MCP Server Builder Guidelines

This skill defines the high-integrity requirements for building MCP servers in this ecosystem.

1. Core Requirements

When building or modifying MCP servers, follow these prioritized rules:

• Must: Use Zod for all tool argument validation. Do not blindly trust MCP client inputs.
• Must: Return structured errors ({ isError: true, content: [...] }) from tools rather than throwing raw unhandled exceptions that crash the server.
• Should: Wrap handlers in try/catch blocks that gracefully surface errors to the LLM context.
• Should: Centralize error logging using standard prefixes (e.g., [MCP Error]).
• Optional: Depending on the repository, implement integration testing via Playwright for dual HTTP/SSE verification.

2. Security (Defense-in-Depth)

• Blocklists are Defense-in-Depth: A blocklist (e.g., forbidding rm -rf in a terminal tool) is not a primary security boundary. Your primary security is the sandbox, container, or strict schema validation.
• No Secrets in Config: MCP servers must rely on the environment variables for API keys and secrets, never hardcoded files inside the server repository.
• Rate Limiting & Input Sanitization: Aggressively sanitize path arguments to prevent directory traversal (../../), and apply basic rate-limiting to tools that trigger heavy compute or external API calls.

3. Deep References

For the complete MCP implementation guide, architecture diagrams, and detailed tooling patterns, consult the full reference:

• MCP Implementation Guide: Contains transport selection (stdio vs. SSE), auth patterns, and multi-tool orchestration diagrams.

4. Scaffold Reference

When you need a minimal, fully compliant MCP server scaffold, use this structure:

import { McpServer } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/mcp.js'
import { StdioServerTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js'
import { z } from 'zod'

// Initialize the modern McpServer pattern
const server = new McpServer({ name: 'my-mcp', version: '1.0.0' })

// Define tools using server.tool() which auto-registers schemas and handlers
server.tool(
  'my_tool',
  'Does something using an ID',
  { id: z.string().describe('The user ID to process') },
  async ({ id }) => {
    try {
      // Logic here (input is already validated by Zod)
      return { content: [{ type: 'text', text: `Got ID: ${id}` }] }
    } catch (err) {
      // Graceful error return
      return { isError: true, content: [{ type: 'text', text: `Error: ${err}` }] }
    }
  }
)

// Connect via standard I/O
const transport = new StdioServerTransport()
await server.connect(transport)