MCP Server Quick Start Guide

MCP Server Quick Start Guide

Get up and running with MCP servers in 5 minutes.

What You'll Get

A zero-token skill lister that makes /skills command instant and free.

Prerequisites

python3 --version  # Must be 3.10+

Installation (3 steps)

1. Install MCP SDK

pip install mcp

2. Run Setup Script

cd mcp-servers/skills-lister
./setup.sh

The script will:

• Check Python version
• Install MCP SDK (if needed)
• Make scripts executable
• Generate configuration
• Optionally create .claude/mcp.json

3. Configure Claude

For Claude Desktop:

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skills-lister": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": [
        "/FULL/PATH/TO/mcp-servers/skills-lister/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For Claude Code:

The setup script can create .claude/mcp.json for you, or create it manually:

mkdir -p .claude
cat > .claude/mcp.json << 'EOF'
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skills-lister": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": [
        "/FULL/PATH/TO/mcp-servers/skills-lister/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}
EOF

Replace /FULL/PATH/TO/ with the actual absolute path!

Restart Claude

Claude Desktop: Quit and relaunch

Claude Code: Exit and start new session

Test It

Ask Claude:

Can you list the available skills?

You should see the skills list appear instantly with 0 tokens used.

Before vs After

Troubleshooting

"Script not found"

ls -l ~/bin/list-skills.sh
# If missing:
cp scripts/list-skills.sh ~/bin/
chmod +x ~/bin/list-skills.sh

"Module not found: mcp"

pip install mcp

Server not appearing

1. Check JSON syntax (use a validator)
2. Use absolute paths (no ~)
3. Restart Claude after config changes
4. Check Claude logs for errors

Still having issues?

See detailed documentation:

• INSTALL.md - Full installation guide
• skills-lister/README.md - Server documentation
• README.md - Overview and architecture

Next Steps

Once working, you can:

1. Create more MCP servers for other operations
2. Customize output formats
3. Add search/filter capabilities
4. Build tool integrations

Key Files

mcp-servers/
├── QUICK-START.md          ← You are here
├── INSTALL.md              ← Detailed setup
├── README.md               ← Overview
└── skills-lister/
    ├── setup.sh            ← Run this first
    ├── server.py           ← MCP server
    └── README.md           ← Server docs

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• MCP Docs: modelcontextprotocol.io
• Claude Code: claude.ai/code