claude-mpm 4.20.3__py3-none-any.whl → 4.25.10__py3-none-any.whl

claude_mpm/skills/bundled/main/mcp-builder/SKILL.md

@@ -1,328 +1,160 @@
 ---
 name: mcp-builder
-description: Guide for creating high-quality MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers that enable LLMs to interact with external services through well-designed tools. Use when building MCP servers to integrate external APIs or services, whether in Python (FastMCP) or Node/TypeScript (MCP SDK).
+description: Create high-quality MCP servers that enable LLMs to effectively interact with external services. Use when building MCP integrations for APIs or services in Python (FastMCP) or Node/TypeScript (MCP SDK).
 license: Complete terms in LICENSE.txt
+progressive_disclosure:
+  entry_point:
+    summary: "Build agent-friendly MCP servers through research-driven design, thoughtful implementation, and evaluation-based iteration"
+    when_to_use: "When integrating external APIs/services via MCP protocol. Prioritize agent workflows over API wrappers, optimize for context efficiency, design actionable errors."
+    quick_start: "1. Research protocol & API docs 2. Plan agent-centric tools 3. Implement with validation 4. Create evaluations 5. Iterate based on agent feedback"
+  references:
+    - design_principles.md
+    - workflow.md
+    - mcp_best_practices.md
+    - python_mcp_server.md
+    - node_mcp_server.md
+    - evaluation.md
 ---
 
 # MCP Server Development Guide
 
 ## Overview
 
-To create high-quality MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers that enable LLMs to effectively interact with external services, use this skill. An MCP server provides tools that allow LLMs to access external services and APIs. The quality of an MCP server is measured by how well it enables LLMs to accomplish real-world tasks using the tools provided.
+Build high-quality MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers that enable LLMs to accomplish real-world tasks through well-designed tools. Quality is measured not by API coverage, but by how effectively agents can use your tools to complete realistic workflows.
 
----
-
-# Process
-
-## 🚀 High-Level Workflow
-
-Creating a high-quality MCP server involves four main phases:
-
-### Phase 1: Deep Research and Planning
-
-#### 1.1 Understand Agent-Centric Design Principles
-
-Before diving into implementation, understand how to design tools for AI agents by reviewing these principles:
-
-**Build for Workflows, Not Just API Endpoints:**
-- Don't simply wrap existing API endpoints - build thoughtful, high-impact workflow tools
-- Consolidate related operations (e.g., `schedule_event` that both checks availability and creates event)
-- Focus on tools that enable complete tasks, not just individual API calls
-- Consider what workflows agents actually need to accomplish
-
-**Optimize for Limited Context:**
-- Agents have constrained context windows - make every token count
-- Return high-signal information, not exhaustive data dumps
-- Provide "concise" vs "detailed" response format options
-- Default to human-readable identifiers over technical codes (names over IDs)
-- Consider the agent's context budget as a scarce resource
-
-**Design Actionable Error Messages:**
-- Error messages should guide agents toward correct usage patterns
-- Suggest specific next steps: "Try using filter='active_only' to reduce results"
-- Make errors educational, not just diagnostic
-- Help agents learn proper tool usage through clear feedback
-
-**Follow Natural Task Subdivisions:**
-- Tool names should reflect how humans think about tasks
-- Group related tools with consistent prefixes for discoverability
-- Design tools around natural workflows, not just API structure
-
-**Use Evaluation-Driven Development:**
-- Create realistic evaluation scenarios early
-- Let agent feedback drive tool improvements
-- Prototype quickly and iterate based on actual agent performance
-
-#### 1.3 Study MCP Protocol Documentation
+**Core insight:** MCP servers expose tools for AI agents, not human users. Design for agent constraints (limited context, no visual UI, workflow-oriented) rather than human convenience.
 
-**Fetch the latest MCP protocol documentation:**
+## When to Use This Skill
 
-Use WebFetch to load: `https://modelcontextprotocol.io/llms-full.txt`
+Activate when:
+- Building MCP servers for external API integration
+- Adding tools to existing MCP servers
+- Improving MCP server tool design for better agent usability
+- Creating evaluations to test MCP server effectiveness
+- Debugging why agents struggle with your MCP tools
 
-This comprehensive document contains the complete MCP specification and guidelines.
+**Language Support:**
+- Python: FastMCP framework (recommended for rapid development)
+- Node/TypeScript: MCP SDK (recommended for production services)
 
-#### 1.4 Study Framework Documentation
+## The Iron Law
 
-**Load and read the following reference files:**
-
-- **MCP Best Practices**: [📋 View Best Practices](./reference/mcp_best_practices.md) - Core guidelines for all MCP servers
-
-**For Python implementations, also load:**
-- **Python SDK Documentation**: Use WebFetch to load `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk/main/README.md`
-- [🐍 Python Implementation Guide](./reference/python_mcp_server.md) - Python-specific best practices and examples
-
-**For Node/TypeScript implementations, also load:**
-- **TypeScript SDK Documentation**: Use WebFetch to load `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk/main/README.md`
-- [⚡ TypeScript Implementation Guide](./reference/node_mcp_server.md) - Node/TypeScript-specific best practices and examples
-
-#### 1.5 Exhaustively Study API Documentation
-
-To integrate a service, read through **ALL** available API documentation:
-- Official API reference documentation
-- Authentication and authorization requirements
-- Rate limiting and pagination patterns
-- Error responses and status codes
-- Available endpoints and their parameters
-- Data models and schemas
-
-**To gather comprehensive information, use web search and the WebFetch tool as needed.**
-
-#### 1.6 Create a Comprehensive Implementation Plan
+```
+DESIGN FOR AGENTS, NOT HUMANS
 
-Based on your research, create a detailed plan that includes:
+Every tool must optimize for:
+- Context efficiency (agents have limited tokens)
+- Workflow completion (not just API calls)
+- Actionable errors (guide agents to success)
+- Natural task subdivision (how agents think)
+```
 
-**Tool Selection:**
-- List the most valuable endpoints/operations to implement
-- Prioritize tools that enable the most common and important use cases
-- Consider which tools work together to enable complex workflows
+If your tools are just thin API wrappers, you're violating the Iron Law.
 
-**Shared Utilities and Helpers:**
-- Identify common API request patterns
-- Plan pagination helpers
-- Design filtering and formatting utilities
-- Plan error handling strategies
+## Core Principles
 
-**Input/Output Design:**
-- Define input validation models (Pydantic for Python, Zod for TypeScript)
-- Design consistent response formats (e.g., JSON or Markdown), and configurable levels of detail (e.g., Detailed or Concise)
-- Plan for large-scale usage (thousands of users/resources)
-- Implement character limits and truncation strategies (e.g., 25,000 tokens)
+1. **Agent-Centric Design First**: Study design principles before coding. Tools should enable workflows, not mirror APIs.
 
-**Error Handling Strategy:**
-- Plan graceful failure modes
-- Design clear, actionable, LLM-friendly, natural language error messages which prompt further action
-- Consider rate limiting and timeout scenarios
-- Handle authentication and authorization errors
+2. **Research-Driven Planning**: Load MCP docs, SDK docs, and exhaustive API documentation before writing code.
 
----
+3. **Evaluation-Based Iteration**: Create realistic evaluations early. Let agent feedback drive improvements.
 
-### Phase 2: Implementation
-
-Now that you have a comprehensive plan, begin implementation following language-specific best practices.
-
-#### 2.1 Set Up Project Structure
-
-**For Python:**
-- Create a single `.py` file or organize into modules if complex (see [🐍 Python Guide](./reference/python_mcp_server.md))
-- Use the MCP Python SDK for tool registration
-- Define Pydantic models for input validation
-
-**For Node/TypeScript:**
-- Create proper project structure (see [⚡ TypeScript Guide](./reference/node_mcp_server.md))
-- Set up `package.json` and `tsconfig.json`
-- Use MCP TypeScript SDK
-- Define Zod schemas for input validation
-
-#### 2.2 Implement Core Infrastructure First
-
-**To begin implementation, create shared utilities before implementing tools:**
-- API request helper functions
-- Error handling utilities
-- Response formatting functions (JSON and Markdown)
-- Pagination helpers
-- Authentication/token management
-
-#### 2.3 Implement Tools Systematically
-
-For each tool in the plan:
-
-**Define Input Schema:**
-- Use Pydantic (Python) or Zod (TypeScript) for validation
-- Include proper constraints (min/max length, regex patterns, min/max values, ranges)
-- Provide clear, descriptive field descriptions
-- Include diverse examples in field descriptions
-
-**Write Comprehensive Docstrings/Descriptions:**
-- One-line summary of what the tool does
-- Detailed explanation of purpose and functionality
-- Explicit parameter types with examples
-- Complete return type schema
-- Usage examples (when to use, when not to use)
-- Error handling documentation, which outlines how to proceed given specific errors
-
-**Implement Tool Logic:**
-- Use shared utilities to avoid code duplication
-- Follow async/await patterns for all I/O
-- Implement proper error handling
-- Support multiple response formats (JSON and Markdown)
-- Respect pagination parameters
-- Check character limits and truncate appropriately
-
-**Add Tool Annotations:**
-- `readOnlyHint`: true (for read-only operations)
-- `destructiveHint`: false (for non-destructive operations)
-- `idempotentHint`: true (if repeated calls have same effect)
-- `openWorldHint`: true (if interacting with external systems)
-
-#### 2.4 Follow Language-Specific Best Practices
-
-**At this point, load the appropriate language guide:**
-
-**For Python: Load [🐍 Python Implementation Guide](./reference/python_mcp_server.md) and ensure the following:**
-- Using MCP Python SDK with proper tool registration
-- Pydantic v2 models with `model_config`
-- Type hints throughout
-- Async/await for all I/O operations
-- Proper imports organization
-- Module-level constants (CHARACTER_LIMIT, API_BASE_URL)
-
-**For Node/TypeScript: Load [⚡ TypeScript Implementation Guide](./reference/node_mcp_server.md) and ensure the following:**
-- Using `server.registerTool` properly
-- Zod schemas with `.strict()`
-- TypeScript strict mode enabled
-- No `any` types - use proper types
-- Explicit Promise<T> return types
-- Build process configured (`npm run build`)
+4. **Context Optimization**: Every response token matters. Default to concise, offer detailed when needed.
 
----
+5. **Actionable Errors**: Error messages should teach agents correct usage patterns.
 
-### Phase 3: Review and Refine
+## Quick Start
 
-After initial implementation:
+### Phase 1: Research and Planning (40% of effort)
+1. **Study Design Principles**: Load [design_principles.md](./reference/design_principles.md) to understand agent-centric design
+2. **Load Protocol Docs**: Fetch `https://modelcontextprotocol.io/llms-full.txt` for MCP specification
+3. **Study SDK Docs**: Load Python or TypeScript SDK documentation from GitHub
+4. **Study API Exhaustively**: Read ALL API documentation, endpoints, authentication, rate limits
+5. **Create Implementation Plan**: Define tools, shared utilities, pagination strategy, error handling
 
-#### 3.1 Code Quality Review
+See [workflow.md](./reference/workflow.md) for complete Phase 1 steps.
 
-To ensure quality, review the code for:
-- **DRY Principle**: No duplicated code between tools
-- **Composability**: Shared logic extracted into functions
-- **Consistency**: Similar operations return similar formats
-- **Error Handling**: All external calls have error handling
-- **Type Safety**: Full type coverage (Python type hints, TypeScript types)
-- **Documentation**: Every tool has comprehensive docstrings/descriptions
+### Phase 2: Implementation (30% of effort)
+1. **Setup Project**: Create structure following language-specific guide
+2. **Build Shared Utilities**: API helpers, error handlers, formatters BEFORE tools
+3. **Implement Tools**: Use Pydantic (Python) or Zod (TypeScript) for validation
+4. **Follow Best Practices**: Load language-specific guide for patterns
 
-#### 3.2 Test and Build
+See [workflow.md](./reference/workflow.md) for complete Phase 2 steps and language guides.
 
-**Important:** MCP servers are long-running processes that wait for requests over stdio/stdin or sse/http. Running them directly in your main process (e.g., `python server.py` or `node dist/index.js`) will cause your process to hang indefinitely.
+### Phase 3: Review and Refine (15% of effort)
+1. **Code Quality Review**: Check DRY, composability, consistency, type safety
+2. **Test Build**: Verify syntax, imports, build process
+3. **Quality Checklist**: Use language-specific checklist
 
-**Safe ways to test the server:**
-- Use the evaluation harness (see Phase 4) - recommended approach
-- Run the server in tmux to keep it outside your main process
-- Use a timeout when testing: `timeout 5s python server.py`
+See [workflow.md](./reference/workflow.md) for complete Phase 3 steps.
 
-**For Python:**
-- Verify Python syntax: `python -m py_compile your_server.py`
-- Check imports work correctly by reviewing the file
-- To manually test: Run server in tmux, then test with evaluation harness in main process
-- Or use the evaluation harness directly (it manages the server for stdio transport)
+### Phase 4: Create Evaluations (15% of effort)
+1. **Understand Purpose**: Evaluations test if agents can answer realistic questions using your tools
+2. **Create 10 Questions**: Complex, read-only, independent, verifiable questions
+3. **Verify Answers**: Solve yourself to ensure stability and correctness
+4. **Run Evaluation**: Use provided scripts to test agent effectiveness
 
-**For Node/TypeScript:**
-- Run `npm run build` and ensure it completes without errors
-- Verify dist/index.js is created
-- To manually test: Run server in tmux, then test with evaluation harness in main process
-- Or use the evaluation harness directly (it manages the server for stdio transport)
+See [evaluation.md](./reference/evaluation.md) for complete evaluation guidelines.
 
-#### 3.3 Use Quality Checklist
+## Navigation
 
-To verify implementation quality, load the appropriate checklist from the language-specific guide:
-- Python: see "Quality Checklist" in [🐍 Python Guide](./reference/python_mcp_server.md)
-- Node/TypeScript: see "Quality Checklist" in [⚡ TypeScript Guide](./reference/node_mcp_server.md)
+### Core Design and Workflow
+- **[🎯 Design Principles](./reference/design_principles.md)** - Agent-centric design philosophy: workflows over APIs, context optimization, actionable errors, natural task subdivision. Read FIRST before implementation.
 
----
+- **[🔄 Complete Workflow](./reference/workflow.md)** - Detailed 4-phase development process with step-by-step instructions, decision trees, and when to load each reference file.
 
-### Phase 4: Create Evaluations
+### Universal MCP Guidelines
+- **[📋 MCP Best Practices](./reference/mcp_best_practices.md)** - Naming conventions, response formats, pagination, character limits, security, tool annotations, error handling. Applies to all MCP servers.
 
-After implementing your MCP server, create comprehensive evaluations to test its effectiveness.
+### Language-Specific Implementation
+- **[🐍 Python Implementation](./reference/python_mcp_server.md)** - FastMCP patterns, Pydantic validation, async/await, complete examples, quality checklist. Load during Phase 2 for Python servers.
 
-**Load [✅ Evaluation Guide](./reference/evaluation.md) for complete evaluation guidelines.**
+- **[⚡ TypeScript Implementation](./reference/node_mcp_server.md)** - MCP SDK patterns, Zod validation, project structure, complete examples, quality checklist. Load during Phase 2 for TypeScript servers.
 
-#### 4.1 Understand Evaluation Purpose
+### Evaluation and Testing
+- **[✅ Evaluation Guide](./reference/evaluation.md)** - Creating realistic questions, answer verification, XML format, running evaluations, interpreting results. Load during Phase 4.
 
-Evaluations test whether LLMs can effectively use your MCP server to answer realistic, complex questions.
+## Key Reminders
 
-#### 4.2 Create 10 Evaluation Questions
+- **Research First**: Spend 40% of time researching before coding
+- **Agent-Centric**: Design for AI workflows, not API completeness
+- **Context Efficient**: Every token counts - default concise, offer detailed
+- **Actionable Errors**: Guide agents to correct usage
+- **Shared Utilities**: Extract common code - avoid duplication
+- **Evaluation-Driven**: Create evals early, iterate based on feedback
+- **MCP Servers Block**: Never run servers directly - use evaluation harness or tmux
 
-To create effective evaluations, follow the process outlined in the evaluation guide:
+## Red Flags - STOP
 
-1. **Tool Inspection**: List available tools and understand their capabilities
-2. **Content Exploration**: Use READ-ONLY operations to explore available data
-3. **Question Generation**: Create 10 complex, realistic questions
-4. **Answer Verification**: Solve each question yourself to verify answers
+If you catch yourself:
+- "Just wrapping these API endpoints directly"
+- "Returning all available data fields"
+- "Error message just says what failed" (not how to fix)
+- Starting implementation without reading design principles
+- Coding before loading MCP protocol documentation
+- Creating tools without knowing agent use cases
+- Skipping evaluation creation
+- Running `python server.py` directly (will hang forever)
 
-#### 4.3 Evaluation Requirements
+**ALL of these mean: STOP. Return to design principles and workflow.**
 
-Each question must be:
-- **Independent**: Not dependent on other questions
-- **Read-only**: Only non-destructive operations required
-- **Complex**: Requiring multiple tool calls and deep exploration
-- **Realistic**: Based on real use cases humans would care about
-- **Verifiable**: Single, clear answer that can be verified by string comparison
-- **Stable**: Answer won't change over time
+## Integration with Other Skills
 
-#### 4.4 Output Format
+- **systematic-debugging**: Debug MCP server issues methodically
+- **test-driven-development**: Create failing tests before implementation
+- **verification-before-completion**: Verify build succeeds before claiming completion
+- **defense-in-depth**: Add input validation at multiple layers
 
-Create an XML file with this structure:
+## Real-World Impact
 
-```xml
-<evaluation>
-  <qa_pair>
-    <question>Find discussions about AI model launches with animal codenames. One model needed a specific safety designation that uses the format ASL-X. What number X was being determined for the model named after a spotted wild cat?</question>
-    <answer>3</answer>
-  </qa_pair>
-<!-- More qa_pairs... -->
-</evaluation>
-```
+From MCP server development experience:
+- Well-designed servers: 80-90% task completion rate by agents
+- API wrapper approach: 30-40% task completion rate
+- Context-optimized responses: 3x more information in same token budget
+- Actionable errors: 60% reduction in agent retry attempts
+- Evaluation-driven iteration: 2-3x improvement in agent success rate
 
 ---
 
-# Reference Files
-
-## 📚 Documentation Library
-
-Load these resources as needed during development:
-
-### Core MCP Documentation (Load First)
-- **MCP Protocol**: Fetch from `https://modelcontextprotocol.io/llms-full.txt` - Complete MCP specification
-- [📋 MCP Best Practices](./reference/mcp_best_practices.md) - Universal MCP guidelines including:
-  - Server and tool naming conventions
-  - Response format guidelines (JSON vs Markdown)
-  - Pagination best practices
-  - Character limits and truncation strategies
-  - Tool development guidelines
-  - Security and error handling standards
-
-### SDK Documentation (Load During Phase 1/2)
-- **Python SDK**: Fetch from `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk/main/README.md`
-- **TypeScript SDK**: Fetch from `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk/main/README.md`
-
-### Language-Specific Implementation Guides (Load During Phase 2)
-- [🐍 Python Implementation Guide](./reference/python_mcp_server.md) - Complete Python/FastMCP guide with:
-  - Server initialization patterns
-  - Pydantic model examples
-  - Tool registration with `@mcp.tool`
-  - Complete working examples
-  - Quality checklist
-
-- [⚡ TypeScript Implementation Guide](./reference/node_mcp_server.md) - Complete TypeScript guide with:
-  - Project structure
-  - Zod schema patterns
-  - Tool registration with `server.registerTool`
-  - Complete working examples
-  - Quality checklist
-
-### Evaluation Guide (Load During Phase 4)
-- [✅ Evaluation Guide](./reference/evaluation.md) - Complete evaluation creation guide with:
-  - Question creation guidelines
-  - Answer verification strategies
-  - XML format specifications
-  - Example questions and answers
-  - Running an evaluation with the provided scripts
+**Remember:** The quality of an MCP server is measured by how well it enables LLMs to accomplish realistic tasks, not by how comprehensively it wraps an API.