Describe your use case, Claude builds the MCP server

TL;DR Install the mcp-server-dev plugin, run /mcp-server-dev:build-mcp-server, and describe what you want to connect. Claude asks you the design questions the spec normally forces on you (transport, tool shape, framework, auth), picks the architecture, and scaffolds the server. You bring the use case, it brings the spec.

Every MCP tip we've written teaches you to consume servers: you add them with claude mcp add and Claude gains tools. This goes the other way. mcp-server-dev is an official Anthropic plugin that has Claude build one for you.

It's not a template generator. It's a skill that interviews your use case and makes the calls that normally send you into the MCP spec: whether the server runs remote or local, how to split the tools, which framework to use, how to handle auth. Then it scaffolds the project.

When you launch it, the conversation goes roughly like this (it's an interactive flow, not fixed output):

> /mcp-server-dev:build-mcp-server

What does it connect to?    A cloud API (Notion-style REST)
Who will use it?            Anyone who installs it
How many actions?           About 6

Recommendation
  Deployment   Remote HTTP (streamable)  · zero install, OAuth-ready
  Tools        one per action (6 tools)
  Framework    TypeScript SDK
  Scaffolding project...

How to use it

1. Install the plugin

It ships as a plugin, so you install it like any other:

/plugin install mcp-server-dev@claude-plugins-official

If it says the marketplace isn't found, add it with /plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-official and retry. Once installed, /reload-plugins activates it without a restart.

2. Start the build skill

/mcp-server-dev:build-mcp-server

Or just ask in plain language ("help me build an MCP server") and the skill triggers on its own.

3. Describe the use case

This is the trick. Instead of writing code, you answer five questions: what it connects to, who will use it, how many actions it exposes, whether any tool needs to ask you for input mid-run, and what auth the service uses. From that, Claude picks the architecture for you, instead of leaving that decision (the most expensive one to undo) to guesswork.

4. Let it scaffold (and hand off if needed)

For a remote server with no UI, the skill scaffolds the project itself (Express or FastMCP, or the express lane with Cloudflare Workers). Need interactive widgets in the chat? It hands off to build-mcp-app. Server has to live on your machine bundled with its runtime? It hands off to build-mcpb.

5. Test it and ship it

Once it runs, you test against real Claude by adding it as a connector, run the review checklist, and optionally submit it to Anthropic's Directory. The skill links each step.

The five paths (and when each wins)

The plugin's three skills

Official docs: Find and build MCP servers

Requirements

The plugin runs in Claude Code with plugin support. The server you generate will need Node (TypeScript SDK) or Python (FastMCP), depending on the framework you pick.