# MCP Server Starter
Created by
**Want to build your own MCP server?**
MCP Server Starter gives you a basic structure to run local tools with Cursor, Claude, and others using the MCP standard.
---
## Features
- 📡 **Flexible Communication**
- Supports multiple communication protocols between client and server,
- `stdio`: Local usage
- `Streamable HTTP`: Remote and local useage
- `sse`: Remote and local usage (deprecated)~~
- 📦 **Minimal Setup** - Get started quickly with a basic server implementation.
- 🤖 **Cursor AI Integration** - Includes example `.cursor/mcp.json` configuration.
- ⌨️ **TypeScript** - Add type safety to your project.
## Todo
- [ ] Add option to publish your own packages
- [ ] Better CLI support for scaffolding
- [ ] Prompts to build tools on the fly
## Getting Started
### Prerequisites
- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) (Specify version if necessary)
- An MCP-compatible client (e.g., [Cursor](https://cursor.com/))
## Usage
### Supported Transport Options
Model Context Protocol Supports multiple Transport methods.
### stdio
Recommend for local setups
#### Code Editor Support
Add the code snippets below
* Cursor: `.cursor/mcp.json`
**Local development/testing**
Use this if you want to test your mcp server locally
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"my-starter-mcp-stdio": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["./bin/cli.mjs", "--stdio"]
}
}
}
```
**Published Package**
Use this when you have published your package in the npm registry
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"my-starter-mcp-stdio": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["my-mcp-server", "--stdio"]
}
}
}
```
### Streamable HTTP
>Important: Streamable HTTP is not supported in Cursor yet
Recommend for remote server usage
**Important:** In contrast to stdio you need also to run the server with the correct flag
**Local development**
Use the `streamable http` transport
1. Start the MCP Server
Run this in your terminal
```bash
node ./bin/cli.mjs --http --port 4200
```
Or with mcp inspector
```
npm run dev-http
# npm run dev-sse (deprecated)
```
2. Add this to your config
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"my-starter-mcp-http": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["./bin/cli.mjs", "--http", "--port", "4001"]
// "args": ["./bin/cli.mjs", "--sse", "--port", "4002"] (or deprecated sse usage)
}
}
}
```
**Published Package**
Use this when you have published your package in the npm registry
Run this in your terminal
```bash
npx my-mcp-server --http --port 4200
# npx my-mcp-server --sse --port 4201 (deprecated)
```
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"my-starter-mcp-http": {
"url": "http://localhost:4200/mcp"
// "url": "http://localhost:4201/sse"
}
}
}
```
## Use the Inspector
Use the `inspect` command to debug your mcp server
## Command-Line Options
### Protocol Selection
| Protocol | Description | Flags | Notes |
| :------- | :--------------------- | :--------------------------------------------------- | :-------------- |
| `stdio` | Standard I/O | (None) | Default |
| `http` | HTTP REST | `--port ` (def: 3000), `--endpoint ` (def: `/mcp`) | |
| `sse` | Server-Sent Events | `--port ` (def: 3000) | Deprecated |
## License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
---
## Courses
- Learn to build software with AI: [instructa.ai](https://www.instructa.ai)