Development Setup Guide¶

This guide helps you set up your development environment for contributing to MCP Standards Server.

Prerequisites¶

Python 3.11 or higher
Git
Redis (for caching features)
Node.js 18+ (for web UI development)

Environment Setup¶

1. Clone the Repository¶

git clone https://github.com/williamzujkowski/mcp-standards-server.git
cd mcp-standards-server

2. Create Virtual Environment¶

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv

# Activate it
# On Linux/Mac:
source venv/bin/activate

# On Windows:
venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install Dependencies¶

# Install in development mode with all extras
pip install -e ".[dev,test,performance,visualization,full]"

# Install pre-commit hooks
pre-commit install

4. Set Up Redis¶

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install redis-server

# macOS
brew install redis

# Start Redis
redis-server

5. Environment Variables¶

Create a .env file in the project root:

# .env
MCP_ENV=development
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379
LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG
PYTHONPATH=${PWD}

Development Workflow¶

1. Create Feature Branch¶

git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

2. Make Changes¶

Follow the coding standards: - Use type hints - Write docstrings - Add unit tests - Update documentation

3. Run Tests¶

# Run all tests
pytest

# Run specific test file
pytest tests/unit/test_your_feature.py

# Run with coverage
pytest --cov=src --cov-report=html

4. Run Linters¶

# Format code
black src/ tests/

# Type checking
mypy src/

# Linting
flake8 src/ tests/

# Or run all checks
make lint

5. Test Locally¶

# Start the MCP server
python -m src

# In another terminal, test with CLI
mcp-standards validate examples/

# Test the web UI
cd web && npm start

IDE Setup¶

VS Code¶

Recommended extensions: - Python - Pylance - Black Formatter - GitLens

Settings (.vscode/settings.json):

{
    "python.linting.enabled": true,
    "python.linting.flake8Enabled": true,
    "python.formatting.provider": "black",
    "editor.formatOnSave": true,
    "python.testing.pytestEnabled": true
}

PyCharm¶

Set Python interpreter to virtual environment
Enable Django support if working on web components
Configure code style to use Black
Set up pytest as test runner

Debugging¶

Debug MCP Server¶

# Add breakpoints in code
import pdb; pdb.set_trace()

# Or use VS Code/PyCharm debugger with launch configurations

Debug Configuration (VS Code)¶

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Debug MCP Server",
            "type": "python",
            "request": "launch",
            "module": "src",
            "env": {
                "PYTHONPATH": "${workspaceFolder}",
                "MCP_ENV": "development"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Common Issues¶

Import Errors¶

# Ensure PYTHONPATH is set
export PYTHONPATH=${PWD}

# Or install in editable mode
pip install -e .

Redis Connection¶

# Check Redis is running
redis-cli ping

# Should return: PONG

Test Failures¶

# Clear test cache
find . -type d -name __pycache__ -exec rm -r {} +
pytest --cache-clear

Next Steps¶

Getting Help¶

Check existing issues on GitHub
Join our Discord community
Ask questions in discussions

Happy coding! 🚀