Tiny Go MCP Server

A lightweight Model Context Protocol (MCP) toolkit for Go. Build spec-compliant MCP servers (stdio, streamable HTTP, legacy SSE) with tools, resources, and prompts — minimal boilerplate and automatic JSON Schema from Go structs.

Built on the official modelcontextprotocol/go-sdk.

Requirements: Go 1.26+ (download).

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Why Tiny?

	Tiny Go MCP Server	Full frameworks
Goal	Thin helper on official go-sdk + tiny static binary	Full MCP feature surface
Deps	Official go-sdk only	Varies
Binary	~5MB stripped, no runtime on host	Often larger stacks
Schemas	Inferred from struct tags	Manual or builder APIs

Use this project as a library (tinymcp package) or as a starting template (cmd/tiny-go-mcp).

When to use what

	tinymcp (this repo)	mcp-go	go-sdk alone
Best for	Thin helper on go-sdk, tiny binary	Rich helpers, large ecosystem	Full control, no extra layer
Schema	Struct tags → auto JSON Schema	Builder APIs / helpers	AddTool + generics yourself
Transport	stdio (Start()), streamable HTTP (StartHTTP), legacy SSE (StartSSE)	stdio, SSE, HTTP, …	All transports
Deps	go-sdk only	Standalone module	go-sdk only

Choose tinymcp when you want the official protocol implementation with minimal boilerplate and a small static server binary.

Philosophy

tinymcp is a thin helper on the official go-sdk — not a replacement for it.

We reduce setup and transport boilerplate (server creation, registration error handling, stdio/HTTP/SSE, TextResult, deploy examples). The protocol implementation, generics, and schema inference still come from modelcontextprotocol/go-sdk.

That means handler code uses both imports — and that is intentional:

import (
    "github.com/kioie/tiny-go-mcp-server/tinymcp"
    "github.com/modelcontextprotocol/go-sdk/mcp" // handler types, prompts, resources, advanced APIs
)

Use tinymcp for	Use go-sdk (mcp) for
NewServer, RegisterTool, transports	Handler signatures (CallToolRequest, GetPromptRequest, …)
Safe registration (errors, not panics)	Tool annotations, elicitation, custom protocol features
TextResult, HTTP middleware helpers	Anything via server.RawServer()

We are not aiming for a non-leaky facade that hides the SDK. If you need full control, call RawServer() or use go-sdk directly — same underlying server, no lock-in.

tinymcp vs raw go-sdk

Same protocol implementation — tinymcp removes repetitive setup. Handler code still imports mcp for request types in both cases.

go-sdk alone (minimal stdio server):

server := mcp.NewServer(&mcp.Implementation{Name: "my-mcp", Version: "1.0.0"}, nil)
mcp.AddTool(server, &mcp.Tool{
    Name:        "greet",
    Description: "Greet someone by name",
}, greet)
if err := server.Run(context.Background(), &mcp.StdioTransport{}); err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}

tinymcp (same tool, less boilerplate):

s := tinymcp.NewServer("my-mcp", "1.0.0")
if err := tinymcp.RegisterTool(s, "greet", "Greet someone by name", greet); err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}
log.Fatal(s.Start())

tinymcp adds	Still on go-sdk (mcp)
NewServer(name, ver)	Handler signatures (CallToolRequest, prompts, resources)
RegisterTool + struct-tag JSON Schema	Tool annotations via RegisterToolDef + mcp.Tool
Safe registration errors (no panics)	Advanced session / event-store APIs
Start() / StartHTTP() / HTTP middleware	Full control via RawServer()

Use go-sdk alone when you want zero wrapper. Use tinymcp when you want less setup while staying on the official implementation.

Transport

Method	API	Typical clients
stdio (default)	Start()	Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf (local subprocess)
Streamable HTTP	StartHTTP(addr, opts) or StreamableHTTPHandler	Remote MCP clients, gateways, browser tools
Legacy SSE	StartSSE(addr, opts) or SSEHandler	Older clients on MCP 2024-11-05 SSE transport

Start() runs stdio (stdin/stdout) — what most local AI clients expect.

For HTTP/SSE, tinymcp wraps the official go-sdk handlers with minimal options:

// Streamable HTTP on loopback (stateless demo — no GET/SSE or server→client RPC)
log.Fatal(server.StartHTTP("127.0.0.1:8080", &tinymcp.HTTPOptions{Stateless: true}))

// Or mount on your own mux (auth, TLS, path prefix)
handler, _ := tinymcp.StreamableHTTPHandler(server, nil)
http.Handle("/mcp", handler)

Stateless mode (Stateless: true) is the default in examples: one POST JSON-RPC per request, no long-lived SSE GET stream, and no server-initiated messages. Omit it or use session options when you need full streamable HTTP sessions — see docs/HTTP.md.

See docs/HTTP.md and examples/http. To host for Smithery URL listing (no Docker for end users), use examples/http-deploy. For advanced session routing or event stores, use server.RawServer() with the go-sdk directly.

---

Quick start (library)

Step-by-step guide: docs/QUICKSTART.md. AI codegen: SYSTEM_PROMPT.md.

go get github.com/kioie/tiny-go-mcp-server/tinymcp@latest

package main

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"log"

	"github.com/kioie/tiny-go-mcp-server/tinymcp"
	"github.com/modelcontextprotocol/go-sdk/mcp"
)

type greetArgs struct {
	Name string `json:"name" jsonschema:"Person to greet"`
}

func main() {
	s := tinymcp.NewServer("my-mcp", "1.0.0")
	if err := tinymcp.RegisterTool(s, "greet", "Greet someone by name", greet); err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
	log.Fatal(s.Start())
}

func greet(_ context.Context, _ *mcp.CallToolRequest, args greetArgs) (*mcp.CallToolResult, any, error) {
	return tinymcp.TextResult(fmt.Sprintf("Hello, %s!", args.Name)), nil, nil
}

See examples/minimal for a runnable copy-paste example.

Scaffold a new server

Requires tagged module template/ (v1.1.1+) for stdio, or template-http/ for streamable HTTP:

go install golang.org/x/tools/cmd/gonew@latest
gonew github.com/kioie/tiny-go-mcp-server/template@latest example.com/my-mcp my-mcp
cd my-mcp && go run .

# HTTP deploy (Smithery / Fly / Render):
gonew github.com/kioie/tiny-go-mcp-server/template-http@latest example.com/my-mcp-http my-mcp-http
cd my-mcp-http && go run .

Or copy examples/minimal, template/, or template-http/ directly.

---

Install the example server

Both install paths produce a binary named tiny-go-mcp:

# Installs to $(go env GOPATH)/bin/tiny-go-mcp
go install github.com/kioie/tiny-go-mcp-server/cmd/tiny-go-mcp@latest

Or build from source (binary in the repo root):

git clone https://github.com/kioie/tiny-go-mcp-server.git
cd tiny-go-mcp-server
make release   # → ./tiny-go-mcp

Method	Binary name	Typical path
go install …/cmd/tiny-go-mcp	tiny-go-mcp	$(go env GOPATH)/bin/tiny-go-mcp
make build / make release	tiny-go-mcp	./tiny-go-mcp in the repo
make install	tiny-go-mcp	$(go env GOPATH)/bin/tiny-go-mcp

Example tools (reference server)

These tools exist for MCP integration demos, not production logic. Agents should compute math and write greetings in-chat unless they are explicitly testing tool calls.

Tool	When to use	When not to / alternative	Arguments
add	Test that the client can call an addition tool	Real arithmetic → compute locally or use a calculator MCP	a, b
subtract	Test subtraction wiring (use instead of add for subtraction tests)	Real arithmetic → compute locally	a, b
greet	Test a text-returning tool (use instead of add/subtract for messaging demos)	User-facing hello → reply in the conversation	name (required), greeting (optional)

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Connect AI clients

MCP servers communicate over stdio. Point your client at the compiled binary path.

Template config: examples/mcp-client-config.json (copy and set the absolute path to tiny-go-mcp).

Logging: The protocol uses stdin/stdout. Server logs (if any) go to stderr only. Set TINY_GO_MCP_VERBOSE=1 on the server process to enable startup log lines.

Cursor

Settings → Features → MCP → Add server:

• Name: tiny-go-mcp
• Type: stdio
• Command: /absolute/path/to/tiny-go-mcp

Or add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tiny-go-mcp": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/tiny-go-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tiny-go-mcp": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/tiny-go-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Windsurf / Zed / other stdio clients

Use the same shape: command = absolute path to tiny-go-mcp, transport = stdio. Refer to your client’s MCP docs for the config file location.

Tips for LLM-friendly tools

• Use clear tool names (snake_case) and descriptions that say when to use, when not to, and which sibling tool applies — models pick tools from these and often have overlapping options.
• Add jsonschema tags on struct fields so argument docs appear in the schema.
• Return human-readable text via tinymcp.TextResult for predictable client display.
• See AGENTS.md for conventions when extending this repo with AI assistants.

---

Resources and prompts

Register read-only context and reusable prompt templates alongside tools:

if err := tinymcp.RegisterTextResource(server, "file:///info", "info", "Server metadata", "text/plain", "…"); err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}
if err := tinymcp.RegisterPrompt(server, "code_review", "Review code", []*mcp.PromptArgument{
	{Name: "code", Required: true},
}, func(_ context.Context, req *mcp.GetPromptRequest) (*mcp.GetPromptResult, error) {
	code := req.Params.Arguments["code"]
	if code == "" {
		return nil, tinymcp.RequiredPromptArgument("code")
	}
	return tinymcp.PromptResult("Review", tinymcp.UserPromptMessage("Review:\n"+code)), nil
}); err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}

Runnable example: examples/resources. For dynamic URI templates use RegisterResourceTemplate.

---

Package API

server := tinymcp.NewServer("name", "version")
tinymcp.NewServer("name", "version", tinymcp.WithInstructions("…")) // optional SDK config
tinymcp.NewServerWithOptions("name", "version", &mcp.ServerOptions{…})
tinymcp.RegisterTool(server, name, description, handler)     // typed handler, auto schema
tinymcp.RegisterTextResource(server, uri, name, desc, mime, text)
tinymcp.RegisterPrompt(server, name, desc, args, handler)
server.Start()                                              // stdio transport
server.StartHTTP(":8080", &tinymcp.HTTPOptions{})         // streamable HTTP
server.StartSSE(":8080", nil)                             // legacy SSE
tinymcp.StreamableHTTPHandler(server, nil)                // mount on custom http.Server
tinymcp.TextResult("message")                               // tool text helper
tinymcp.TextResource(uri, mime, text)                       // resource read helper
tinymcp.PromptResult(desc, tinymcp.UserPromptMessage("…")) // prompt helper
server.RawServer()                                          // escape hatch to go-sdk

// v1.2+: panic-at-startup registration or errors.Is sentinels
tinymcp.MustRegisterTool(server, name, description, handler)
errors.Is(err, tinymcp.ErrNilServer)                        // ErrNilTool, ErrNilHandler, ErrRegistrationFailed
opts := (&tinymcp.HTTPOptions{Stateless: true}).WithMiddleware(requestLogger)
tinymcp.ListenAndServeHTTPContext(ctx, addr, handler)       // graceful shutdown; also StartHTTPContext / StartSSEContext

Documentation: pkg.go.dev/github.com/kioie/tiny-go-mcp-server/tinymcp. Upgrading from v1.1.x: docs/MIGRATION-v1.2.md.

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Development

Command	Description
make test	Run tests with race detector
make lint	golangci-lint
make lint-tools	Validate MCP tool descriptions in reference servers
make coverage	Coverage report
make build	Dev binary ./tiny-go-mcp
make release	Stripped static binary
make install	go install → $(go env GOPATH)/bin/tiny-go-mcp

Smaller binaries (~1.8MB)

After make release, optionally pack with UPX:

upx --best --lzma tiny-go-mcp

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Project structure

tinymcp/              # Library package
cmd/tiny-go-mcp/      # Reference MCP server
template/             # gonew stdio scaffold
template-http/        # gonew streamable HTTP deploy scaffold
examples/minimal/     # Minimal stdio example
examples/http/        # Streamable HTTP example
examples/http-deploy/ # Deployable HTTP + Smithery URL listing (server card, Render/Fly)
examples/resources/   # Resources + prompts example
examples/mcp-client-config.json  # Cursor/Claude-style template
scripts/lint-tools/   # MCP tool description linter (make lint-tools)
docs/                 # Guides — see below
server.json           # MCP Registry metadata (publish with mcp-publisher)
CHANGELOG.md          # Release history
SYSTEM_PROMPT.md      # Agent-facing API summary for codegen
.github/workflows/    # CI, lint, CodeQL, releases

Key docs in docs/:

Doc	Purpose
QUICKSTART.md	Step-by-step library setup
HTTP.md	stdio vs streamable HTTP vs legacy SSE
STABILITY.md	Public API stability policy
MIGRATION-v1.2.md	Upgrade guide from v1.1.x
TLS.md	HTTPS via reverse proxy or Go
LOCALHOST-PROTECTION.md	DNS rebinding security advisory
DISCOVERY.md	Registries and visibility
GLAMA.md	Glama hosting
SMITHERY.md	Smithery URL and MCPB listings

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Releases

Tag a semver version (e.g. v1.2.0) to publish stable go get versions and trigger GitHub Releases with cross-platform binaries and multi-arch GHCR images. Release history: CHANGELOG.md. Public API stability: docs/STABILITY.md. Agent-facing API summary: SYSTEM_PROMPT.md. Upgrading from v1.1.x: docs/MIGRATION-v1.2.md.

git tag v1.2.0
git push origin v1.2.0

Discovery and registries

See docs/DISCOVERY.md for MCP Registry (server.json), awesome lists, and community directories. Listing copy and launch posts: docs/SUBMISSIONS.md. For Glama hosting with Docker, see docs/GLAMA.md.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. For AI codegen outside this repo, see SYSTEM_PROMPT.md. CI runs tests, lint, and CodeQL; Dependabot keeps Go and Actions dependencies updated.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.