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mcp-use

Write an MCP server in TypeScript, bind React views to its tools, and inspect the result in a browser before shipping

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26 Aug 2026

What is mcp-use?

Most MCP servers return text and leave the client to render it. mcp-use is built around the opposite idea: a tool can carry a React view, so what the user sees inside ChatGPT or Claude is an interface rather than a paragraph. Tool inputs and outputs are declared with Zod schemas and those types flow through to the view's props, so a change in one place shows up as a type error in the other. A scaffolded project comes with an inspector at a local URL for calling tools and looking at views while you work, and a tunnel for testing against a real client. Version 2 is a rewrite around this server-and-view model; the earlier Python client library is no longer where the project's attention is.

What can you do with mcp-use?

  • Start from a working server, not an empty file — One command scaffolds the server, the build setup, a sample tool and the inspector, so the first run happens before any decisions are made.
  • One schema, checked everywhere — Tool inputs and outputs are declared once with Zod, and those types reach the structured result and the view's props — a mismatch is a type error.
  • Return a screen instead of a paragraph — A tool can name a React view, and the client renders that view with the tool's result, so the user can click and refresh rather than read.
  • Try the tool before the client sees it — A browser inspector calls tools and renders views against the running server, and the same checks can be run from the terminal for CI.
  • Test against a real client over a tunnel — A public URL for the local server lets you connect ChatGPT or Claude to work in progress without deploying anything.

Before you choose mcp-use

  • Version 2 is a rewrite rather than an upgrade: the project ships a migration guide, and code and articles written for version 1 — including its Python client library — do not carry across.
  • The deploy step points at the maintainers' own hosted platform, which is where the observability and analytics live; running the server elsewhere is possible but is not the documented path.

Frequently asked questions

Is mcp-use free for commercial use?

mcp-use is released under the MIT licence — OSI-approved open source, which permits commercial use.

How can mcp-use be deployed?

mcp-use is available as Self-hosted / Runs locally / Managed cloud.

Documentation

Reproduced from the mcp-use/mcp-use README, published under MIT. Read the original ↗

[!NOTE] Migrating from v1? Give it to your agent:

Migrate this mcp-use project to v2 following
https://docs.mcp-use.com/v2/typescript/server/migration

Read the migration guide →

Get started

Start with your agent

Build an MCP server: https://mcp-use.com/prompt.md

Read the prompt →

Start with code

npx -y create-mcp-use-app@latest

Run npm run dev in the generated project · open http://localhost:3000/mcp/inspector

TS Docs

Everything you need to ship MCP

Quickstart

The scaffold gives you the server, TypeScript configuration, development scripts, Inspector, and a React view pipeline. Start it once and the MCP endpoint also serves a client-ready landing page with its connection URL and setup instructions.

Replace its index.ts with a view-bound tool like this:

import { MCPServer } from "mcp-use";
import { z } from "zod";

const server = new MCPServer({
  name: "weather-app",
  title: "Weather App",
  version: "1.0.0",
});

const weatherInput = z.object({
  city: z.string().describe("City to look up"),
});

const weatherOutput = z.object({
  city: z.string(),
  temperature: z.number(),
  conditions: z.string(),
});

export const getWeather = server.tool(
  {
    name: "get-weather",
    title: "Get weather",
    description: "Get the current weather for a city",
    inputSchema: weatherInput,
    outputSchema: weatherOutput,
    view: { name: "weather-card" },
    annotations: {
      readOnlyHint: true,
      destructiveHint: false,
      openWorldHint: true,
    },
  },
  async ({ city }) => {
    const weather = {
      city,
      temperature: 22,
      conditions: "Sunny",
    };

    return {
      content: [
        {
          type: "text",
          text: `Weather in ${city}: ${weather.conditions}, ${weather.temperature}°C`,
        },
      ],
      structuredContent: weather,
    };
  },
);

export default server;

Explore MCP server tools →

Add Views to your tools

Create views/weather-card/view.tsx. The directory name matches view.name on the tool:

import { useCallTool, useToolContext } from "mcp-use/react";

export default function WeatherCard() {
  const { status, toolOutput, toolInput } =
    useToolContext<"get-weather">();
  const refresh = useCallTool("get-weather");

  if (status === "pending") {
    return <p>Checking the weather in {toolInput?.city ?? "your city"}…</p>;
  }
  if (status === "error") return <p>Could not load the weather.</p>;

  const weather = refresh.data?.structuredContent ?? toolOutput;

  return (
    <main style={{ padding: 24 }}>
      <h2>{weather.city}</h2>
      <p>
        {weather.temperature}°C · {weather.conditions}
      </p>
      <button
        disabled={refresh.isPending}
        onClick={() => void refresh.callTool({ city: weather.city })}
      >
        {refresh.isPending ? "Refreshing…" : "Refresh"}
      </button>
      {refresh.error && <p>{refresh.error.message}</p>}
    </main>
  );
}

Build your first MCP App →

Build

Create the production build:

npm run build

Inspect

Start development mode to serve the MCP endpoint at http://localhost:3000/mcp. The Inspector is automatically available at http://localhost:3000/mcp/inspector:

npm run dev

Start a tunnel from the Inspector UI or run mcp-use dev --tunnel to get a public URL for your local MCP server and test it with ChatGPT and Claude before deployment. Learn more about tunneling →

Inspect the same server headlessly from the terminal, invoke representative tools, and capture a View screenshot:

npm install --save-dev @mcp-use/client
npx mcp-use client connect local http://localhost:3000/mcp
npx mcp-use client local tools list
npx mcp-use client local tools call get-weather city=Tokyo
npx mcp-use screenshot \
  --server local \
  --tool get-weather \
  city=Tokyo \
  --output weather-card.png

Deploy

Ship to Manufact and get observability, analytics, evals, submission readiness, and Git-based preview environments for free.

npm run deploy

Prefer to run it yourself? Follow the self-hosting guide →.

How mcp-use compares

mcp-use builds on the official TypeScript SDK v2 and adds first-class Views, typed tool-to-UI contracts, an optimized stateless runtime, the Inspector, screenshot verification, agent-first CLI workflows, and deployment.

block-beta
  columns 7

  metric["Metric"] mcp["mcp-use v2"] fastmcp["FastMCP TS"] official["Official SDK v2*"] xmcp["xmcp"] skybridge["Skybridge"] handler["mcp-handler"]

  speed["Speed"] speedMcp["10,982 ops/s"] speedFast["6,628 ops/s"] speedOfficial["8,050 ops/s"] speedXmcp["6,585 ops/s"] speedSkybridge["8,116 ops/s"] speedHandler["6,324 ops/s"]
  install["MCP App<br/>dev stack"] installMcp["74.4 MiB"] installFast["122.5 MiB"] installOfficial["99.0 MiB"] installXmcp["121.9 MiB"] installSkybridge["137.5 MiB"] installHandler["388.0 MiB"]
  packages["Installed<br/>packages"] packagesMcp["51"] packagesFast["180"] packagesOfficial["119"] packagesXmcp["171"] packagesSkybridge["300"] packagesHandler["130"]
  views["Views"] viewsMcp["✅"] viewsFast["✅"] viewsOfficial["◐ Extension"] viewsXmcp["✅"] viewsSkybridge["✅"] viewsHandler["❌"]
  nativeViews["Native Views<br/>on MCP 2026"] nativeViewsMcp["✅"] nativeViewsFast["✅"] nativeViewsOfficial["❌"] nativeViewsXmcp["❌"] nativeViewsSkybridge["❌"] nativeViewsHandler["❌"]
  oauth["One-line<br/>OAuth adapters"] oauthMcp["✅"] oauthFast["◐ Provider/proxy"] oauthOfficial["◐ Primitives"] oauthXmcp["✅"] oauthSkybridge["✅"] oauthHandler["❌"]
  protocol["MCP 2026<br/>protocol"] protocolMcp["✅"] protocolFast["✅"] protocolOfficial["✅"] protocolXmcp["❌"] protocolSkybridge["❌"] protocolHandler["❌"]
  screenshot["Built-in View<br/>screenshot CLI"] screenshotMcp["✅"] screenshotFast["❌"] screenshotOfficial["❌"] screenshotXmcp["❌"] screenshotSkybridge["❌"] screenshotHandler["❌"]
  tunnel["Built-in<br/>tunneling"] tunnelMcp["✅"] tunnelFast["❌"] tunnelOfficial["❌"] tunnelXmcp["❌"] tunnelSkybridge["✅"] tunnelHandler["❌"]
  inspector["Built-in<br/>Inspector"] inspectorMcp["✅"] inspectorFast["✅"] inspectorOfficial["❌"] inspectorXmcp["❌"] inspectorSkybridge["◐ Limited"] inspectorHandler["❌"]

  classDef metricLabel fill:#6e76811a,font-weight:bold
  classDef brand fill:#2ea04333,stroke:#2da44e,stroke-width:3px,font-weight:bold
  classDef header fill:#6e76811a,font-weight:bold
  classDef value fill:#6e76810f,stroke-width:1px
  classDef leader fill:#2ea0432e,stroke:#2da44e,stroke-width:2px,font-weight:bold
  classDef partial fill:#bb80092e,stroke:#bf8700,stroke-width:2px,font-weight:bold
  classDef unavailable fill:#6e76810f,opacity:0.72

  class metric,speed,install,packages,views,nativeViews,oauth,protocol,screenshot,tunnel,inspector metricLabel
  class mcp brand
  class fastmcp,official,xmcp,skybridge,handler header
  class speedFast,speedOfficial,speedXmcp,speedSkybridge,speedHandler,installFast,installOfficial,installXmcp,installSkybridge,installHandler,packagesFast,packagesOfficial,packagesXmcp,packagesSkybridge,packagesHandler value
  class speedMcp,installMcp,packagesMcp,viewsMcp,viewsFast,viewsXmcp,viewsSkybridge,nativeViewsMcp,nativeViewsFast,oauthMcp,oauthXmcp,oauthSkybridge,protocolMcp,protocolFast,protocolOfficial,screenshotMcp,tunnelMcp,tunnelSkybridge,inspectorMcp,inspectorFast leader
  class oauthFast,viewsOfficial,oauthOfficial,inspectorSkybridge partial
  class viewsHandler,nativeViewsOfficial,nativeViewsXmcp,nativeViewsSkybridge,nativeViewsHandler,oauthHandler,protocolXmcp,protocolSkybridge,protocolHandler,screenshotFast,screenshotOfficial,screenshotXmcp,screenshotSkybridge,screenshotHandler,tunnelFast,tunnelOfficial,tunnelXmcp,tunnelHandler,inspectorOfficial,inspectorXmcp,inspectorHandler unavailable

* Includes @modelcontextprotocol/ext-apps, Vite, and zod for an MCP Apps-capable stack.

Install rows compare custom React MCP App development stacks. FastMCP therefore includes the Apps extension, React, Vite React plugin, Vite, TypeScript, and zod rather than only its narrower server-side component workflow. Size is actual node_modules disk usage after a normal npm install, including required peer dependencies.

Read the detailed benchmark report →

Examples

Remix a complete MCP App, inspect the source, or deploy it as a starting point:

PreviewAppWhat it demonstrates
Chart BuilderStructured data rendered as interactive charts · Open demo
Diagram BuilderCreate and edit diagrams through MCP tools · Open demo
Maps ExplorerSearch, detail tools, and an interactive map view · Open demo

Browse all TypeScript examples →

Ecosystem

PackageUse it for
mcp-useTypeScript v2 server framework, React views, and CLI
@mcp-use/clientConnect to MCP servers from Node.js, browsers, React, and sandboxes
@mcp-use/agentBuild model-powered agents on top of MCP clients
@mcp-use/inspectorInspect and debug MCP servers and apps
@mcp-use/tunnelExpose local HTTP, WebSocket, and MCP servers through the managed relay
create-mcp-use-appScaffold servers and interactive apps
mcp-use for PythonBuild Python MCP servers, clients, and agents

Protocol conformance

Security and community