MCP Go#

MCP Go uses the native Go SDK to implement the Model Context Protocol (MCP). The framework provides type-safe tool definitions and is best suited for high-throughput and high-performance services, system-level integrations, and performance-critical applications.

Prerequisites#

• Install go version 1.23 or later.
• Install the MCP inspector tool to access and test your MCP server.
  npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

Create the MCP project#

1. Create a scaffold for your MCP Go server project.

   The following command creates an MCP server in the my-mcp-server directory and a sample echo tool that you can later use to test your server. Follow the interactive CLI prompts to optionaly add a description and author for your project.

   kmcp init go my-mcp-server --go-module-name my-mcp-server

2. Review the project structure that was created for you.

   find my-mcp-server

   Example project structure:

   my-mcp-server/
   ├── main.go              # Server entry point
   ├── go.mod               # Go module definition
   ├── go.sum               # Dependency checksums
   ├── tools/               # Tool implementations
   │   ├── all_tools.go     # Tool registration
   │   ├── echo.go          # Example tool
   │   └── tool.go          # Tool template
   ├── Dockerfile           # Container definition
   ├── .gitignore           # Git ignore rules
   ├── kmcp.yaml            # Project configuration
   └── README.md            # Project documentation

Add tools#

1. Create a boilerplate for an MCP tool that is named mytool. The following command creates the mytool.go tool in the tools directory of your MCP project.

   The boilerplate includes code for an echo tool that is similar to the my-mcp-server/tools/echo.go tool that is automatically created when you initialize the project. You can use the boilerplate as a base to create your own tools.

   kmcp add-tool mytool --project-dir my-mcp-server

2. Review the code for the mytool tool.

   cat my-mcp-server/tools/mytool.go

3. Make changes to the mytool.go tool to implement your own tool logic.

Run locally#

Use the kmcp run command to run your MCP server on your local machine so that you can test your MCP server and tools.

1. Run your MCP server on your local machine. The command builds the Docker image for your MCP server and automatically opens the MCP inspector tool so that you can connect to your MCP server and test it.

   Tip: The following command automatically opens the MCP inspector tool so that you can test your MCP server. If you do not want to open the MCP inspector tool, add the --no-inspector option to your command.

   kmcp run --project-dir my-mcp-server

2. In the MCP inspector tool, click Connect to connect to your MCP server. Note that it might take a few seconds for the MCP inspector tool to successfully connect to your MCP server. If the connection fails, make sure the following fields are set in the MCP inspector tool.

   • Select STDIO from the Transport Type drop down.
   • In the Command section, enter go.
   • In the Arguments section, enter run main.go.
   • In the Configuration section, enter the Proxy Session Token that was returned in the kmcp run command.

   

3. Try out the mytool MCP tool.

   1. Go to the Tools tab and click List Tools.
   2. Select the mytool tool.
   3. Enter any string in the message field, such as Hello world and click Run Tool.
   4. Verify that you see your message echoed in the Tool result card.

   

Next#

• Explore other MCP frameworks, such as FastMCP Python.
• Deploy your MCP server to a Kubernetes cluster.
• Learn how to manage secrets for your MCP server.