MCP TypeScript SDK

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Installation
• Quickstart
• What is MCP?
• Core Concepts
  • Server
  • Resources
  • Tools
  • Prompts
• Running Your Server
  • stdio
  • Streamable HTTP
  • Testing and Debugging
• Examples
  • Echo Server
  • SQLite Explorer
• Advanced Usage
  • Low-Level Server
  • Writing MCP Clients
  • Server Capabilities
  • Proxy OAuth Server
  • Backwards Compatibility

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 Streamable HTTP
• Handle all MCP protocol messages and lifecycle events

Installation

npm install @modelcontextprotocol/sdk

Quick Start

Let's create a simple MCP server that exposes a calculator tool and some data:

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) 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:

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:

// 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:

// 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:

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:

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);

Streamable HTTP

For remote servers, set up a Streamable HTTP transport that handles both client requests and server-to-client notifications.

With Session Management

In some cases, servers need to be stateful. This is achieved by session management.

import express from "express";
import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";
import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
import { StreamableHTTPServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/streamableHttp.js";
import { isInitializeRequest } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/types.js"



const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

// Map to store transports by session ID
const transports: { [sessionId: string]: StreamableHTTPServerTransport } = {};

// Handle POST requests for client-to-server communication
app.post('/mcp', async (req, res) => {
  // Check for existing session ID
  const sessionId = req.headers['mcp-session-id'] as string | undefined;
  let transport: StreamableHTTPServerTransport;

  if (sessionId && transports[sessionId]) {
    // Reuse existing transport
    transport = transports[sessionId];
  } else if (!sessionId && isInitializeRequest(req.body)) {
    // New initialization request
    transport = new StreamableHTTPServerTransport({
      sessionIdGenerator: () => randomUUID(),
      onsessioninitialized: (sessionId) => {
        // Store the transport by session ID
        transports[sessionId] = transport;
      }
    });

    // Clean up transport when closed
    transport.onclose = () => {
      if (transport.sessionId) {
        delete transports[transport.sessionId];
      }
    };
    const server = new McpServer({
      name: "example-server",
      version: "1.0.0"
    });

    // ... set up server resources, tools, and prompts ...

    // Connect to the MCP server
    await server.connect(transport);
  } else {
    // Invalid request
    res.status(400).json({
      jsonrpc: '2.0',
      error: {
        code: -32000,
        message: 'Bad Request: No valid session ID provided',
      },
      id: null,
    });
    return;
  }

  // Handle the request
  await transport.handleRequest(req, res, req.body);
});

// Reusable handler for GET and DELETE requests
const handleSessionRequest = async (req: express.Request, res: express.Response) => {
  const sessionId = req.headers['mcp-session-id'] as string | undefined;
  if (!sessionId || !transports[sessionId]) {
    res.status(400).send('Invalid or missing session ID');
    return;
  }
  
  const transport = transports[sessionId];
  await transport.handleRequest(req, res);
};

// Handle GET requests for server-to-client notifications via SSE
app.get('/mcp', handleSessionRequest);

// Handle DELETE requests for session termination
app.delete('/mcp', handleSessionRequest);

app.listen(3000);

Without Session Management (Stateless)

For simpler use cases where session management isn't needed:

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

app.post('/mcp', async (req: Request, res: Response) => {
  // In stateless mode, create a new instance of transport and server for each request
  // to ensure complete isolation. A single instance would cause request ID collisions
  // when multiple clients connect concurrently.
  
  try {
    const server = getServer(); 
    const transport: StreamableHTTPServerTransport = new StreamableHTTPServerTransport({
      sessionIdGenerator: undefined,
    });
    await server.connect(transport);
    await transport.handleRequest(req, res, req.body);
    res.on('close', () => {
      console.log('Request closed');
      transport.close();
      server.close();
    });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error handling MCP request:', error);
    if (!res.headersSent) {
      res.status(500).json({
        jsonrpc: '2.0',
        error: {
          code: -32603,
          message: 'Internal server error',
        },
        id: null,
      });
    }
  }
});

app.get('/mcp', async (req: Request, res: Response) => {
  console.log('Received GET MCP request');
  res.writeHead(405).end(JSON.stringify({
    jsonrpc: "2.0",
    error: {
      code: -32000,
      message: "Method not allowed."
    },
    id: null
  }));
});

app.delete('/mcp', async (req: Request, res: Response) => {
  console.log('Received DELETE MCP request');
  res.writeHead(405).end(JSON.stringify({
    jsonrpc: "2.0",
    error: {
      code: -32000,
      message: "Method not allowed."
    },
    id: null
  }));
});


// Start the server
const PORT = 3000;
app.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(`MCP Stateless Streamable HTTP Server listening on port ${PORT}`);
});

This stateless approach is useful for:

• Simple API wrappers
• RESTful scenarios where each request is independent
• Horizontally scaled deployments without shared session state

Testing and Debugging

To test your server, you can use the MCP Inspector. See its README for more information.

Examples

Echo Server

A simple server demonstrating resources, tools, and prompts:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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

Backwards Compatibility

Clients and servers with StreamableHttp tranport can maintain backwards compatibility with the deprecated HTTP+SSE transport (from protocol version 2024-11-05) as follows

Client-Side Compatibility

For clients that need to work with both Streamable HTTP and older SSE servers:

import { Client } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/index.js";
import { StreamableHTTPClientTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/streamableHttp.js";
import { SSEClientTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/sse.js";
let client: Client|undefined = undefined
const baseUrl = new URL(url);
try {
  client = new Client({
    name: 'streamable-http-client',
    version: '1.0.0'
  });
  const transport = new StreamableHTTPClientTransport(
    new URL(baseUrl)
  );
  await client.connect(transport);
  console.log("Connected using Streamable HTTP transport");
} catch (error) {
  // If that fails with a 4xx error, try the older SSE transport
  console.log("Streamable HTTP connection failed, falling back to SSE transport");
  client = new Client({
    name: 'sse-client',
    version: '1.0.0'
  });
  const sseTransport = new SSEClientTransport(baseUrl);
  await client.connect(sseTransport);
  console.log("Connected using SSE transport");
}

Server-Side Compatibility

For servers that need to support both Streamable HTTP and older clients:

import express from "express";
import { McpServer } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js";
import { StreamableHTTPServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/streamableHttp.js";
import { SSEServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/sse.js";

const server = new McpServer({
  name: "backwards-compatible-server",
  version: "1.0.0"
});

// ... set up server resources, tools, and prompts ...

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

// Store transports for each session type
const transports = {
  streamable: {} as Record<string, StreamableHTTPServerTransport>,
  sse: {} as Record<string, SSEServerTransport>
};

// Modern Streamable HTTP endpoint
app.all('/mcp', async (req, res) => {
  // Handle Streamable HTTP transport for modern clients
  // Implementation as shown in the "With Session Management" example
  // ...
});

// Legacy SSE endpoint for older clients
app.get('/sse', async (req, res) => {
  // Create SSE transport for legacy clients
  const transport = new SSEServerTransport('/messages', res);
  transports.sse[transport.sessionId] = transport;
  
  res.on("close", () => {
    delete transports.sse[transport.sessionId];
  });
  
  await server.connect(transport);
});

// Legacy message endpoint for older clients
app.post('/messages', async (req, res) => {
  const sessionId = req.query.sessionId as string;
  const transport = transports.sse[sessionId];
  if (transport) {
    await transport.handlePostMessage(req, res, req.body);
  } else {
    res.status(400).send('No transport found for sessionId');
  }
});

app.listen(3000);

Note: The SSE transport is now deprecated in favor of Streamable HTTP. New implementations should use Streamable HTTP, and existing SSE implementations should plan to migrate.

Documentation

• Model Context Protocol documentation
• MCP Specification
• Example 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 file for details.