MCP Course Code

This repository contains multiple MCP (Model Context Protocol) server examples and a client testing tool. Each project demonstrates different aspects of building and working with MCP servers.

Projects Overview

1. Ex1 - MCP: Math MCP Server - Provides basic mathematical operations and math jokes
2. Ex3 - Priv Esc: Todo List MCP Server - Manages todo lists for users (Alice and Bob)
3. Ex4 - Select server: Weather MCP Server - Returns weather-related jokes
4. mcp-lite: MCP Client Tester - A tool for testing and interacting with MCP servers

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 18.0.0
• npm >= 9.0.0

To check your versions:

node --version
npm --version

Installation

Each project has its own dependencies. Navigate to each project directory and install dependencies:

Ex1 - MCP (Math Server)

cd "Ex1 - MCP"
npm install

Ex3 - Priv Esc (Todo List Server)

cd "Ex3 - Priv Esc"
npm install

Ex4 - Select server (Weather Server)

cd "Ex4 - Select server"
npm install

mcp-lite (MCP Client Tester)

cd mcp-lite
npm install

Optional - Install globally:

cd mcp-lite
npm install -g

This makes the mcp-client command available globally.

Usage

Ex1 - MCP: Math Server

A server that provides mathematical operations and math jokes.

Running the Server

cd "Ex1 - MCP"
npm start

Or directly:

node src/index.js

Available Tools

• add: Add two numbers ({ "a": 5, "b": 3 })
• subtract: Subtract two numbers ({ "a": 10, "b": 4 })
• multiply: Multiply two numbers ({ "a": 7, "b": 6 })
• divide: Divide two numbers ({ "a": 20, "b": 4 })
• power: Raise a number to a power ({ "base": 2, "exponent": 8 })
• get_math_joke: Get a random math joke ({})

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to your Claude Desktop config file (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "math-server": {
      "command": "/Users/katiepaxtonfear/Documents/MCP Course Code/Ex1 - MCP/run-server.sh"
    }
  }
}

Note: Update the path to match your actual project location. Make sure run-server.sh is executable:

chmod +x "Ex1 - MCP/run-server.sh"

Ex3 - Priv Esc: Todo List Server

A server that manages todo lists for users (Alice and Bob).

Running the Server

cd "Ex3 - Priv Esc"
npm start

Or directly:

node src/index.js

Available Tools

• get_todos: Get all todos for a user

  { "email": "alice@example.com" }

• create_todo: Create a new todo for a user

  {
    "email": "bob@example.com",
    "title": "Review pull request #123",
    "priority": "high",
    "status": "pending"
  }

• mark_todo_complete: Mark a todo as completed

  {
    "email": "alice@example.com",
    "todo_id": 1
  }

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to your Claude Desktop config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "todo-list-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/Users/katiepaxtonfear/Documents/MCP Course Code/Ex3 - Priv Esc/src/index.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Note: Update the path to match your actual project location.

Ex4 - Select server: Weather Server

A server that returns weather-related jokes (with a humorous twist).

Running the Server

cd "Ex4 - Select server"
npm start

Or directly:

node src/index.js

Available Tools

• forecast: Get a weather forecast (actually returns a weather-related joke)

  {}

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to your Claude Desktop config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "weather-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/Users/katiepaxtonfear/Documents/MCP Course Code/Ex4 - Select server/src/index.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Note: Update the path to match your actual project location.

mcp-lite: MCP Client Tester

A command-line tool for testing and interacting with MCP servers. Useful for security testing, tool enumeration, and server configuration analysis.

Configuration

Create an MCPserver.json file in the mcp-lite directory (or specify a custom path with --config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "math-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/Users/katiepaxtonfear/Documents/MCP Course Code/Ex1 - MCP/src/index.js"
      ]
    },
    "todo-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/Users/katiepaxtonfear/Documents/MCP Course Code/Ex3 - Priv Esc/src/index.js"
      ]
    },
    "weather-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/Users/katiepaxtonfear/Documents/MCP Course Code/Ex4 - Select server/src/index.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Note: Update all paths to match your actual project locations.

Common Commands

List all tools from all servers:

cd mcp-lite
npm start -- list
# or if installed globally:
mcp-client list

List tools from a specific server:

npm start -- list --server math-server
# or
mcp-client list --server math-server

List all configured servers:

npm start -- servers
# or
mcp-client servers

Get server information:

npm start -- info math-server
# or
mcp-client info math-server

Generate a tool call template:

npm start -- generate math-server add
# or
mcp-client generate math-server add

Call a tool:

npm start -- call math-server add --args '{"a":5,"b":3}'
# or
mcp-client call math-server add --args '{"a":5,"b":3}'

Call a tool with arguments from a file:

npm start -- call math-server add --args-file ./args.json
# or
mcp-client call math-server add --args-file ./args.json

JSON output (for automation):

npm start -- list --json
# or
mcp-client list --json

Custom configuration file:

npm start -- list --config /path/to/config.json
# or
mcp-client list --config /path/to/config.json

For more detailed usage information, see the mcp-lite README.

Claude Desktop Configuration

To use multiple servers with Claude Desktop, merge all server configurations into a single mcpServers object:

macOS location: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows location: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Example combined configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "math-server": {
      "command": "/Users/katiepaxtonfear/Documents/MCP Course Code/Ex1 - MCP/run-server.sh"
    },
    "todo-list-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/Users/katiepaxtonfear/Documents/MCP Course Code/Ex3 - Priv Esc/src/index.js"
      ]
    },
    "weather-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/Users/katiepaxtonfear/Documents/MCP Course Code/Ex4 - Select server/src/index.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Important Notes:

• Update all paths to match your actual project locations
• Find your Node.js path with which node (macOS/Linux) or where node (Windows)
• Make sure run-server.sh is executable: chmod +x "Ex1 - MCP/run-server.sh"
• After updating the config, restart Claude Desktop

Troubleshooting

Server Won't Start

1. Check Node.js installation:

   which node  # macOS/Linux
   where node  # Windows

2. Verify dependencies are installed:

   cd <project-directory>
   npm install

3. Test the server manually:

   cd <project-directory>
   npm start

4. Check file permissions (for shell scripts):

   chmod +x "Ex1 - MCP/run-server.sh"

Claude Desktop Issues

1. Check Claude Desktop logs for error messages
2. Verify paths in the configuration file are correct and absolute
3. Restart Claude Desktop after making configuration changes
4. Test servers manually first to ensure they work independently

mcp-lite Connection Issues

1. Verify server configuration in MCPserver.json
2. Check that server commands are available in your PATH
3. Ensure required environment variables are set (if any)
4. Test servers individually using npm start in each project directory

Project Structure

MCP Course Code/
├── Ex1 - MCP/              # Math MCP Server
│   ├── src/
│   │   └── index.js
│   ├── package.json
│   ├── run-server.sh
│   └── claude_desktop_config.json
├── Ex3 - Priv Esc/         # Todo List MCP Server
│   ├── src/
│   │   └── index.js
│   ├── package.json
│   └── claude_desktop_config.json
├── Ex4 - Select server/    # Weather MCP Server
│   ├── src/
│   │   └── index.js
│   ├── package.json
│   └── claude_desktop_config.json
└── mcp-lite/              # MCP Client Tester
    ├── src/
    │   ├── cli.js
    │   ├── mcp-client.js
    │   └── oauth-provider.js
    ├── package.json
    └── MCPserver.json.example

Additional Resources

• Each project has its own detailed README with specific usage instructions
• See individual project READMEs for more examples and detailed documentation
• MCP Documentation

License

All projects in this repository are licensed under MIT.