Task Manager MCP Server

A basic, locally running Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that demonstrates key MCP concepts for task management.

What This Demonstrates

1. Resources (Read-only data)

• task://all - View all tasks as JSON
• task://summary - Get task statistics summary

2. Tools (Interactive functions)

• create_task - Add new tasks
• update_task_status - Change task status
• get_task - Retrieve task details
• delete_task - Remove tasks

3. Key MCP Patterns

• Proper TypeScript typing
• STDIO transport for local servers
• Error handling
• State management
• JSON schema definitions for tools

Setup

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the TypeScript
npm run build

# Test locally
npm start

Configure with Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "task-manager": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/task-mcp-server/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Replace /absolute/path/to/ with your actual path.

Usage Examples

Once configured in Claude Desktop:

• "Show me all tasks" → Uses the task://all resource
• "Create a task to review code" → Calls create_task tool
• "Update task 1 to in-progress" → Calls update_task_status tool
• "What's my task summary?" → Uses task://summary resource

Architecture

• In-memory storage: Simple Map for state (real servers would use DB)
• Type safety: Full TypeScript interfaces
• STDIO transport: Standard for local MCP servers
• Proper logging: Uses stderr to avoid corrupting JSON-RPC
• Schema validation: Tools have JSON schemas for inputs

Key Learnings from undertaking this project

1. MCP separates concerns: Resources for data, Tools for actions
2. Transport agnostic: STDIO for local, HTTP for remote
3. Schema-driven: Tools define their inputs via JSON Schema
4. Client-agnostic: Works with any MCP host (Claude Desktop, VS Code, etc.)
5. Simple protocol: JSON-RPC over transport layer