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Free·Interactive exercise

Building an MCP Server

Students learn to build the server side of the Model Context Protocol — the side that exposes real capabilities to any agent. Starting from a conceptual understanding of MCP, they stand up a working server in Python with FastMCP, define a tool the agent can invoke, and expose read-only resources and reusable prompts. Security is treated as a first-class topic: students learn why an unauthenticated server is a genuine vulnerability, how to apply least privilege, and how to add validation and permission guards so unsafe calls fail safely instead of executing. By the end, a student can author a small, well-scoped, defensible MCP server that an agent could safely use.

This exercise includes

Technical Skills
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Real code, real-time output
Instant test validation
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Prerequisites

None

About this exercise

Students learn to build the server side of the Model Context Protocol — the side that exposes real capabilities to any agent. Starting from a conceptual understanding of MCP, they stand up a working server in Python with FastMCP, define a tool the agent can invoke, and expose read-only resources and reusable prompts. Security is treated as a first-class topic: students learn why an unauthenticated server is a genuine vulnerability, how to apply least privilege, and how to add validation and permission guards so unsafe calls fail safely instead of executing. By the end, a student can author a small, well-scoped, defensible MCP server that an agent could safely use.

Syllabus

See the content included in this exercise

1

Welcome to MCP Servers

Get an overview of what an MCP server is, how it exposes capabilities to agents, and what you will build throughout this course.

2

What an MCP Server Does

Explore the core job of an MCP server as a capability provider, the discovery contract, and why each server should have one clear responsibility.

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  • READ
    Tools, Resources, and Prompts
3

Building with FastMCP

Learn how to install FastMCP, create a server instance, define tools with type hints and docstrings, and run the server using stdio.

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  • CODE
    Defining a Tool
4

Server Security

Learn how to secure your MCP server with authentication, least privilege, and guardrails to protect against unauthorized access and data loss.

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  • CODE
    Adding Guardrails to a Tool
5

MCP Server Assessment

Test your knowledge of MCP server security and best practices by answering these assessment questions.

...

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