Build Your First MCP Server in 10 Minutes

This guide walks you through creating a simple MCP server that exposes a tool to Claude Desktop. By the end, Claude will be able to call your custom tool and return results. Choose TypeScript or Python — both take about 10 minutes.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+ (for TypeScript) or Python 3.10+ (for Python)
• Claude Desktop installed (download here)
• A text editor

Option A: TypeScript

Step 1: Create the project

mkdir my-mcp-server && cd my-mcp-server
npm init -y
npm install @modelcontextprotocol/sdk

Step 2: Write the server

Create server.ts:

import { McpServer } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js';
import { StdioServerTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js';

const server = new McpServer({
  name: 'my-first-server',
  version: '1.0.0',
});

// Define a simple tool
server.tool(
  'greet',
  'Greet someone by name',
  { name: { type: 'string', description: 'Name to greet' } },
  async ({ name }) => ({
    content: [{ type: 'text', text: `Hello, ${name}! This response came from your MCP server.` }],
  }),
);

// Start the server
const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
server.connect(transport);
console.error('MCP server running on stdio');

Step 3: Configure Claude Desktop

Open your Claude Desktop config file. Use our Config Generator to create the correct format, or add this manually:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-first-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "tsx", "/absolute/path/to/server.ts"]
    }
  }
}

Config file locations:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Step 4: Test it

Restart Claude Desktop. In a new conversation, ask: "Use the greet tool to say hello to Alice." Claude will call your MCP server's greet tool and display the result.

Option B: Python

Step 1: Install the SDK

pip install "mcp[cli]"

Step 2: Write the server

Create server.py:

from mcp.server.fastmcp import FastMCP

mcp = FastMCP("my-first-server")

@mcp.tool()
async def greet(name: str) -> str:
    """Greet someone by name.

    Args:
        name: The name of the person to greet.
    """
    return f"Hello, {name}! This response came from your MCP server."

if __name__ == "__main__":
    mcp.run(transport="stdio")

Step 3: Configure Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-first-server": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

What's Next?

• Add more tools — each server.tool() call defines a new capability Claude can use.
• Validate your tool schemas to catch errors before deployment.
• Use our Server Template Generator to scaffold a full server with multiple tools.
• Browse the official MCP servers for inspiration.