Content
# MCP TypeScript SDK  
## Table of Contents
- [Overview](#overview)
- [Installation](#installation)
- [Quickstart](#quickstart)
- [What is MCP?](#what-is-mcp)
- [Core Concepts](#core-concepts)
- [Server](#server)
- [Resources](#resources)
- [Tools](#tools)
- [Prompts](#prompts)
- [Running Your Server](#running-your-server)
- [stdio](#stdio)
- [HTTP with SSE](#http-with-sse)
- [Testing and Debugging](#testing-and-debugging)
- [Examples](#examples)
- [Echo Server](#echo-server)
- [SQLite Explorer](#sqlite-explorer)
- [Advanced Usage](#advanced-usage)
- [Low-Level Server](#low-level-server)
- [Writing MCP Clients](#writing-mcp-clients)
- [Server Capabilities](#server-capabilities)
- [Proxy OAuth Server](#proxy-authorization-requests-upstream)
## Overview
The Model Context Protocol allows applications to provide context for LLMs in a standardized way, separating the concerns of providing context from the actual LLM interaction. This TypeScript SDK implements the full MCP specification, making it easy to:
- Build MCP clients that can connect to any MCP server
- Create MCP servers that expose resources, prompts and tools
- Use standard transports like stdio and SSE
- Handle all MCP protocol messages and lifecycle events
## Installation
```bash
npm install @modelcontextprotocol/sdk
```
## Quick Start
Let's create a simple MCP server that exposes a calculator tool and some data:
```typescript
import { McpServer, ResourceTemplate } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
import { StdioServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js";
import { z } from "zod";
// Create an MCP server
const server = new McpServer({
name: "Demo",
version: "1.0.0"
});
// Add an addition tool
server.tool("add",
{ a: z.number(), b: z.number() },
async ({ a, b }) => ({
content: [{ type: "text", text: String(a + b) }]
})
);
// Add a dynamic greeting resource
server.resource(
"greeting",
new ResourceTemplate("greeting://{name}", { list: undefined }),
async (uri, { name }) => ({
contents: [{
uri: uri.href,
text: `Hello, ${name}!`
}]
})
);
// Start receiving messages on stdin and sending messages on stdout
const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
await server.connect(transport);
```
## What is MCP?
The [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) lets you build servers that expose data and functionality to LLM applications in a secure, standardized way. Think of it like a web API, but specifically designed for LLM interactions. MCP servers can:
- Expose data through **Resources** (think of these sort of like GET endpoints; they are used to load information into the LLM's context)
- Provide functionality through **Tools** (sort of like POST endpoints; they are used to execute code or otherwise produce a side effect)
- Define interaction patterns through **Prompts** (reusable templates for LLM interactions)
- And more!
## Core Concepts
### Server
The McpServer is your core interface to the MCP protocol. It handles connection management, protocol compliance, and message routing:
```typescript
const server = new McpServer({
name: "My App",
version: "1.0.0"
});
```
### Resources
Resources are how you expose data to LLMs. They're similar to GET endpoints in a REST API - they provide data but shouldn't perform significant computation or have side effects:
```typescript
// Static resource
server.resource(
"config",
"config://app",
async (uri) => ({
contents: [{
uri: uri.href,
text: "App configuration here"
}]
})
);
// Dynamic resource with parameters
server.resource(
"user-profile",
new ResourceTemplate("users://{userId}/profile", { list: undefined }),
async (uri, { userId }) => ({
contents: [{
uri: uri.href,
text: `Profile data for user ${userId}`
}]
})
);
```
### Tools
Tools let LLMs take actions through your server. Unlike resources, tools are expected to perform computation and have side effects:
```typescript
// Simple tool with parameters
server.tool(
"calculate-bmi",
{
weightKg: z.number(),
heightM: z.number()
},
async ({ weightKg, heightM }) => ({
content: [{
type: "text",
text: String(weightKg / (heightM * heightM))
}]
})
);
// Async tool with external API call
server.tool(
"fetch-weather",
{ city: z.string() },
async ({ city }) => {
const response = await fetch(`https://api.weather.com/${city}`);
const data = await response.text();
return {
content: [{ type: "text", text: data }]
};
}
);
```
### Prompts
Prompts are reusable templates that help LLMs interact with your server effectively:
```typescript
server.prompt(
"review-code",
{ code: z.string() },
({ code }) => ({
messages: [{
role: "user",
content: {
type: "text",
text: `Please review this code:\n\n${code}`
}
}]
})
);
```
## Running Your Server
MCP servers in TypeScript need to be connected to a transport to communicate with clients. How you start the server depends on the choice of transport:
### stdio
For command-line tools and direct integrations:
```typescript
import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
import { StdioServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js";
const server = new McpServer({
name: "example-server",
version: "1.0.0"
});
// ... set up server resources, tools, and prompts ...
const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
await server.connect(transport);
```
### HTTP with SSE
For remote servers, start a web server with a Server-Sent Events (SSE) endpoint, and a separate endpoint for the client to send its messages to:
```typescript
import express, { Request, Response } from "express";
import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
import { SSEServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/sse.js";
const server = new McpServer({
name: "example-server",
version: "1.0.0"
});
// ... set up server resources, tools, and prompts ...
const app = express();
// to support multiple simultaneous connections we have a lookup object from
// sessionId to transport
const transports: {[sessionId: string]: SSEServerTransport} = {};
app.get("/sse", async (_: Request, res: Response) => {
const transport = new SSEServerTransport('/messages', res);
transports[transport.sessionId] = transport;
res.on("close", () => {
delete transports[transport.sessionId];
});
await server.connect(transport);
});
app.post("/messages", async (req: Request, res: Response) => {
const sessionId = req.query.sessionId as string;
const transport = transports[sessionId];
if (transport) {
await transport.handlePostMessage(req, res);
} else {
res.status(400).send('No transport found for sessionId');
}
});
app.listen(3001);
```
### Testing and Debugging
To test your server, you can use the [MCP Inspector](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector). See its README for more information.
## Examples
### Echo Server
A simple server demonstrating resources, tools, and prompts:
```typescript
import { McpServer, ResourceTemplate } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
import { z } from "zod";
const server = new McpServer({
name: "Echo",
version: "1.0.0"
});
server.resource(
"echo",
new ResourceTemplate("echo://{message}", { list: undefined }),
async (uri, { message }) => ({
contents: [{
uri: uri.href,
text: `Resource echo: ${message}`
}]
})
);
server.tool(
"echo",
{ message: z.string() },
async ({ message }) => ({
content: [{ type: "text", text: `Tool echo: ${message}` }]
})
);
server.prompt(
"echo",
{ message: z.string() },
({ message }) => ({
messages: [{
role: "user",
content: {
type: "text",
text: `Please process this message: ${message}`
}
}]
})
);
```
### SQLite Explorer
A more complex example showing database integration:
```typescript
import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
import sqlite3 from "sqlite3";
import { promisify } from "util";
import { z } from "zod";
const server = new McpServer({
name: "SQLite Explorer",
version: "1.0.0"
});
// Helper to create DB connection
const getDb = () => {
const db = new sqlite3.Database("database.db");
return {
all: promisify<string, any[]>(db.all.bind(db)),
close: promisify(db.close.bind(db))
};
};
server.resource(
"schema",
"schema://main",
async (uri) => {
const db = getDb();
try {
const tables = await db.all(
"SELECT sql FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table'"
);
return {
contents: [{
uri: uri.href,
text: tables.map((t: {sql: string}) => t.sql).join("\n")
}]
};
} finally {
await db.close();
}
}
);
server.tool(
"query",
{ sql: z.string() },
async ({ sql }) => {
const db = getDb();
try {
const results = await db.all(sql);
return {
content: [{
type: "text",
text: JSON.stringify(results, null, 2)
}]
};
} catch (err: unknown) {
const error = err as Error;
return {
content: [{
type: "text",
text: `Error: ${error.message}`
}],
isError: true
};
} finally {
await db.close();
}
}
);
```
## Advanced Usage
### Dynamic Servers
If you want to offer an initial set of tools/prompts/resources, but later add additional ones based on user action or external state change, you can add/update/remove them _after_ the Server is connected. This will automatically emit the corresponding `listChanged` notificaions:
```ts
import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
import { z } from "zod";
const server = new McpServer({
name: "Dynamic Example",
version: "1.0.0"
});
const listMessageTool = server.tool(
"listMessages",
{ channel: z.string() },
async ({ channel }) => ({
content: [{ type: "text", text: await listMessages(channel) }]
})
);
const putMessageTool = server.tool(
"putMessage",
{ channel: z.string(), message: z.string() },
async ({ channel, message }) => ({
content: [{ type: "text", text: await putMessage(channel, string) }]
})
);
// Until we upgrade auth, `putMessage` is disabled (won't show up in listTools)
putMessageTool.disable()
const upgradeAuthTool = server.tool(
"upgradeAuth",
{ permission: z.enum(["write', vadmin"])},
// Any mutations here will automatically emit `listChanged` notifications
async ({ permission }) => {
const { ok, err, previous } = await upgradeAuthAndStoreToken(permission)
if (!ok) return {content: [{ type: "text", text: `Error: ${err}` }]}
// If we previously had read-only access, 'putMessage' is now available
if (previous === "read") {
putMessageTool.enable()
}
if (permission === 'write') {
// If we've just upgraded to 'write' permissions, we can still call 'upgradeAuth'
// but can only upgrade to 'admin'.
upgradeAuthTool.update({
paramSchema: { permission: z.enum(["admin"]) }, // change validation rules
})
} else {
// If we're now an admin, we no longer have anywhere to upgrade to, so fully remove that tool
upgradeAuthTool.remove()
}
}
)
// Connect as normal
const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
await server.connect(transport);
```
### Low-Level Server
For more control, you can use the low-level Server class directly:
```typescript
import { Server } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/index.js";
import { StdioServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js";
import {
ListPromptsRequestSchema,
GetPromptRequestSchema
} from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/types.js";
const server = new Server(
{
name: "example-server",
version: "1.0.0"
},
{
capabilities: {
prompts: {}
}
}
);
server.setRequestHandler(ListPromptsRequestSchema, async () => {
return {
prompts: [{
name: "example-prompt",
description: "An example prompt template",
arguments: [{
name: "arg1",
description: "Example argument",
required: true
}]
}]
};
});
server.setRequestHandler(GetPromptRequestSchema, async (request) => {
if (request.params.name !== "example-prompt") {
throw new Error("Unknown prompt");
}
return {
description: "Example prompt",
messages: [{
role: "user",
content: {
type: "text",
text: "Example prompt text"
}
}]
};
});
const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
await server.connect(transport);
```
### Writing MCP Clients
The SDK provides a high-level client interface:
```typescript
import { Client } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/index.js";
import { StdioClientTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/stdio.js";
const transport = new StdioClientTransport({
command: "node",
args: ["server.js"]
});
const client = new Client(
{
name: "example-client",
version: "1.0.0"
}
);
await client.connect(transport);
// List prompts
const prompts = await client.listPrompts();
// Get a prompt
const prompt = await client.getPrompt({
name: "example-prompt",
arguments: {
arg1: "value"
}
});
// List resources
const resources = await client.listResources();
// Read a resource
const resource = await client.readResource({
uri: "file:///example.txt"
});
// Call a tool
const result = await client.callTool({
name: "example-tool",
arguments: {
arg1: "value"
}
});
```
### Proxy Authorization Requests Upstream
You can proxy OAuth requests to an external authorization provider:
```typescript
import express from 'express';
import { ProxyOAuthServerProvider, mcpAuthRouter } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk';
const app = express();
const proxyProvider = new ProxyOAuthServerProvider({
endpoints: {
authorizationUrl: "https://auth.external.com/oauth2/v1/authorize",
tokenUrl: "https://auth.external.com/oauth2/v1/token",
revocationUrl: "https://auth.external.com/oauth2/v1/revoke",
},
verifyAccessToken: async (token) => {
return {
token,
clientId: "123",
scopes: ["openid", "email", "profile"],
}
},
getClient: async (client_id) => {
return {
client_id,
redirect_uris: ["http://localhost:3000/callback"],
}
}
})
app.use(mcpAuthRouter({
provider: proxyProvider,
issuerUrl: new URL("http://auth.external.com"),
baseUrl: new URL("http://mcp.example.com"),
serviceDocumentationUrl: new URL("https://docs.example.com/"),
}))
```
This setup allows you to:
- Forward OAuth requests to an external provider
- Add custom token validation logic
- Manage client registrations
- Provide custom documentation URLs
- Maintain control over the OAuth flow while delegating to an external provider
## Documentation
- [Model Context Protocol documentation](https://modelcontextprotocol.io)
- [MCP Specification](https://spec.modelcontextprotocol.io)
- [Example Servers](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers)
## Contributing
Issues and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk.
## License
This project is licensed under the MIT License—see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.
