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Custom MCP server Quickstart

Build AI agents that actually take action.

Most AI apps are stuck in read-only mode. Arcade gives your AI the power to act — send Gmail, update Notion, message in Slack, and more.

In this quickstart, you’ll:

  • Install the Arcade Framework
  • Start your server and connect to it from your favorite MCP client
  • Call a simple
  • Call a that requires a secret
  • Create an Arcade
  • Call a that requires authentication

Ready to start? Follow the Quickstart below.

Install the Arcade CLI

In your terminal, run the following command to install the arcade-mcp package:

Terminal
uv pip install arcade-mcp

This package includes the CLI and the arcade-mcp-server library.

Create Your Server

In your terminal, run the following command to scaffold a new Server called my_server:

Terminal
arcade new my_server
cd my_server

This generates a complete with:

  • server.py Main server file with MCPApp and example
  • pyproject.toml Dependencies and configuration
  • .env.example Example .env file containing a secret required by one of the generated in server.py

server.py includes proper structure with command-line argument handling. It creates an MCPApp with three sample :

  • greet: This has a single argument, the name of the person to greet. It requires no secrets or auth
  • whisper_secret: This requires no arguments, and will output the last 4 characters of a MY_SECRET_KEY secret.
  • get_posts_in_subreddit: This tool has a single argument, a subreddit, and will return the latest posts on that subreddit, it requires the user to authenticate their reddit .

Setup the secrets in your environment

Secrets can be provided via environment variables.

You can set the environment variable in your terminal like so:

Terminal
export SECRET_KEY="my-secret-value"

Or you can create a .env file in the root of your and add your secret:

ENV
.env
SECRET_KEY="my-secret-value"

Connect to Arcade to enable authenticated tool calling

The reddit tool requires auth. For this you need to create an Arcade and connect to it from the terminal, run:

Terminal
arcade login

Follow the instructions in your browser, and once you’ve finished, your terminal will be connected to your Arcade .

Run your MCP Server

Run your Server using one of the with the following commands in your terminal:

Terminal
uv run server.py http

For HTTP transport, view your server’s API docs at http://127.0.0.1:8000/docs .

You should see output like this in your terminal:

Terminal
INFO | Starting server v1.0.0 (my_server)
INFO | Added tool: greet
INFO | Starting MCP server on http://127.0.0.1:8000

Configure your MCP Client(s)

Now you can connect your server to apps that support MCP Clients, like AI assistants and IDEs. :

Terminal
arcade configure claude --from-local

That’s it! Your server is running and connected to your AI assistant.

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