create-mcp-app is a monorepo scaffolding toolkit designed to quickly bootstrap MCP (Model Context Protocol) server applications with a modern TypeScript-based toolchain. It leverages a template-based approach to generate a fully structured MCP server project, including server templates, testing setup, linting, and documentation scaffolding. Using the provided CLI, you can scaffold a new MCP server instance in seconds, then customize templates, templates, and configurations to fit your needs. The included tooling emphasizes TypeScript strictness, rigorous development workflows, and a Turborepo-backed monorepo setup for efficient development across multiple packages.

To get started, you can create a new MCP server application with the recommended command: npx create-mcp-server-app@latest my-mcp-server. This will scaffold a new server project named my-mcp-server in your current directory. After scaffolding, you can navigate into the project, install dependencies with your preferred package manager, and start the development server or run the provided build/test commands. The toolkit is designed to support both server and client templates, but this entry point focuses on the MCP server scaffold that provides TypeScript support, ESLint/Prettier/Husky configurations, Jest for testing, and a scalable monorepo structure managed with Turborepo.

Once scaffolded, you’ll have access to the server template’s boilerplate, docs, and distro outputs. Use the included npm/pnpm/yarn scripts (as configured in the generated package.json) to install dependencies, lint, test, build, and run the server in development mode. The server template is designed to be extensible with placeholders for API routes, data models, and MCP context definitions, enabling you to tailor the scaffolding to your specific MCP application.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 16.x or later
• pnpm 7.x or later (recommended for monorepo workflows)
• Git (for cloning templates and version control)

Steps:

1. Install pnpm globally if you haven’t already: npm install -g pnpm

2. Create a new MCP server project using the scaffold: npx create-mcp-server-app@latest my-mcp-server

   Or with npm/yarn, whichever you prefer, e.g. npm create-mcp-server-app@latest my-mcp-server

3. Change into the new project directory: cd my-mcp-server

4. Install dependencies for the monorepo (pnpm is recommended): pnpm install

5. Build the workspace (optional but recommended to verify setup): pnpm build

6. Start the development environment (adjust script if your project uses a specific command): pnpm dev

7. Run tests (if provided by the scaffold): pnpm test

8. Lint the codebase (optional): pnpm lint

Tips:

• The scaffold uses a Turborepo-based monorepo structure, so commands like pnpm build or pnpm dev may operate across multiple packages. Use targeted scripts within apps/create-mcp-server-app if you only want to work on the server template.
• If you plan to customize templates, review the boilerplate and docs inside apps/create-mcp-server-app/ to understand where to place new MCP context definitions, server routes, and utilities.
• Ensure your environment variables (if used by your MCP server) are defined in a .env file or via your hosting environment. While this scaffold may not mandate specific env vars out of the box, common MCP server configurations often require database URLs, API keys, or context configuration values.
• Common issues: dependency resolution problems after upgrades; run pnpm install to refresh lockfiles, and ensure Node.js version compatibility with the scaffolded template. If you encounter type errors, enable stricter TypeScript checks or adjust tsconfig accordingly in the server template.
• If you’re migrating from a vanilla project, pay attention to the monorepo structure and how shared packages are consumed by the server app to avoid duplicate dependencies.