How to set up MCP in under 5 minutes

There are two paths to getting MCP running with pyRPC. One takes about thirty seconds. The other takes about five minutes. Both get you to a working agent with structured tools for your Python project.

Remote: thirty seconds

If you just need framework documentation, run the remote setup:

npx @pyrpc/mcp mcp

Select your agent from the list. The command writes the config, registers the remote documentation server, and exits. No install, no dependencies, no config files to hand-edit. The server hosts current framework docs and serves them through MCP tool calls your agent already understands.

Local: five minutes

If you need code introspection, payload validation, and client generation, go local:

# 1. Add the MCP dependency
uv add "pyrpc-core[mcp]"

# 2. Register with your agent
pyrpc mcp

# 3. Verify it works
# Ask your agent: "introspect my project"

Step one pulls the MCP SDK alongside pyRPC core. Step two writes the agent config for your client. Step three confirms the server can import your routers and return the procedure tree.

What each command does

uv add "pyrpc-core[mcp]" installs pyRPC core with the optional MCP extra. The MCP Python SDK becomes available. No other packages are needed.

pyrpc mcp detects your agent, writes the stdio server config, and registers it. For Claude Code it writes .claude/settings.json. For Cursor it writes .cursor/mcp.json. For VS Code it writes .vscode/mcp.json.

The it-just-works principle

No config files to edit by hand. No paths to find in your virtualenv. No environment variables to export. The commands detect what they need and write what they must. If the agent is running, it picks up the new server on next restart.

The two setup paths

Remote (30s)                   Local (5min)
-----------                    ------------
npx @pyrpc/mcp mcp                  uv add "pyrpc-core[mcp]"
  |                              |
  v                              v
select agent                   pyrpc mcp
  |                              |
  v                              v
done                           verify with agent
  |                              |
  v                              v
framework docs                 full code introspection

Next steps

Once the server is registered, try these in order. Ask the agent to introspect your project. It will call introspect_project and return your procedure tree. Ask it to validate a payload with check_call. Ask it to regenerate your clients with run_codegen.

Common first-time issues

Agent does not see the server. Restart the agent. Most clients read MCP config at startup, not on file change.

“No procedures found.” Your pyrpc.json is missing backend.entrypoint. Add it and restart the server.

MCP SDK not installed. Re-run uv add "pyrpc-core[mcp]". The extra is required for the mcp subcommand.

Server crashes on start. Run pyrpc mcp directly and check stderr. Import errors in your entrypoint are the usual cause.