MCP-dev

Some custom MCP tools for local use. By Martin Dittus in Sept 2025.

Install

Checkout to a local dir.

Set up a virtualenv, activate it, then install the dependencies:

python3 -m venv .venv --prompt MCP-dev
source .venv/bin/activate
python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt

Setup

To be safe, it is recommended to only auto-allow non-destructive tool calls -- tool calls like create_file, run_shell_command, and open_link are best treated with caution and reviewed before every call. But you do you.

LM Studio

Click Show Settings, select the Program tab, click the Install dropdown, select Edit mcp.json. Add the following:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "MyCustomMCPTools": {
      "command": "sh",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/MCP-dev/run.sh"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Click Save. In the Program tab a new MCP server has now appeared under the name mcp/my-custom-mcp-tools, click its toggle to enable it globally. Alternatively, enable it selectively per chat via the Integrations menu in the chat message form.

Optional: add system prompt

Add something like the following to your query context, e.g. your Preset system prompt in LM Studio:

Access web resources for any questions that require up to date information. Prioritise official sources such as Wikipedia, BBC, the Financial Times, and others. Prioritise facts over speculation. Don't consult sources that are known to exaggerate, drive scandal, or cause division.

You can access the local file system. Assume a MacOS directory structure.

You can create python scripts and run them. Any scripts and other files need to be saved in the sandbox directory. Don't install any new python libraries. You can run commands to test if a python library is installed.