Building MCP Servers for Claude Code: From Zero to Production
Go from zero to production MCP server developer for Claude Code. Master tools, resources, prompts, sampling, roots, elicitation, Streamable HTTP, OAuth 2.1, observability, and registry publishing in TypeScript.
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About This Course
Course Curriculum
20 Lessons
MCP Foundations & The Claude Code Integration Model
Teaching lesson: Learn what MCP is, why it exists, the host/client/server architecture, the three primitives (tools, resources, prompts), how Skills compare to MCP, transports at a glance, and the 2026 state of the protocol.
MCP Foundations - Lab Exercises
Hands-on exercises: connect the official filesystem MCP server in Claude Code, inspect protocol traffic with MCP Inspector, and explore @-resource and /-prompt discovery.
Building Your First MCP Server
Teaching lesson: Anatomy of a TypeScript MCP server project, the McpServer class, registerTool, StdioServerTransport, the critical stdio-stdout rule, MCP Inspector, and adding your server to Claude Code.
Building Your First MCP Server - Lab Exercises
Hands-on exercises: build a hello-world MCP server with greet and add_numbers tools, test with MCP Inspector, and register it in Claude Code.
Tools In Depth: Schemas, Validation, and Structured Output
Teaching lesson: tool definition anatomy, Zod schema patterns, description-driven discovery, structured output with outputSchema, multi-modal content, tool annotations, and isError vs throwing.
Tools In Depth - Lab Exercises
Hands-on exercises: build a multi-tool utility server with fetch_url, format_json, and calculate tools using full Zod input AND output schemas.
Resources, URI Templates, and Prompt Templates
Teaching lesson: resources vs tools, static resources, URI-templated resources, list_changed notifications, prompt templates, and embedded resources in tool results.
Resources and Prompts - Lab Exercises
Hands-on exercises: expose project knowledge via static resources, URI-templated resources (wiki://{slug}), and a prompt template (incident-triage) registered as a Claude Code slash command.
Advanced Capabilities: Sampling, Roots, and Elicitation
Teaching lesson: sampling (servers asking the client to run completions), roots (filesystem boundaries), and elicitation (pausing for user input mid-task).
Sampling, Roots, and Elicitation - Lab Exercises
Hands-on exercises: build an interactive MCP server using sampling, roots enforcement, and elicitation for structured user input. Includes summarize_file and generate_commit_message tools.
Transports: stdio vs Streamable HTTP for Remote Servers
Teaching lesson: stdio recap, Streamable HTTP, Express + StreamableHTTPServerTransport, stateful vs stateless mode, CORS and origin validation, and adding HTTP servers to Claude Code.
Streamable HTTP - Lab Exercises
Hands-on exercises: convert your stdio server to Streamable HTTP with Express, session management, origin allowlists, and concurrent client testing.
Authentication, OAuth 2.1, and Production Security
Teaching lesson: MCP server threat model, OAuth 2.1 + PKCE, resource indicators (RFC 8707), JWT validation, separating authorization and resource servers, CIMD, short-lived tokens, secrets hygiene, and authenticated servers in Claude Code.
OAuth 2.1 with PKCE - Lab Exercises
Hands-on exercises: add OAuth 2.1 + PKCE bearer-token middleware to your Streamable HTTP server, implement .well-known/oauth-protected-resource, and verify forged/expired token rejection.
Real-World Integration Patterns
Teaching lesson: auth-aware tool implementation (per-user data scoping, token forwarding, scope enforcement), API-wrapper pattern, read-only database pattern, vendor-proxy pattern, dynamic tools, pagination, cost-aware design, and idempotency.
API-Wrapper Server - Lab Exercises
Hands-on exercises: build an authenticated API-wrapper MCP server with JWT-scoped REST and SQLite tools, per-user cache keys, scope-required write tools, and cross-tenant isolation tests.
Error Handling, Observability, and Production Readiness
Teaching lesson: protocol errors vs tool errors, structured logging via notifications/message, stderr logging for stdio, OpenTelemetry integration, graceful shutdown, health checks, AbortSignal cancellation, and self-healing schema errors.
Observability and Error Recovery - Lab Exercises
Hands-on exercises: harden the API-wrapper server with pino structured logging, OpenTelemetry tracing, /healthz and /livez endpoints, graceful shutdown, and chaos-tested error recovery.
Packaging, Distribution, and the 2026 MCP Frontier
Teaching lesson: npm packaging for stdio servers, MCPB (the new DXT) bundles, building with @anthropic-ai/dxt, the official MCP Registry, Server Cards, the Tasks primitive, MCP Apps (SEP-1865), and a Python/FastMCP comparison.
Capstone Project - Build, Document, and Publish Your Own MCP Server
Capstone exercise: design and ship your own production-grade MCP server. Choose one of three tracks (DevOps, Knowledge, or Data) and deliver a fully tested, documented, and packaged server ready for the MCP Registry.
This course includes:
- 24/7 AI Instructor Support
- Live Lab Environments
- 10 Hands-on Lessons
- Completion Badge
Earn Your Badge
Complete all lessons to unlock the MCP Server Developer for Claude Code achievement badge.
MCP Server Developer for Claude Code
Awarded for completing Building MCP Servers for Claude Code: From Zero to Production. Demonstrates fluency with the Model Context Protocol — designing tools and resources, authentication, transports, deployment, and integration with Claude Code.
Skills You'll Earn
Complete all lessons in this course to earn this badge