Handbook

Welcome to the MCP App Builder Handbook. This guide covers everything you need to build, validate, test, and ship MCP servers directly from VS Code.

What is MCP App Builder?

MCP App Builder is a VS Code extension that streamlines the entire lifecycle of Model Context Protocol server development. It supports the MCP Apps standard (January 2026), which lets you embed interactive UI components — tables, charts, forms, and cards — directly inside AI conversations.

Instead of juggling terminal commands, config files, and SDK boilerplate, you get a guided workflow:

1. Scaffold a new server from a template (basic, with-ui, or full)
2. Validate your mcp.json and mcp-tools.json schemas in real time
3. Generate TypeScript types from your tool definitions
4. Test your tools with an auto-generated harness
5. Monitor everything from a built-in dashboard

Where to go next

• Getting Started — Install the extension, run through prerequisites, and learn the key shortcuts.
• Reference — Full command list, every setting, UI component API, generated file structure, and security model.