.py

Manual Installation

Step 1: Create Virtual Environment

python -m venv .venv

Step 2: Activate Virtual Environment

Windows:

.venv\Scripts\activate

Linux/Mac:

source .venv/bin/activate

Step 3: Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

Verify Installation

Test that the server starts correctly:

python -m azure_pricing_mcp

Press Ctrl+C to stop the server. If it starts without errors, the installation was successful!

Configuration

VS Code

Option A: With Docker (stdio) 🐳

1. Create .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "azure-pricing": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "azure-pricing-mcp:latest"]
    }
  }
}

2. Make sure Docker is running
3. Restart VS Code or reload the MCP server

Option B: With Docker (SSE - Server-Sent Events) 🐳

1. Build and run the Docker container with port mapping:

# Build the image
docker build -t azure-pricing-mcp .

# Run with port mapping
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 --name azure-pricing azure-pricing-mcp

# Verify it's running with correct port mapping
docker ps
# Should show: 0.0.0.0:8080->8080/tcp

2. Create .vscode/mcp.json or add to VS Code User settings:

{
  "servers": {
    "azure-pricing": {
      "type": "sse",
      "url": "http://localhost:8080/sse"
    }
  }
}

3. Restart VS Code or reload the MCP server

Option C: With Python Virtual Environment

1. Copy .vscode/mcp.json.example to .vscode/mcp.json
2. Edit the file and update the Python path to your actual virtual environment path
3. Restart VS Code or reload the MCP server

Find your Python path:

Windows:

# In PowerShell, from project root
(Resolve-Path .venv\Scripts\python.exe).Path

Linux/Mac:

# From project root
readlink -f .venv/bin/python

Claude Desktop

1. Open your Claude Desktop config file:

   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
   • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add configuration:

Option A: With Docker 🐳

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "azure-pricing": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "azure-pricing-mcp:latest"]
    }
  }
}

Option B: With Python

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "azure-pricing": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "azure_pricing_mcp"],
      "cwd": "/absolute/path/to/AzurePricingMCP"
    }
  }
}

3. Replace /absolute/path/to/AzurePricingMCP with the actual path (Python option only)
4. Restart Claude Desktop

Troubleshooting

"No module named 'mcp'"

Make sure you activated the virtual environment and installed dependencies:

source .venv/bin/activate  # or .venv\Scripts\activate on Windows
pip install -r requirements.txt

Tools not appearing in VS Code

1. Check that the Python path in .vscode/mcp.json is absolute and correct
2. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) → MCP: List Servers → Restart
3. Check for Python syntax errors: python -c "import azure_pricing_mcp"

Server crashes on startup

Check the Python version (requires 3.10+):

python --version

Next Steps

• See README.md for full documentation
• See QUICK_START.md for usage guide
• See USAGE_EXAMPLES.md for example queries
• Run tests: pytest tests/