mcp-dev

What problem does it solve?

Provides practical guidance to reliably develop, restart, and verify long-lived MCP server processes that are managed by launchd, preventing mistakes where edited code is not actually loaded, clients remain connected to dead sockets, or subprocesses silently fail.

Core Features & Use Cases

• Atomic edit→kill→verify cycle: Enforces completing the full workflow of editing code, killing the process, and verifying the new code path is active.
• Transport-aware verification: Distinguishes HTTP (stateless) and stdio (persistent) transports and prescribes the correct test and reconnection steps for each.
• Launchd and subprocess reliability: Covers launchd quirks, working directory issues, zombie subprocess handling, and best practices for spawning and validating subprocesses.
• Use Case: Iterate on an MCP tool on macOS, restart via launchd, confirm the new behavior via the exact changed tool, and validate via log markers and port/process checks.

Quick Start

Describe the code change, name the MCP service and transport, and ask the assistant to run through the edit→kill→verify steps and specific checks to confirm the new code is live.