Pokemon MCP Workshop ⚡

Build an MCP server, teach Claude to catch 'em all, and beat the Elite Four live on the projector.

You'll clone this repo, connect a half-finished MCP server to MCP Inspector and Claude Desktop, and implement the missing tool. The moment your party is ready and you call challenge_league, your name is on the room's leaderboard.

Pre-workshop setup (do this before you arrive)

Requires Node.js 20+.

git clone <this-repo>
cd pokemon-mcp
npm install
npm run register -- "YourTrainerName"  # writes your token into .env
npm run verify        # ✅/❌ table — everything except trainer registration should be green

If npm run verify shows green, you're done until workshop day.

Architecture

┌────────────┐   MCP (stdio)   ┌───────────────────┐   HTTPS   ┌──────────────┐
│ MCP client │ ───────────────▶│ YOUR MCP SERVER   │──────────▶│ PokeAPI      │
│ (Inspector,│  stdin/stdout   │ (this repo)       │           ├──────────────┤
│  Claude)   │                 │ SDK               │──────────▶│ League server│
└────────────┘                 └───────────────────┘  Bearer   │ (hosted)     │
                                                       token    └──────────────┘

• src/server.ts — assembles the McpServer, registers every tool, and connects it to the stdio transport. You'll live here.
• src/tools/ — one file per tool. get_pokemon is complete (your worked example); the other three are yours.
• src/lib/pokeapi.ts & src/lib/league.ts — pre-written fetch helpers. You never write HTTP plumbing, only tool logic.
• All your trainer state (party, badges) lives on the league server — your MCP server is stateless.

1 · Register as a trainer

npm run register -- "YourTrainerName"

This calls the league's POST /api/register and writes your token into .env. (Browser fallback: open <LEAGUE_URL>/register, copy the token, paste it into .env yourself — the classic "create an API key in the dashboard" ritual.)

2 · Connect Inspector

npm run inspect       # launches Inspector, which spawns `npm run dev` over stdio

In the Inspector UI: transport STDIO should already be selected (it launched your server for you). Open Tools → List Tools and call get_pokemon with "pikachu". That round-trip — schema in, structured result out — is the whole MCP tool model.

3 · The worksheet: implement the stub

The stub in src/tools/addPokemonToParty.ts already has its zod schema, description and a TODO block with hints. Copy the get_pokemon pattern. Test it in Inspector as you go.

3a · add_pokemon_to_party — what it adds: an authed POST

• What: validate the name via getPokemon() (from ../lib/pokeapi.js), then fetchLeague("/api/party", { method: "POST", body: { pokemon } }).
• Where: src/tools/addPokemonToParty.ts
• Hints: fetchLeague already attaches your Bearer token. Catch PokeApiError / LeagueError and return their .message with isError: true — the league's error messages (party full, over budget, Kanto rule) are written for the model to self-correct from, so pass them through verbatim.
• Done when: Inspector shows your updated party, and adding a 4th member returns a friendly error instead of crashing.

3b · challenge_league — provided for you: interpreting a rich response

challenge_league (src/tools/challengeLeague.ts) is already implemented — read it after finishing 3a to see the second idea: turning a rich response (ChallengeResponse in src/lib/league.ts) into a battle report the model can read, instead of JSON.stringify. Once your party has 3 members, challenge — your name appears on the projector within ~3 seconds. 🎉

Stuck? git checkout solution is the escape hatch (then git checkout main to keep working).

4 · The league rules

Elite	Types	BST
Gyarados	water/flying	540
Gengar	ghost/poison	500
Articuno	ice/flying	580
Snorlax	normal	540

Battle rule (fully deterministic, no dice): power = BST × type multiplier — the best single-type effectiveness among your Pokémon's types against the elite's full type combo. Your Pokémon beats an elite only if its power is strictly greater both ways (ties go to the elite — Alakazam vs Gengar is an exact tie, Gengar wins). Immunities multiply to 0: Normal attackers literally cannot touch Gengar. An elite falls if any of your 3 party members beats them.

Party rules: exactly 3 to challenge · original 151 only, legendaries banned (Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mewtwo, Mew) · combined BST budget of 1500 across the party. Big stats or good typing — you can't have both. Re-challenge freely: only your best result counts, and post-best attempts don't hurt your rank.

Leaderboard: badges → fewest attempts to your best → earliest. Lowest party BST among equal trainers is bragging rights ("won with the cheapest team").

5 · Beat the League with Claude 🏆

This is the punchline of the whole workshop. Connect your server to Claude Desktop and give it this prompt, verbatim:

Look up each Elite Four member's weaknesses and build me a party of 3 that sweeps them.

Watch Claude chain get_pokemon → add_pokemon_to_party → challenge_league, read the league's error messages when it busts the budget or picks a legendary, and self-correct. That loop — model + tools + good error messages — is what you just built.

Connecting Claude Desktop

npm run mcp-config

This prints a claude_desktop_config.json snippet with cwd already set to your project path — copy it in (Settings → Developer → Edit Config) instead of hand-editing a placeholder path.

Restart Claude Desktop, then ask it things like "look up snorlax" or "add gengar to my party".

Stretch goals

• get_type_effectiveness tool — PokeAPI has /type/{name}; save Claude a lookup step.
• remove_pokemon_from_party is already provided (src/tools/removePokemonFromParty.ts, an authed DELETE) — read it to see how the model swaps members to fix a busted budget.

Troubleshooting

• "No trainer token" → npm run register -- "YourName", then reconnect Inspector/Claude Desktop (the server reads .env at boot).
• PokeAPI slow/down on venue Wi-Fi → responses are cached in-process after first fetch; the league bundles its own battle data, so challenges still work.
• Inspector won't connect → make sure you picked transport STDIO, with command npx and args tsx src/server.ts.
• mr. mime? farfetch'd? → PokeAPI naming is lowercase-hyphenated: mr-mime, farfetchd, nidoran-f.