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Session 1: Building Your First MCP Server - Test Solutions

📝 Multiple Choice Test - Answer Key

Question 1: MCP Capabilities

What are the three core capabilities that MCP servers can expose?

A) APIs, Databases, and Services
B) Functions, Classes, and Modules
C) Tools, Resources, and Prompts ✅
D) Inputs, Outputs, and Errors
Correct Answer: C) Tools, Resources, and Prompts

Explanation: MCP servers expose three types of capabilities: Tools (executable functions that can be called), Resources (data sources that can be queried), and Prompts (reusable templates for common tasks).

Question 2: Tool Decorator

Which decorator is used to expose a function as an MCP tool?

A) @tool()
B) @mcp.tool() ✅
C) @server.tool()
D) @expose_tool()
Correct Answer: B) @mcp.tool()

Explanation: The @mcp.tool() decorator is the FastMCP framework's way to register a function as an MCP tool that can be called by AI agents.

Question 3: MCP Inspector Purpose

What is the primary purpose of MCP Inspector?

A) To deploy MCP servers to production
B) To test, debug, and validate MCP servers ✅
C) To monitor server performance
D) To manage server configurations
Correct Answer: B) To test, debug, and validate MCP servers

Explanation: MCP Inspector is a developer tool (like Postman for MCP) that provides an interactive interface to explore MCP server capabilities, test tools, debug issues, and validate that servers follow the protocol correctly.

Question 4: Transport Mechanism

Which transport mechanism is commonly used for local MCP server testing?

A) HTTP
B) WebSocket
C) stdio (standard input/output) ✅
D) TCP
Correct Answer: C) stdio (standard input/output)

Explanation: MCP servers communicate over stdio (standard input/output) by default for local development, which allows them to work as subprocess-based tools.

Question 5: Type Hints Importance

Why are type hints important in MCP server functions?

A) They improve code readability only
B) They enable automatic schema generation for AI clients ✅
C) They are required by Python
D) They reduce memory usage
Correct Answer: B) They enable automatic schema generation for AI clients

Explanation: Type hints are used by the MCP framework to automatically generate JSON schemas that describe the tool's parameters and return values to AI clients, enabling proper validation and usage.

Question 6: Error Handling

What should MCP tools return when encountering invalid input?

A) Raise an exception
B) Return None
C) Return structured error messages with helpful information ✅
D) Log the error silently
Correct Answer: C) Return structured error messages with helpful information

Explanation: MCP tools should return structured error messages with helpful information rather than raising exceptions, which provides better error handling for clients.

Question 7: Resources vs Tools

How do MCP resources differ from tools?

A) Resources are executable functions, tools are data sources
B) Resources provide read-only data access, tools are executable functions ✅
C) Resources are faster than tools
D) Resources require authentication, tools do not
Correct Answer: B) Resources provide read-only data access, tools are executable functions

Explanation: Resources are read-only data endpoints that provide information (like file contents or database records), while tools are executable functions that can perform actions or computations.

Question 8: MCP Inspector Command

What command is used to launch MCP Inspector?

A) mcp-inspector
B) npm start inspector
C) npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector ✅
D) python -m mcp.inspector
Correct Answer: C) npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

Explanation: MCP Inspector can be launched using the npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector command, which runs the inspector without requiring a global installation.

Question 9: Industry Adoption

Which company reported 60% faster AI integration development using MCP?

A) Microsoft
B) Google
C) Block Inc. ✅
D) OpenAI
Correct Answer: C) Block Inc.

Explanation: Block Inc. reported significant development speed improvements when using MCP for their AI integrations, demonstrating the protocol's real-world benefits in enterprise environments.

Question 10: MCP Advantages

What is the main advantage of MCP over custom API integrations?

A) Better performance
B) Standardized protocol with automatic schema validation ✅
C) Lower cost
D) Easier to learn
Correct Answer: B) Standardized protocol with automatic schema validation

Explanation: MCP provides a standardized protocol that includes automatic schema validation, discovery mechanisms, and consistent error handling, reducing the complexity of custom integrations.

Practical Exercise Solution

Challenge: Create a tool that finds the warmest city from a list.

Complete Solution:

@mcp.tool()
def find_warmest_city(cities: List[str]) -> Dict:
    """
    Find the warmest city from a list.

    Args:
        cities: List of city names to compare

    Returns:
        Dictionary with the warmest city and its temperature
    """
    # Input validation
    if not cities:
        return {"error": "Cities list cannot be empty"}

    if not isinstance(cities, list):
        return {"error": "Cities must be provided as a list"}

    warmest = None
    max_temp = float('-inf')
    valid_cities_checked = 0

    # Check each city's temperature
    for city in cities:
        if not isinstance(city, str):
            continue  # Skip invalid city names

        weather = get_current_weather(city)
        if "error" not in weather:
            temp = weather["temp"]
            valid_cities_checked += 1

            if temp > max_temp:
                max_temp = temp
                warmest = {
                    "city": city,
                    "temperature": temp,
                    "units": weather["units"],
                    "condition": weather["condition"],
                    "timestamp": weather["timestamp"]
                }

    # Check if we found any valid cities
    if warmest is None:
        return {
            "error": "No valid weather data found for any city",
            "checked_cities": len(cities),
            "valid_responses": valid_cities_checked
        }

    # Add comparison metadata
    warmest["comparison"] = {
        "total_cities": len(cities),
        "valid_cities": valid_cities_checked,
        "temperature_advantage": f"{max_temp - (-10):.1f}° warmer than baseline"
    }

    return warmest

Key Learning Points:

  1. Input Validation: Always check for empty lists and invalid input types
  2. Error Handling: Gracefully handle cases where weather data isn't available
  3. Data Structure: Return consistent, structured responses
  4. Metadata: Include useful information about the comparison process
  5. Type Safety: Use proper type hints and validate input types

Test Cases You Should Consider:

# Test with valid cities
result = find_warmest_city(["London", "New York", "Sydney"])

# Test with empty list
result = find_warmest_city([])

# Test with invalid city
result = find_warmest_city(["Atlantis", "Wakanda"])

# Test with mixed valid/invalid cities  
result = find_warmest_city(["London", "Atlantis", "Tokyo"])

Extension Challenges

Once you've mastered the basic solution, try these additional challenges:

  1. Add Temperature Units Conversion: Modify the function to accept a units parameter and convert all temperatures to the same unit before comparison.

  2. Find Coldest City: Create a companion function find_coldest_city() that finds the city with the lowest temperature.

  3. Weather Ranking: Create a function that returns all cities sorted by temperature from warmest to coldest.

  4. Condition Filtering: Add the ability to filter cities by weather condition (e.g., only consider cities with "Sunny" weather).

  5. Advanced Comparison: Include additional factors like humidity or precipitation chance in the comparison logic.

Scoring Guide

  • 9-10 correct: Excellent understanding of MCP server fundamentals
  • 7-8 correct: Good grasp of the core concepts, review specific areas where questions were missed
  • 5-6 correct: Basic understanding present, recommend reviewing the session content before proceeding
  • Below 5: Recommend thoroughly reviewing Session 1 content and hands-on exercises

Key Concepts Review

If you missed questions in these areas, review the corresponding sections:

MCP Architecture (Questions 1, 7, 10): - Review "MCP Server Capabilities" section - Focus on the difference between tools, resources, and prompts - Study the advantages of standardized protocols

Implementation Details (Questions 2, 5, 6): - Review the FastMCP framework syntax - Focus on type hints and their importance - Study error handling best practices

Development Tools (Questions 3, 8): - Review the MCP Inspector section - Practice using the inspector tool - Study debugging and validation workflows

Industry Context (Questions 4, 9): - Review transport mechanisms - Study real-world adoption cases - Focus on enterprise benefits

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