server-development-workflow

A development workflow for MCP servers that lists checks to run after code changes and when adding or modifying server tools.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to run fast tests, lint and format code, add tool tests, verify server startup, test tool descriptions, and check interactive integration.
Why use it?
It makes testing, linting, formatting, startup checks, and tool validation part of the normal development process.

Cursor rule for Cursor

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add rules/ekakit/lightfast-mcp/server-development-workflow
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ekakit/lightfast-mcp

Made for: Cursor.

Per session 0 Nothing until a file matches its globs; then the whole rule loads.
When invoked 527 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00000 $0.00527
Opus 5 $0.00000 $0.00264
Sonnet 5 $0.00000 $0.00105
Haiku 4.5 $0.00000 $0.00053

Measured yesterday against content hash 55bb84f85020, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

server-development-workflow scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured yesterday.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

.cursor/rules/server-development-workflow.mdc · 65 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 65 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Server Development Workflow

When editing MCP server files, follow this workflow:

Immediate Actions After Code Changes

  1. Run Fast Tests: Execute nox -s test_fast to get immediate feedback
  2. Lint Check: Run uv run task lint to catch style issues
  3. Format Code: Run uv run task format to ensure consistent formatting

After Adding/Modifying Tools

  1. Test the Tool: Create a unit test for the new/modified tool
  2. Validate Tool Description: Ensure tool has clear docstring for AI consumption
  3. Test Server Startup: Run uv run lightfast-{server}-server to verify server starts
  4. Test Tool Integration: Use uv run lightfast-mcp-orchestrator ai to test the tool interactively

Server File Validation Checklist

When editing server implementation files:

  • Tool functions use @mcp.tool() decorator
  • Tool functions have proper type hints
  • Tool functions have descriptive docstrings
  • Error handling is implemented for all tools
  • Input validation is present for all parameters
  • Server inherits from BaseServer
  • Configuration follows ServerConfig pattern

Automatic Commands to Run

# After any server file edit
uv run task lint && uv run task format
nox -s test_fast

# After adding new tools
uv run pytest tests/unit/test_*server*.py -v
uv run lightfast-mock-server &  # Test server startup
sleep 2 && pkill -f lightfast-mock-server

# Before committing
nox -s test-3.13  # Full test suite for current Python version

Integration Testing Steps

  1. Start Test Server: uv run lightfast-{server}-server
  2. Verify MCP Tools: Check tools appear in Cursor's available tools
  3. Test Tool Execution: Try calling tools through Cursor chat
  4. Check Error Handling: Test invalid inputs to ensure graceful failures

Performance Considerations

  • Monitor server startup time - should be under 5 seconds
  • Test tool response time - most tools should respond under 2 seconds
  • Check memory usage during tool execution
  • Verify proper cleanup after tool execution

Read the full file on GitHub · 65 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. yesterday First seen · 65 lines · 0 tokens per session scan A 55bb84f85020

Subscribe to this mod's changes

server-development-workflow is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository ekakit/lightfast-mcp (2 stars, last pushed 1y ago), licensed MIT. It costs nothing until one of its globs matches a file; then it loads 527 tokens. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.