MCP Server Implementation Guide

A Flask-based implementation of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.

What is MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open-source standard for connecting AI applications to external systems. Think of it like a USB-C port for AI applications — it provides a standardized way to connect AI applications (like Cursor, Claude, or ChatGPT) to data sources, tools, and workflows.

┌─────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│                 │         │                 │
│   AI Client     │◄───────►│   MCP Server    │
│   (Cursor)      │  MCP    │   (Flask App)   │
│                 │         │                 │
└─────────────────┘         └─────────────────┘

Reference: What is MCP? - modelcontextprotocol.io

---

JSON-RPC 2.0 Protocol

MCP uses JSON-RPC 2.0 for all communication. There are three message types:

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "method_name",
  "params": { ... }
}

Response (Success)

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": { ... }
}

Response (Error)

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "error": {
    "code": -32600,
    "message": "Invalid Request"
  }
}

Notification (No Response Expected)

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "notifications/initialized"
}

Reference: Messages - MCP Specification

---

Required JSON-RPC Methods

An MCP server must implement the following methods:

Method	Type	Description
initialize	Request	Handshake and capability negotiation
notifications/initialized	Notification	Client confirms initialization complete
tools/list	Request	List available tools
tools/call	Request	Execute a tool
resources/list	Request	List available resources
resources/read	Request	Read a resource
prompts/list	Request	List available prompts
prompts/get	Request	Get a prompt template

Reference: MCP Specification

---

Method Details

1. initialize

Establishes connection and negotiates capabilities.

Request:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "initialize",
  "params": {
    "protocolVersion": "2025-06-18",
    "capabilities": {},
    "clientInfo": {
      "name": "Cursor",
      "version": "2.1.32"
    }
  }
}

Response:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": {
    "protocolVersion": "2025-06-18",
    "capabilities": {
      "tools": { "listChanged": false },
      "prompts": {},
      "resources": {}
    },
    "serverInfo": {
      "name": "mcp-random-tools",
      "version": "1.0.0"
    }
  }
}

2. notifications/initialized

Client notifies server that initialization is complete. No response required (return HTTP 204).

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "notifications/initialized"
}

3. tools/list

Returns available tools with their schemas.

Request:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 2,
  "method": "tools/list"
}

Response:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 2,
  "result": {
    "tools": [
      {
        "name": "random_number",
        "description": "Generate a random integer between min and max",
        "inputSchema": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "min": { "type": "integer", "description": "Minimum value" },
            "max": { "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum value" }
          },
          "required": ["min", "max"]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

4. tools/call

Executes a tool and returns the result.

Request:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 3,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "random_number",
    "arguments": {
      "min": 1,
      "max": 100
    }
  }
}

Response: ⚠️ Important: Results must be in content array format with isError field!

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 3,
  "result": {
    "content": [
      {
        "type": "text",
        "text": "42"
      }
    ],
    "isError": false
  }
}

The content array can contain multiple items with different types:

• text — Plain text result
• image — Base64 encoded image with mimeType
• resource — Reference to a resource URI

The isError field indicates whether the tool execution failed. Even if the HTTP request succeeds (200), the tool itself may have encountered an error.

Reference: MCP Specification 2025-06-18

5. resources/list & prompts/list

Return empty arrays if not implemented:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 4,
  "result": {
    "resources": []
  }
}

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 5,
  "result": {
    "prompts": []
  }
}

Reference: Tools - MCP Specification

---

Cursor Integration Flow

Configuration File

Add your MCP server to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Local Flask MCP Server": {
      "headers": {},
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:5050/"
    }
  }
}

Communication Flow

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        CURSOR ←→ MCP SERVER FLOW                             │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

    CURSOR                                              MCP SERVER
       │                                                     │
       │  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
       │  │ PHASE 1: INITIALIZATION                     │   │
       │  └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
       │                                                     │
       │──── POST initialize ──────────────────────────────►│
       │     { protocolVersion, clientInfo, capabilities }   │
       │                                                     │
       │◄─── 200 OK ───────────────────────────────────────│
       │     { protocolVersion, serverInfo, capabilities }   │
       │                                                     │
       │──── POST notifications/initialized ───────────────►│
       │                                                     │
       │◄─── 204 No Content ────────────────────────────────│
       │                                                     │
       │  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
       │  │ PHASE 2: DISCOVERY                          │   │
       │  └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
       │                                                     │
       │──── POST tools/list ──────────────────────────────►│
       │◄─── 200 OK { tools: [...] } ───────────────────────│
       │                                                     │
       │──── POST resources/list ──────────────────────────►│
       │◄─── 200 OK { resources: [] } ──────────────────────│
       │                                                     │
       │──── POST prompts/list ────────────────────────────►│
       │◄─── 200 OK { prompts: [] } ────────────────────────│
       │                                                     │
       │  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
       │  │ PHASE 3: TOOL EXECUTION (on demand)         │   │
       │  └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
       │                                                     │
       │──── POST tools/call ──────────────────────────────►│
       │     { name: "random_number", arguments: {...} }     │
       │                                                     │
       │◄─── 200 OK ────────────────────────────────────────│
       │     { content: [...], isError: false }              │
       │                                                     │

What Happens When Cursor Starts

1. Cursor reads ~/.cursor/mcp.json to discover configured MCP servers
2. Sends initialize request to each server to establish connection
3. Server responds with its capabilities (tools, resources, prompts)
4. Cursor sends notifications/initialized to confirm handshake complete
5. Cursor queries metadata via tools/list, resources/list, prompts/list
6. Tools become available for the AI model to invoke during conversations

---

Transport: Stateless HTTP

This Flask implementation uses Stateless HTTP transport (simple POST requests). This is suitable for:

• Simple tool servers
• Dockerized or remote deployments
• Servers that don't need bidirectional communication

Limitations of Stateless HTTP:

• ❌ No server-initiated notifications (logging, progress updates)
• ❌ No sampling (server asking the AI for information)
• ❌ No real-time bidirectional communication

For full bidirectional features, you would need SSE (Server-Sent Events) or WebSocket transport.

Reference: MCP Transports

---

Server Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      MCP SERVER                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│   ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    │
│   │   Tools     │    │  Resources  │    │   Prompts   │    │
│   │             │    │             │    │             │    │
│   │ • random_   │    │ • files     │    │ • templates │    │
│   │   number    │    │ • databases │    │ • workflows │    │
│   │ • random_   │    │ • APIs      │    │             │    │
│   │   sentence  │    │             │    │             │    │
│   └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    │
│          │                  │                  │            │
│          └──────────────────┴──────────────────┘            │
│                             │                               │
│                    ┌────────▼────────┐                      │
│                    │  JSON-RPC 2.0   │                      │
│                    │    Handler      │                      │
│                    └────────┬────────┘                      │
│                             │                               │
│                    ┌────────▼────────┐                      │
│                    │   HTTP/Flask    │                      │
│                    │   POST /        │                      │
│                    └─────────────────┘                      │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

Running the Server

# Install dependencies
pip install flask

# Run the server
flask run --port 5050

# Or with debug mode
FLASK_DEBUG=1 flask run --port 5050

---

Error Handling

Return proper JSON-RPC error responses:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "error": {
    "code": -32601,
    "message": "Method not found"
  }
}

Standard error codes:

Code	Message
-32700	Parse error
-32600	Invalid Request
-32601	Method not found
-32602	Invalid params
-32603	Internal error

---

References

• MCP Introduction
• MCP Architecture
• MCP Lifecycle
• MCP Tools
• MCP Resources
• MCP Prompts
• Build an MCP Server
• JSON-RPC 2.0 Specification