Building a Custom MCP Server: A Beginner’s Guide

Welcome to this beginner-friendly tutorial on the Model-View-Controller (MCP) architecture! In this guide, we will focus on the components and applications of MCP servers. By the end of this tutorial, you will have the knowledge to build your own custom MCP server that enables code-to-diagram functionality.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the tutorial, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• A basic understanding of programming concepts.
• Familiarity with server architecture and web applications.
• Access to a development environment (like Node.js or Python) to run your server.

Understanding MCP Architecture

The Model-View-Controller (MCP) architecture is a design pattern used in software development. It separates an application into three interconnected components:

• Model: This represents the data and the business logic of the application.
• View: This is the user interface that displays the data to the user.
• Controller: This acts as an intermediary between the Model and the View, processing user input and updating the Model and View accordingly.

Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Custom MCP Server

Now that you have a basic understanding of MCP architecture, let’s walk through the steps to build your custom MCP server.

Step 1: Set Up Your Development Environment

First, you need to set up your development environment. Depending on your preference, you can choose Node.js or Python. Here’s how to set up each:

• For Node.js:
  • Download and install Node.js from the official website.
  • Create a new directory for your project and navigate into it using the terminal.
  • Run npm init to create a package.json file.
• For Python:
  • Download and install Python from the official website.
  • Create a new directory for your project.
  • Set up a virtual environment by running python -m venv venv.
  • Activate the virtual environment.

Step 2: Install Required Packages

Next, you need to install the necessary packages for your MCP server. Here are the commands for both Node.js and Python:

• For Node.js: Run the following command in your terminal:

  npm install express body-parser

• For Python: Run the following command in your terminal:

  pip install Flask

Step 3: Create the Server

Now it’s time to create the server. Below are the basic server setups for both Node.js and Python:

• Node.js:

  const express = require('express');
  const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
  
  const app = express();
  app.use(bodyParser.json());
  
  app.get('/', (req, res) => {
      res.send('Hello, MCP Server!');
  });
  
  app.listen(3000, () => {
      console.log('Server is running on http://localhost:3000');
  });

• Python:

  from flask import Flask
  
  app = Flask(__name__)
  
  @app.route('/')
  def home():
      return 'Hello, MCP Server!'
  
  if __name__ == '__main__':
      app.run(debug=True)

Step 4: Test Your Server

After setting up your server, it’s time to test it. Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000 for Node.js or http://127.0.0.1:5000 for Python. You should see the message “Hello, MCP Server!” displayed on the page.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully built a custom MCP server that can serve as a foundation for further development. You can now expand its functionality by integrating code-to-diagram features or other applications as needed.

For more information and advanced topics, feel free to check out the original post Model Context Protocol (MCP) Tutorial: Build Your First MCP Server in 6 Steps”>here and visit Towards Data Science”>this link for additional resources.