MCP Development

MCP Development Skill

Provides templates, scripts, and reference documentation for building and testing MCP servers with FastMCP.

What This Skill Provides

Templates

Location: skills/mcp-development/templates/

• Complete FastMCP server structure
• Tool implementation patterns (standalone vs class-based)
• Resource and prompt templates
• Testing templates

Scripts

Location: skills/mcp-development/scripts/

Scaffolder Scripts (Structure Creation - MECHANICAL):

• scaffold-mcp-server.sh <server-name> [output-dir] - Creates MCP server directory structure with boilerplate

Validator Scripts (Pattern Recognition):

• validate-server.sh <server-path> - Validates MCP server structure
• fix-server.sh <server-path> - Auto-fixes common server issues
• validate-tool.sh <tool-file> - Validates tool implementation
• fix-tool.sh <tool-file> - Auto-fixes tool patterns

Analyzer Scripts (Detection):

• detect-platform.sh - Detects Python environment and dependencies
• analyze-dependencies.sh <server-path> - Checks FastMCP dependencies

Helper Scripts (Utilities):

• list-servers.sh - Lists available MCP server templates
• validate-config.sh <config-file> - Validates MCP configuration

How to Invoke Scripts: Commands execute scripts using bash:

# Scaffold structure first (mechanical)
bash skills/mcp-development/scripts/scaffold-mcp-server.sh my-api ./servers/http

# Then AI fills in the content using templates

# Then validate (pattern-based, no AI)
bash skills/mcp-development/scripts/validate-server.sh servers/http/my-api-http-mcp

# Auto-fix issues if found (deterministic, no AI)
bash skills/mcp-development/scripts/fix-server.sh servers/http/my-api-http-mcp

The Flow:

1. Scaffolder creates dirs + empty/minimal files
2. AI fills in tools/resources/prompts using templates
3. Validator checks structure patterns
4. Fix auto-corrects common issues

Reference Materials

• FastMCP documentation links
• Pattern examples (agent-guiding resources/prompts)
• Protocol compliance patterns
• Error handling best practices

When Claude Auto-Invokes This Skill

This skill is automatically used when:

• Building new MCP servers
• Implementing FastMCP tools, resources, or prompts
• Setting up MCP testing frameworks
• Working with MCP protocol requirements
• Debugging MCP server issues

Key Patterns Provided

Server Organization

• Tools: Standalone (@mcp.tool()) vs Class-based (mcp.tool(instance.method))
• Resources: Static content and dynamic templates
• Prompts: Agent-guiding prompts with parameters
• Context: Logging, progress, sampling, elicitation

Testing Patterns

• FastMCP Client in-memory testing
• Direct function testing with mocks
• HTTP protocol compliance testing

Examples

See examples.md for complete usage patterns. See reference.md for API documentation.