MCP Server Template (Python)

A minimal Model Context Protocol server template for Render. Fork it, add your own tools, and deploy.

What's included

• A working MCP server using the MCP Python SDK with Streamable HTTP transport
• Bearer token authentication via MCP_API_TOKEN (auto-generated on deploy)
• One example tool (hello) to show the pattern
• A /health endpoint for Render's health checks
• A render.yaml Blueprint for one-click deployment
• An AGENTS.md so AI coding assistants can scaffold new tools for you

Note: This template deploys on the free plan by default. Free services spin down after 15 minutes of inactivity, causing cold starts of 30-60 seconds on the next request. MCP clients may time out during this delay. For reliable use, upgrade to a paid plan in the Render Dashboard — the Starter plan keeps your service running continuously.

Getting started locally

git clone https://github.com/render-examples/mcp-server-python.git
cd mcp-server-python
pip install -r requirements.txt
python server.py

The server starts on http://localhost:10000. The MCP endpoint is at /mcp.

Running tests

pip install -r requirements.txt
pytest

Authentication

The server authenticates requests using a bearer token. Render's Blueprint auto-generates a random MCP_API_TOKEN on first deploy.

To find your token after deploying, go to Render Dashboard > your service > Environment and copy the MCP_API_TOKEN value.

Clients must include the token in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN

When MCP_API_TOKEN is not set (e.g., during local development), authentication is disabled and all requests are allowed through.

Managing your token

After the initial deploy, the token is yours to manage:

• Rotate it by updating MCP_API_TOKEN in the Render Dashboard under Environment. The service restarts automatically with the new value.
• Generate a new token with any of these:
  • openssl rand -base64 32
  • python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_urlsafe(32))"
  • A password manager's generator (1Password, Bitwarden, etc.)
• Don't commit tokens to source control. Use environment variables or .env files (which are in .gitignore).
• For multi-user or production setups, consider upgrading to OAuth 2.1.

Connecting to your MCP server

After deploying to Render, your MCP endpoint is available at:

https://your-service-name.onrender.com/mcp

Cursor

Add to your project's .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://your-service-name.onrender.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-mcp-server": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://your-service-name.onrender.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Codex

codex mcp add --transport streamable-http \
  --url https://your-service-name.onrender.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  my-mcp-server

Or add to .codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.my-mcp-server]
url = "https://your-service-name.onrender.com/mcp"
http_headers = { Authorization = "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" }

Adding tools

Add tools to server.py by decorating a function with @mcp.tool():

@mcp.tool()
def fetch_weather(city: str, units: str = "celsius") -> str:
    """Get the current weather for a city."""
    # your implementation here
    return f"Weather for {city}"

The docstring becomes the tool's description, which MCP clients show to LLMs. Always write a clear one.

This repo includes an AGENTS.md file. If you use an AI coding assistant (Cursor, Copilot, Codex, Windsurf, etc.), you can ask it to "add a new tool" and it will follow the conventions in AGENTS.md automatically.

Project structure

server.py              MCP server with example tool and health check
requirements.txt       Python dependencies
render.yaml            Render Blueprint for deployment
.env.example           Environment variable reference
tests/test_server.py   Test suite (auth, health, tool calls)
pyproject.toml         pytest configuration
AGENTS.md              Instructions for AI coding assistants
CLAUDE.md              Pointer to AGENTS.md for Claude Code

Learn more

• MCP specification
• MCP Python SDK
• Render Blueprints