mcp-starter-typescript

Starter template for building MCP servers in TypeScript. Clone, customize, ship.

Problem: Starting an MCP server from scratch requires boilerplate setup — transport, tool registration, TypeScript config, build pipeline. This template gives you a working MCP server in 5 minutes.

Who is this for: Developers building tools for the MCP (Model Context Protocol) ecosystem — custom integrations, documentation servers, automation tools.

Quick Start

# 1. Clone
git clone https://github.com/Launchery/mcp-starter-typescript.git my-mcp-server
cd my-mcp-server

# 2. Install
npm install

# 3. Build
npm run build

# 4. Test
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test","version":"1.0.0"}}}' | node dist/index.js

What's Included

File	Purpose
src/index.ts	Server entry point (stdio transport)
src/tools/echo.ts	Example: echo tool
src/tools/add.ts	Example: arithmetic tool
src/tools/search.ts	Example: data search tool
.mcp.json	Local MCP client config for testing
tsconfig.json	Strict TypeScript config (ES2022, Node16)

Adding Your Own Tools

1. Create src/tools/my-tool.ts:

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

export function myTool(server: McpServer): void {
  server.tool(
    "my-tool",
    "Description of what this tool does",
    {
      input: z.string().describe("Input parameter"),
    },
    async ({ input }) => ({
      content: [{ type: "text", text: `Result: ${input}` }],
    })
  );
}

2. Register in src/tools/index.ts:

import { myTool } from "./my-tool.js";
// ...
myTool(server);

3. Build and test:

npm run build
npm start

Connecting to MCP Clients

Claude Desktop

claude mcp add --scope user my-server -- node "/path/to/dist/index.js"

Cursor

Create .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Any MCP Client

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Development

# Watch mode
npm run dev

# Lint
npm run lint

# Format
npm run format

Roadmap

See ROADMAP.md for planned features.

License

MIT © Launchery