MCP Weather & News Assistant

An AI assistant project built with the Model Context Protocol (MCP) that connects an LLM to real-world data sources via custom MCP tools.
It provides real-time weather information and latest news headlines by allowing the model to call external APIs through an MCP server.

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Features

• Real-time Weather Data: Get current weather conditions (temperature, humidity, wind speed, description) for any city
• Latest News Articles: Fetch top 5 news articles by topic using NewsAPI
• MCP Protocol: Standards-based integration with any MCP-compatible client using FastMCP
• Two Tools: weather(city) and news(topic) tools exposed via MCP
• Secure: API keys stored in environment variables using python-dotenv

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Prerequisites

Before deploying this MCP server, ensure you have:

• Python 3.8+ installed
• API Keys (free):
  • OpenWeatherMap API Key
  • NewsAPI Key
• An MCP-compatible client such as:
  • Claude Desktop
  • Continue (VS Code extension)
  • Cline

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Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/ZiliOussema/mcp_weather_and_news_assistant.git
cd mcp_weather_and_news_assistant

2. Create Virtual Environment

# Windows
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate

# macOS/Linux
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

3. Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Set Up Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the project root (you can copy from .env.sample):

# Copy the sample file
cp .env.sample .env

# Then edit .env and add your API keys

Your .env file should contain:

OPENWEATHER_API_KEY=your_openweather_api_key_here
NEWS_API_KEY=your_newsapi_key_here

IMPORTANT: Never commit your .env file to version control!

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Finding Your Project Path

Before configuring any MCP client, you need to know your project's full path.

Windows

Open Command Prompt in your project folder and run:

cd

Or use PowerShell:

pwd

macOS/Linux

Open Terminal in your project folder and run:

pwd

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Deployment

1. Claude Desktop

Windows

Step 1: Locate the Claude Desktop configuration file

Path: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Step 2: Open claude_desktop_config.json and add your MCP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "weather-news": {
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\your\\project\\venv\\Scripts\\python.exe",
      "args": [
        "src/server.py"
      ],
      "cwd": "C:\\path\\to\\your\\project"
    }
  }
}

Important Notes:

• Replace C:\\path\\to\\your\\project\\ with your actual project path
• Use double backslashes (\\) in Windows paths
• Paths must be absolute (full path from C:)

Step 3: Verify the paths exist

"C:\path\to\your\project\mcp_weather_and_news_assistant\venv\Scripts\python.exe" --version

Step 4: Restart Claude Desktop

• Completely close Claude Desktop
• Check Task Manager to ensure no Claude processes are running
• Reopen Claude Desktop

Step 5: Verify the server is loaded

• Look for a plug icon or "MCP" section in Claude Desktop
• You should see weather and news tools available
• Try asking: "What's the weather in Paris?"

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macOS

Step 1: Locate the configuration file

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Step 2: Edit the configuration:

nano ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "weather-news": {
      "command": "/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/mcp_weather_and_news_assistant/venv/bin/python",
      "args": [
        "src/server.py"
      ],
      "cwd": "/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/mcp_weather_and_news_assistant"
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Restart Claude Desktop

killall Claude

Then reopen Claude Desktop from Applications.

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Linux

Step 1: Configuration location

~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Step 2: Edit configuration:

nano ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "weather-news": {
      "command": "/home/YOUR_USERNAME/mcp_weather_and_news_assistant/venv/bin/python",
      "args": [
        "src/server.py"
      ],
      "cwd": "/home/YOUR_USERNAME/mcp_weather_and_news_assistant"
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Restart Claude Desktop

pkill claude

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2. Continue (VS Code)

Step 1: Install Continue extension

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Continue"
4. Click Install

Step 2: Open Continue configuration

• Press Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (macOS)
• Type: Continue: Open config.json
• Press Enter

Step 3: Add MCP server to Continue config

For Windows:

mcpServers:
  weather-news:
    command: C:\path\to\your\project\venv\Scripts\python.exe
    args:
      - src/server.py
    cwd: C:\path\to\your\project

For macOS/Linux:

mcpServers:
  weather-news:
    command: /Users/YOUR_USERNAME/mcp_weather_and_news_assistant/venv/bin/python
    args:
      - src/server.py
    cwd: /Users/YOUR_USERNAME/mcp_weather_and_news_assistant

Step 4: Reload VS Code

• Press Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P
• Type: Developer: Reload Window
• Press Enter

Step 5: Test in Continue

Open Continue sidebar and ask:

What's the weather in New York?

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3. Cline

Step 1: Install Cline

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Cline"
4. Click Install

Step 2: Configure Cline MCP settings

• Click the Cline icon in VS Code sidebar
• Go to Cline Settings (gear icon)
• Find "MCP Servers" section

Step 3: Add configuration

Click "Add MCP Server" and fill in:

• Name: weather-news
• Command: Path to your Python executable
• Args: Path to your server.py

Or edit settings.json:

{
  "cline.mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "weather-news",
      "command": "C:\\path\\to\\your\\project\\venv\\Scripts\\python.exe",
      "args": [
        "src/server.py"
      ],
      "cwd": "C:\\path\\to\\your\\project"
    }
  ]
}

Step 4: Restart Cline or reload VS Code

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Usage Examples

Weather Queries

User: What's the weather like in Tokyo?

Response:

The current weather in Tokyo is 18°C with clear skies. 
Humidity is at 65% with a light breeze of 5 m/s.

News Queries

User: Show me the latest technology news

Response:

Here are the top 5 tech headlines:
1. New AI breakthrough announced by researchers
   Source: TechCrunch | Published: 2026-02-03
2. Tech company releases innovative product
   Source: The Verge | Published: 2026-02-03
...

Combined Queries

User: What's the weather in London and any technology news?

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Troubleshooting

Server Not Loading in Claude Desktop

1. Check configuration file location

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

2. Verify JSON syntax at jsonlint.com

3. Check Python path

   # Windows
   "C:\path\to\your\project\venv\Scripts\python.exe" --version
   
   # macOS/Linux
   /path/to/your/project/venv/bin/python --version
   

4. View Claude logs

   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\
   • macOS: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/
   • Linux: ~/.local/state/Claude/logs/

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"Module not found" Error

1. Activate virtual environment and reinstall

   # Windows
   venv\Scripts\activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt
   
   # macOS/Linux
   source venv/bin/activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

2. Verify packages are installed

   pip list
   

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API Errors (401, 403, 404)

1. Verify API keys in .env file

   cat .env
   

2. Test API keys manually

   # Test OpenWeatherMap
   curl "https://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?q=Paris&appid=YOUR_KEY&units=metric"
   
   # Test NewsAPI
   curl "https://newsapi.org/v2/everything?q=technology&apiKey=YOUR_KEY&pageSize=5"
   

3. Check API key limits

   • OpenWeatherMap: 60 calls/minute
   • NewsAPI: 100 requests/day (free tier)

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Tools Not Appearing in Continue/Cline

1. Reload VS Code: Ctrl+Shift+P → "Developer: Reload Window"

2. Check logs in VS Code Output panel

3. Test server manually

   python src/server.py
   

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"Permission Denied" on macOS/Linux

chmod +x server.py

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Project Structure

mcp_weather_and_news_assistant/
├── src/
│   ├── __pycache__/           
│   ├── tools/
│   │   ├── __pycache__/      
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── news.py            # News tool implementation
│   │   └── weather.py         # Weather tool implementation
│   └── server.py              # Main MCP server entry point
├── test/
│   ├── interactive_test.py    # Interactive testing script
│   └── test_tools.py          # Unit tests for tools
├── venv/                      # Virtual environment 
├── .env                       # Environment variables
├── .env.sample                # Sample environment file
├── .gitignore
├── requirements.txt           # Python dependencies
└── README.md                  # Documentation

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Testing the Server

Manual Testing

# Activate environment
source venv/bin/activate  # or venv\Scripts\activate on Windows

# Run server
python src/server.py

Interactive Testing

The project includes an interactive test script to verify your API keys and tools:

# Activate environment
source venv/bin/activate  # or venv\Scripts\activate on Windows

# Run interactive test
python test/interactive_test.py

This will test both the weather and news tools with sample queries.

Unit Tests

Run the unit tests to verify tool functionality:

# Run all tests
python -m pytest test/

# Run specific test file
python test/test_tools.py

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Security Best Practices

1. Never commit API keys - Always use .env file
2. Add .env to .gitignore
3. Rotate keys regularly
4. Use read-only keys when possible

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MCP Weather & News Assistant - A portfolio project demonstrating Model Context Protocol integration