Hello MCP Server

A simple Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides a greeting tool.

Features

• Simple MCP server using FastMCP
• Dockerized with Podman support
• Uses uv as the Python package manager

Prerequisites

• Python 3.12+
• uv - Python package manager
• Podman (optional, for containerized deployment)

Local Development

Install Dependencies

uv sync

Run the Server

uv run mcp_server.py

The server will start and wait for MCP protocol messages via stdio.

Docker/Podman Deployment

Build the Image

podman build -t hello-mcp .

Run the Container

Interactive mode (recommended for MCP servers):

podman run -it --name hello-mcp hello-mcp

Using Docker Compose:

podman-compose up

Note: MCP servers communicate via stdio, so they must run in interactive mode (-it). Running in detached mode (-d) will cause the container to exit immediately.

Connecting to Claude Desktop

To use this MCP server with Claude Desktop, you need to add it to your Claude Desktop configuration.

Step 1: Locate Claude Desktop Config File

The configuration file location depends on your operating system:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Step 2: Add Server Configuration

Open (or create) the claude_desktop_config.json file and add the following configuration:

Option A: Local Development (using uv)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hello-mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "mcp_server.py"],
      "cwd": "/absolute/path/to/hello-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Replace /absolute/path/to/hello-mcp with the absolute path to this project directory.

Option B: Using Podman Container

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hello-mcp": {
      "command": "podman",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "hello-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Note: Make sure the container image is built before using this configuration.

Step 3: Restart Claude Desktop

After updating the configuration file, restart Claude Desktop to apply the changes.

Step 4: Verify Connection

Once connected, you can ask Claude to use the hello tool. For example:

• "Use the hello tool from the hello-mcp server"
• "Call the hello function"

Example Configuration File

See claude-desktop-config.json.example for a complete example configuration.

Project Structure

hello-mcp/
├── mcp_server.py          # Main MCP server implementation
├── pyproject.toml         # Project dependencies and metadata
├── Dockerfile             # Container image definition
├── docker-compose.yml     # Docker Compose configuration
├── .dockerignore          # Files to exclude from Docker build
└── README.md             # This file

Tools

hello

Returns a greeting message.

Example:

@server.tool()
def hello():
    """Returns a greeting"""
    return "Hello from MCP 👋"

License

MIT