Build Your Own MCP Server in 10 Minutes — The Only Guide You Need
A hands-on, beginner-friendly guide to building a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server from scratch in 10 minutes — includes Node.js and Python examples, deployment tips, JSON schema & function-calling best practices, and real-world use cases.
🚀 Why MCP Is the Future of AI Tools
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI models interact with external tools, apps, and data sources in a structured, secure way. Think of it as the upgrade to traditional function calling — more reliable, more flexible, and universal across LLMs.
🧩 What You'll Build
By the end of this guide, you'll have an MCP server that supports:
- Tool registration
- Schema-based actions
- Secure AI function access
- JSON-based tool results
Step 1: Create Your Project
{mkdir mcp- server
cd mcp - server
npm init - y}
Step 2: Install MCP Server Packages (Node.js)
{npm install @modelcontextprotocol / sdk}
Step 3: Create a Simple MCP Server
{// index.js
import { Server } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk";
const server = new Server({
name: "demo-mcp-server",
version: "1.0.0",
});
server.tool("get_time", {
description: "Returns current server time",
run: async () => {
return { time: new Date().toISOString() };
},
});
server.start();
console.log("MCP Server running..."); }
Python Version (Optional)
{from mcp import MCPServer
import datetime
server = MCPServer(name = "demo-mcp", version = "1.0.0")
@server.tool()
def get_time():
return { "time": datetime.datetime.utcnow().isoformat() }
server.start()
print("MCP Server running...")}
Step 4: Connect Your MCP Server to an AI Model
In your AI client setup:
{client.mcp.connect({
url: "http://localhost:3000",
}); }
🎉 You're Done!
You now have a fully functional MCP server ready to integrate into any AI agent, workflow, or tool ecosystem. Expand it with more tools, secure it, and deploy anywhere.