MCP Talk Demo Files

This folder contains practical examples for the"Beyond the Basics: Unlocking the Power of MCP"presentation at the 10x Developers Meetup.

cd /Users/davidhague/source/mcp-talk chmod +x setup.sh ./setup.sh

cd \Users\davidhague\source\mcp-talk setup.bat

cd /Users/davidhague/source/mcp-talk # Create and activate virtual environment python3 -m venv venv source venv/bin/activate # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate # Install dependencies pip install --upgrade pip pip install -r requirements.txt # Test setup python test_setup.py

- Demonstrates how to connect to any MCP server from Python
- Shows tool discovery, resource access, and general MCP interactions
- Perfect for showing the developer experience

source venv/bin/activate # Activate venv first! # Terminal 1 - Start MCP server npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp # Terminal 2 - Run client python 01_python_client_demo.py

- System monitoring server with all three MCP capabilities
- Tools: CPU usage, memory info, disk usage, processes, network
- Resources: System overview, platform information
- Shows how to build a full MCP server

source venv/bin/activate python 02_system_monitor_server.py

To connect with Claude Desktop:Add to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{ "mcpServers": { "system-monitor": { "command": "python", "args": ["/Users/davidhague/source/mcp-talk/02_system_monitor_server.py"], "env": { "PATH": "/Users/davidhague/source/mcp-talk/venv/bin:/usr/bin:/bin" } } } }

MCP with Server-Sent Events (SSE) - Pseudocode Reference

- LEGACY TRANSPORT- Educational purposes only
- Shows SSE endpoint structure (GET /sse + POST /messages)
- Demonstrates why Streamable HTTP is preferred

Note:This is pseudocode for understanding SSE concepts.For working implementations, use04_https_streamable.py

- Demonstrates the latest MCP transport protocol
- Unified endpoint architecture
- Production-ready streaming implementation

source venv/bin/activate python 04_https_streamable.py

- Demonstrates connecting to HTTP MCP servers instead of stdio
- Shows the same LLM integration but over HTTP transport
- Perfect companion to show stdio vs HTTP client differences

source venv/bin/activate # Terminal 1 - Start HTTP MCP server python 04_https_streamable.py # Terminal 2 - Run HTTP client python 05_http_client_demo.py

Demo 1: Python Client (stdio)(5 minutes)

- "Here's how easy it is to connect to any MCP server from Python"
- Run the stdio client against filesystem server
- Show tool discovery and execution with LLM integration

Demo 2: Build Custom Server(10 minutes)

- "Let's build an MCP server from scratch"
- Walk through the system monitor server code
- Show tools and resources capabilities
- Connect it to Claude Desktop

- "Now let's make servers truly standalone with HTTP"
- Run the HTTP streamable server
- Show the unified endpoint architecture
- Demonstrate HTTP client connecting to it

- "For context, here's the legacy SSE approach"
- Show the pseudocode structure
- Explain why Streamable HTTP is preferred

┌─────────────┐ MCP Protocol ┌─────────────┐ │ Client │ ◄─────────────────► │ Server │ │ (Claude, │ │ (Your App) │ │ Cursor, │ • Tools │ │ │ Custom) │ • Resources │ │ └─────────────┘ • Prompts └─────────────┘

- STDIO→ Local, simple, process-based
- SSE→ Remote, dual-endpoint (GET /sse + POST /messages)
- Streamable HTTP→ New unified, single endpoint

- Tools(Model-controlled): Functions the AI can call
- Resources(App-controlled): Data the AI can read
- Prompts(User-controlled): Templates users select

- Isolated Python dependencies
- Reproducible demo environment
- No conflicts with system packages
- Professional development practice

# Activate (do this before running demos) source venv/bin/activate # Check it's working which python # Should show venv/bin/python # Install additional packages if needed pip install some-package # Deactivate when done deactivate

- Make sure venv is activated (source venv/bin/activate)
- Runpython test_setup.pyto verify setup
- Reinstall withpip install -r requirements.txt

- MCP Documentation
- MCP Python SDK
- MCP Servers Collection
- MCP Inspector- Great for testing
- Start Simple: Use existing MCP servers with Claude Desktop
- Build Custom: Create MCP servers for your specific needs
- Go Remote: Deploy SSE servers for team/production use
- Explore Transports: Try different transport protocols for your use case

- MCP is the "USB-C for AI" - universal protocol
- Three capabilities: tools, resources, and prompts unlock real workflows
- Multiple transport options for different deployment scenarios
- Production-ready with proper session management
- Open standard with growing ecosystem
- ModuleNotFoundError: Activate venv first (source venv/bin/activate)
- Permission denied on setup.sh: Runchmod +x setup.sh
- Node.js not found: Install fromnodejs.orgfor filesystem server demo
- Port 8000 in use: Change port in SSE server or kill existing process
- Claude Desktop not connecting: Check config file path and restart Claude Desktop

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