banking-mcp-server: Instructions file for Claude Code

CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.

Project Overview

Retail Banking MCP Server & Client - A 2-3 day hackathon lab project that implements an MCP (Model Context Protocol) based Banking Assistant. The system allows an AI client to interact with a banking platform through an MCP server that exposes banking capabilities as discoverable tools.

Architecture Flow

MCP Host → MCP Client → MCP Server → SQLite Database

Technology Stack

• Server: Python + MCP SDK
• Client: Claude Desktop / VS Code / Custom implementation
• Database: SQLite with 4 core tables
• Transport: STDIO (required), HTTP (bonus)

Setup and Development

Initial Setup

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv

# Activate virtual environment (Windows)
venv\Scripts\activate

# Install MCP SDK and dependencies
pip install mcp anthropic python-dotenv

# Install SQLite (already available with Python)
# Initialize database
python src/database/init_db.py

Project Structure

Banking_Assistant/
├── src/
│   ├── mcp_server/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── server.py           # Main MCP server implementation
│   │   ├── tools.py            # 6 MCP tools
│   │   ├── resources.py        # MCP resources (min 3)
│   │   └── prompts.py          # MCP prompts (3)
│   ├── database/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── init_db.py          # Schema creation & seeding
│   │   ├── models.py           # Database models
│   │   └── operations.py       # CRUD operations
│   ├── client/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── mcp_client.py       # MCP client implementation
│   └── utils/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       └── validators.py       # Input validation
├── data/
│   └── banking.db              # SQLite database
├── tests/
│   ├── test_tools.py
│   ├── test_database.py
│   └── test_integration.py
├── demo/
│   └── walkthrough.py          # End-to-end demo script
├── docs/
│   └── architecture.md         # Architecture diagram
├── requirements.txt
├── README.md
└── CLAUDE.md