Building an MCP Server with Nx

The Model Context Protocol (MCP), introduced by Anthropic in late 2024, serves as an open standard enabling AI agents to connect with various digital environments, such as the web and software systems. This blog post details the process of creating an MCP server using an Nx monorepo, demonstrated through a fictional SaaS company called Astra Arcana. The server is built to allow AI tools to understand workspace architecture and execute tasks such as obtaining ingredients, incantations, and recipes via a JSON-RPC server using the Typescript SDK. The post guides through setting up the server, registering tools, and enabling AI to perform actions, like casting spells, with a focus on using AI agents beyond data reading. Additionally, it covers the steps for publishing the server as an NPM package, including setting up a local Verdaccio registry for testing and configuring the Nx release process for versioning and publishing. The future installment promises to explore alternative MCP transport layers and hosting solutions.