Lab 4 — Build the BookTracker MCP Server

Summary — what this page covers Attendees create BookTracker.Mcp with 3+ typed tools wired to real services, then connect it to Claude Code and invoke a tool live — committed. This is the moment Day 1 and Day 2 join up.

Duration: 30 min · Deliverable: BookTracker.Mcp with 3+ tools connected to Claude Code — committed

Part A — Scaffold the server (≈10 min)

Create the BookTracker.Mcp project, add the package, and configure the host with Streamable HTTP transport. Reference the Core/Data projects and register the services/DbContext your tools will use.

dotnet add BookTracker.Mcp package ModelContextProtocol

builder.Services.AddMcpServer().WithHttpTransport().WithToolsFromAssembly();
// + AddDbContext / register BookTracker services
app.MapMcp();

Part B — Define 3+ tools (≈10 min)

Define 3+ typed tools — e.g. search_books, get_reading_progress, add_book — each as an attributed method that takes typed parameters and injects a real BookTracker service. Write a strong, trigger-style description on each (this is what makes the model call them reliably). Reuse existing services; don't reimplement query logic.

Part C — Connect to Claude Code (≈10 min)

claude mcp add --transport http booktracker http://localhost:5000/mcp
claude mcp list                      # should show: booktracker - connected

Then ask Claude Code something like "Search BookTracker for books about space" and watch your search_books tool execute against the real database.

Checkpoint

BookTracker.Mcp builds and runs
3+ tools defined with typed schemas and clear descriptions
Tools call real BookTracker services
Claude Code lists and successfully invokes a tool
Committed to your fork

Bonus — Production MCP Deployment

No time pressure. Take the server toward production: containerize it (Dockerfile), add authentication (require a token) and audit logging (one entry per tool call), and write a short deployment path doc — how a teammate would run it and point Claude Code at it.