mcp-server-bash MCP Server

Use This MCP server To

Run a lightweight MCP server for simple tool execution Demonstrate MCP protocol lifecycle in bash scripting Test MCP tool calls via command line Integrate with MCP hosts using JSON-RPC over CLI Prototype MCP server logic in shell script Execute basic arithmetic tools via MCP protocol

README

mcp-server-bash

Minimalistic MCP server written in shell script.

This repo is comlimentary to the article: Minimalistic MCP Server in bash script

The lifecycle of MCP server can be described in two phases. Initialization and Operation.

Phases of MCP

The mcp_add.sh implements all of the messages within this lifecicle, from the handshake to execution of the simple "add two numbers" tool.

To do the basic test methods right in CLI use:

# test tools/list method
echo '{"method":"tools/list","params":{},"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2}' | bash mcp_add.sh | jq 

# test math_addition tool
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":20, "method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"addition","arguments":{"num1":"1","num2":"2"}}}' | bash mcp_add.sh | jq

LLM host configuration

JSON Configuration file for mcphost and Claude Desktop:

{
    "mcpServers": {
      "math": {
        "command": "/Users/anton/code/mcp-server-bash/mcp_add.sh",
        "args": []
      }
    }
  }

Test with mcphost

Add execute to bash script:

chmod +x mcp_add.sh

Run mcphost with llama3.1 and tool configuration file

mcphost -m ollama:llama3.1:latest --config /Users/anton/code/mcp-server-bash/mcp.json

...

using math tool add 10 and 88

References

Model Context Protocol https://www.anthropic.com/news/model-context-protocol
mcphost https://github.com/mark3labs/mcphost
jsonrpc specification: https://www.jsonrpc.org/specification
mcp inspector https://github.com/wong2/mcp-cli

mcp-server-bash FAQ

How do I test the mcp-server-bash tools from the command line?

Use echo with JSON-RPC messages piped into the bash script, e.g., echo '{"method":"tools/list"}' | bash mcp_add.sh | jq.

What tools does mcp-server-bash provide?

It includes a simple 'addition' tool that adds two numbers, demonstrating basic MCP tool execution.

How does mcp-server-bash handle the MCP lifecycle?

It implements all lifecycle messages from handshake to tool execution in bash script phases: initialization and operation.

Can mcp-server-bash be integrated with MCP hosts?

Yes, it supports JSON configuration for MCP hosts like Claude Desktop and mcphost for seamless integration.

Is mcp-server-bash suitable for production use?

It is primarily a minimalistic example for learning and prototyping, not optimized for production environments.

What dependencies are required to run mcp-server-bash?

It requires a Unix-like shell environment with bash and jq for JSON parsing.

Can I extend mcp-server-bash with additional tools?

Yes, you can add more tool implementations by extending the bash script following the MCP protocol.