Build Mcp Server Template

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes internal organizational data — employee directory, project management, ticketing, and knowledge base — to AI assistants.

Companion blog post: How to Build MCP Servers for Your Internal Data (freeCodeCamp)

Features

• Employee directory search — find people by name, email, or role
• Project management — list projects by status, view team members
• Ticket lookup — query your internal ticketing system
• Knowledge base RAG — vector search across internal documents
• Authentication — Bearer token middleware with pluggable validation
• Resource endpoints — org structure overview, department details

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22+
• PostgreSQL 15+ with pgvector extension
• An OpenAI API key (for document embeddings)

Setup

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Set up environment variables
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your database URL and API keys

# Create database tables
psql $INTERNAL_DB_URL < schema.sql

# Start the server
npm run dev

The server runs at http://localhost:3100/mcp.

Connect with Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "internal-data": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3100/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Stdio Mode (local)

npm run dev:stdio

Project Structure

src/
├── index.ts           # HTTP server with StreamableHTTP transport
├── stdio.ts           # Stdio transport (for local clients)
├── tools.ts           # MCP tool definitions
├── resources.ts       # MCP resource definitions
├── db.ts              # Database access layer
├── auth-middleware.ts  # Express auth middleware
└── client-example.ts  # Example client usage

Docker

docker build -t internal-data-mcp .
docker run -p 3100:3100 --env-file .env internal-data-mcp

License

MIT