README.md

Fast MCP Server – Interview Question Generator

This project is a FastAPI-based MCP (Model Control Protocol) Server that uses Google Gemini LLM to generate five interview questions from a given job description. It can run locally for testing or be deployed to Google Cloud Run using Terraform.

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Features

• REST API built with FastAPI
• Uses Gemini 2.5 Flash model via google-generativeai
• /generate_questions endpoint to generate interview questions
• Deployable to Google Cloud Run
• Secure Gemini API key stored in Secret Manager
• Infrastructure as code with Terraform

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Project Structure

.
├── mcp_server.py             # FastAPI app source code
├── requirements.txt          # Python dependencies
├── docker-compose.yml        # Container build file
├── terraform/
│   ├── provider.tf
│   ├── variables.tf
│   ├── enable_apis.tf
│   ├── service_account.tf
│   ├── secret_manager.tf
│   ├── secret_iam.tf
│   ├── cloud_run.tf
│   ├── outputs.tf
│   └── terraform.tfvars.example
└── README.md

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Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed locally:

• Python 3.11+
• Docker
• Terraform ≥ 1.2.0
• Google Cloud SDK (gcloud)
• A GCP project with billing enabled
• A Gemini API key from Google AI Studio

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Local Setup and Testing

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/fast-mcp-server.git
cd fast-mcp-server

2. Create and Activate a Virtual Environment

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate   # Linux / Mac
# or
.venv\Scripts\activate      # Windows

3. Install Dependencies

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Set the Gemini API Key

export GEMINI_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"     # Linux / Mac
# or
setx GEMINI_API_KEY "your_api_key_here"       # Windows (PowerShell)

5. Run the Application

uvicorn mcp_server:app --reload

6. Test the Endpoint

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8000/generate_questions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"description": "We are looking for a data engineer with experience in Python, SQL, ETL pipelines, and cloud tools like GCP or AWS."}'

Expected output:

{
  "questions": [
    "1. How would you design an ETL pipeline using Python and SQL?",
    "2. What are the key differences between GCP and AWS for data workflows?",
    "3. How would you handle failures in a production data pipeline?",
    "4. What strategies do you use to optimize SQL queries for large datasets?",
    "5. Describe a scenario where you automated a data process using Python."
  ]
}

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Docker Build (Optional)

1. Build Docker Image

docker build -t mcp-server:latest .

2. Run Locally in Docker

docker run -p 8000:8000 -e GEMINI_API_KEY=$GEMINI_API_KEY mcp-server:latest

3. Test

curl http://127.0.0.1:8000/health

---

Deploy to Google Cloud Run with Terraform

All Terraform configuration files are in the terraform/ directory.

1. Authenticate and Configure GCP

gcloud auth login
gcloud config set project YOUR_PROJECT_ID
gcloud auth application-default login

2. Build and Push Docker Image to GCP

IMAGE="gcr.io/YOUR_PROJECT_ID/mcp-server:latest"
docker build -t $IMAGE .
docker push $IMAGE

3. Configure Terraform Variables

Create a file named terraform.tfvars inside the terraform/ folder:

project        = "your-gcp-project-id"
region         = "us-central1"
image          = "gcr.io/your-gcp-project-id/mcp-server:latest"
gemini_api_key = "YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY"

(Do not commit this file with the real API key to version control.)

4. Initialize Terraform

cd terraform
terraform init

5. Deploy Infrastructure

terraform apply

Type yes to confirm.

Terraform will:

• Enable required GCP APIs
• Create a Cloud Run service
• Store your Gemini API key in Secret Manager
• Assign necessary IAM roles
• Expose a public endpoint

6. Get the Cloud Run URL

After deployment, Terraform will output the service URL:

Outputs:

cloud_run_url = "https://mcp-server-xxxxxx-uc.a.run.app"

7. Test the Deployed API

curl -X POST https://mcp-server-xxxxxx-uc.a.run.app/generate_questions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"description": "We are looking for a backend engineer with FastAPI and Google Cloud experience."}'

---

Troubleshooting

• 403 Permission Denied: Check IAM roles for the Cloud Run service account (should have Secret Manager Secret Accessor).
• 500 Internal Server Error: Make sure GEMINI_API_KEY is correctly stored and accessible by the service.
• Invalid JSON Error: Ensure you are sending proper JSON with double quotes, not single quotes.

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Cleanup

To remove all deployed resources:

terraform destroy

Docker Compose

Run command PROD:

docker-compose up --build

Run command DEV:

docker-compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up --build

Stop command:

docker-compose down

Uvicorn Server

Uvicorn is an ASGI web server implementation for Python.

Run MCP Server

uvicorn mcp_server:app --reload