boilerplate-mcp-server

This project serves as a foundation for developing custom Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers that connect AI assistants to external data sources or APIs. It provides a complete architecture pattern, a working example tool, and development infrastructure ready for extension.

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that allows AI systems to securely and contextually connect with external tools and data sources.

This boilerplate implements the MCP specification with a clean, layered architecture that can be extended to build custom MCP servers for any API or data source.

• Production-Ready Architecture: Follows the same pattern used in published MCP servers, with clear separation between CLI, tools, controllers, and services.

• Type Safety: Built with TypeScript for improved developer experience, code quality, and maintainability.

• Working Example: Includes a fully implemented IP lookup tool demonstrating the complete pattern from CLI to API integration.

• Testing Framework: Comes with testing infrastructure for both unit and CLI integration tests, including coverage reporting.

• Development Tooling: Includes ESLint, Prettier, TypeScript, and other quality tools preconfigured for MCP server development.

• Node.js (>=18.x): Download
• Git: For version control

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/aashari/boilerplate-mcp-server.git
cd boilerplate-mcp-server

# Install dependencies
npm install

Start the server in development mode:

npm run dev:server

This starts the MCP server with hot-reloading and enables the MCP Inspector at http://localhost:5173.

Run the example IP lookup tool from the CLI:

# Using CLI in development mode
npm run dev:cli -- get-ip-details

# Or with a specific IP
npm run dev:cli -- get-ip-details 8.8.8.8

This boilerplate follows a clean, layered architecture pattern that separates concerns and promotes maintainability.

src/
├── cli/              # Command-line interfaces
├── controllers/      # Business logic
├── services/         # External API interactions
├── tools/            # MCP tool definitions
├── types/            # Type definitions
├── utils/            # Shared utilities
└── index.ts          # Entry point

• Purpose: Define command-line interfaces that parse arguments and call controllers
• Naming: Files should be named <feature>.cli.ts
• Testing: CLI integration tests in <feature>.cli.test.ts

• Purpose: Define MCP tools with schemas and descriptions for AI assistants
• Naming: Files should be named <feature>.tool.ts with types in <feature>.types.ts
• Pattern: Each tool should use zod for argument validation

• Purpose: Implement business logic, handle errors, and format responses
• Naming: Files should be named <feature>.controller.ts
• Pattern: Should return standardized ControllerResponse objects

• Purpose: Interact with external APIs or data sources
• Naming: Files should be named <feature>.service.ts
• Pattern: Pure API interactions with minimal logic

• Purpose: Provide shared functionality across the application
• Key Utils:
  • logger.util.ts: Structured logging
  • error.util.ts: Error handling and standardization
  • formatter.util.ts: Markdown formatting helpers

# Start server in development mode (hot-reload & inspector)
npm run dev:server

# Run CLI in development mode
npm run dev:cli -- [command] [args]

# Build the project
npm run build

# Start server in production mode
npm run start:server

# Run CLI in production mode
npm run start:cli -- [command] [args]

# Run all tests
npm test

# Run specific tests
npm test -- src/path/to/test.ts

# Generate test coverage report
npm run test:coverage

# Lint code
npm run lint

# Format code with Prettier
npm run format

# Check types
npm run typecheck

Follow these steps to add your own tools to the server:

Create a new service in src/services/ to interact with your external API:

// src/services/example.service.ts
import { Logger } from '../utils/logger.util.js';

const logger = Logger.forContext('services/example.service.ts');

export async function getData(param: string): Promise<any> {
	logger.debug('Getting data', { param });
	// API interaction code here
	return { result: 'example data' };
}

Add a controller in src/controllers/ to handle business logic:

// src/controllers/example.controller.ts
import { Logger } from '../utils/logger.util.js';
import * as exampleService from '../services/example.service.js';
import { formatMarkdown } from '../utils/formatter.util.js';
import { handleControllerError } from '../utils/error-handler.util.js';
import { ControllerResponse } from '../types/common.types.js';

const logger = Logger.forContext('controllers/example.controller.ts');

export interface GetDataOptions {
	param?: string;
}

export async function getData(
	options: GetDataOptions = {},
): Promise<ControllerResponse> {
	try {
		logger.debug('Getting data with options', options);

		const data = await exampleService.getData(options.param || 'default');

		const content = formatMarkdown(data);

		return { content };
	} catch (error) {
		throw handleControllerError(error, {
			entityType: 'ExampleData',
			operation: 'getData',
			source: 'controllers/example.controller.ts',
		});
	}
}

Create a tool definition in src/tools/:

// src/tools/example.tool.ts
import { McpServer } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js';
import { z } from 'zod';
import { Logger } from '../utils/logger.util.js';
import { formatErrorForMcpTool } from '../utils/error.util.js';
import * as exampleController from '../controllers/example.controller.js';

const logger = Logger.forContext('tools/example.tool.ts');

const GetDataArgs = z.object({
	param: z.string().optional().describe('Optional parameter'),
});

type GetDataArgsType = z.infer<typeof GetDataArgs>;

async function handleGetData(args: GetDataArgsType) {
	try {
		logger.debug('Tool get_data called', args);

		const result = await exampleController.getData({
			param: args.param,
		});

		return {
			content: [{ type: 'text' as const, text: result.content }],
		};
	} catch (error) {
		logger.error('Tool get_data failed', error);
		return formatErrorForMcpTool(error);
	}
}

export function register(server: McpServer) {
	server.tool(
		'get_data',
		`Gets data from the example API, optionally using \`param\`.
Use this to fetch example data. Returns formatted data as Markdown.`,
		GetDataArgs.shape,
		handleGetData,
	);
}

Create a CLI command in src/cli/:

// src/cli/example.cli.ts
import { program } from 'commander';
import { Logger } from '../utils/logger.util.js';
import * as exampleController from '../controllers/example.controller.js';
import { handleCliError } from '../utils/error-handler.util.js';

const logger = Logger.forContext('cli/example.cli.ts');

program
	.command('get-data')
	.description('Get example data')
	.option('--param <value>', 'Optional parameter')
	.action(async (options) => {
		try {
			logger.debug('CLI get-data called', options);

			const result = await exampleController.getData({
				param: options.param,
			});

			console.log(result.content);
		} catch (error) {
			handleCliError(error);
		}
	});

Update the entry points to register your new components:

// In src/cli/index.ts
import '../cli/example.cli.js';

// In src/index.ts (for the tool)
import exampleTool from './tools/example.tool.js';
// Then in registerTools function:
exampleTool.register(server);

Access the visual MCP Inspector to test your tools and view request/response details:

1. Run npm run dev:server
2. Open http://localhost:5173 in your browser
3. Test your tools and view logs directly in the UI

Enable debug logs for development:

# Set environment variable
DEBUG=true npm run dev:server

# Or configure in ~/.mcp/configs.json

When ready to publish your custom MCP server:

1. Update package.json with your details
2. Update README.md with your tool documentation
3. Build the project: npm run build
4. Test the production build: npm run start:server
5. Publish to npm: npm publish

ISC License

{
	"boilerplate": {
		"environments": {
			"DEBUG": "true",
			"ANY_OTHER_CONFIG": "value"
		}
	}
}

Note: For backward compatibility, the server will also recognize configurations under the full package name (@aashari/boilerplate-mcp-server) or the unscoped package name (boilerplate-mcp-server) if the boilerplate key is not found. However, using the short boilerplate key is recommended for new configurations.