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NitroStack Python SDK

A Python-idiomatic port of the NitroStack Model Context Protocol (MCP) framework, enabling NestJS-like modular architecture, dependency injection, execution pipelines, background task processing, built-in authentication modules, and a diagnostic testing harness.

Features

  • Nested Modular Architecture: Group components cleanly with @module.
  • Dependency Injection: Explicit class constructor DI with DIContainer and @injectable(deps=[...]).
  • Pipeline Interceptors: Build guards, middleware, interceptors, pipes, and exception filters for tool execution.
  • Asynchronous Background Tasks: Spawn background workers automatically for long-running tools.
  • Built-in Authentication: Modules for API Keys, JWT verification, and OAuth 2.1 (featuring Protected Resource Metadata discovery servers).
  • In-Process Testing Harness: Run unit and integration tests against modules without managing subprocesses or real network transports.
  • CLI Tooling (nitrostack-py): Scaffold apps (init), generate components (generate), pack deployable wheels (pack), upgrade/install dependencies, validate projects, auto-register servers with Claude (register), and run hot-reload development servers (dev).

Installation

pip install nitrostack

To install local developer or test dependencies:

pip install -e .

Scaffolding a New Project (Recommended)

You can quickly scaffold a new project template using the interactive CLI tool:

nitrostack-py init

(Or via Python: python -m nitrostack.cli.main init)

The project name is optional on the command line. If omitted, the CLI asks for it next:

nitrostack-py init my-server --template python-starter

This launches an interactive prompt where you can:

  1. Project name (if not passed as an argument). Default: my-mcp-server.
  2. Choose a template by explicit name:
    • python-starter: A simple calculator server.
    • python-pizzaz: A pizza shop finder with maps and widgets.
    • python-oauth: A flight booking server demonstrating OAuth 2.1 authentication and guarded routes.
  3. Provide metadata: Specify a custom description and author name.
  4. Install dependencies: Install dependencies: (Y/n) — Enter or Y runs npm install in src/widgets; n skips it. --skip-install skips the prompt.

Optional port flags override the defaults (3000 MCP, 3001 widgets):

nitrostack-py init my-server --template python-starter --port 4000 --widget 4001
nitrostack-py dev --port 4000 --widget 4001
nitrostack-py start --port 4000 --widget 4001

Once scaffolded, follow the next steps printed by the CLI to run your server, configure environment variables, and try it out.

CLI (nitrostack-py)

The CLI is installed with the SDK (nitrostack-py, or python -m nitrostack.cli.main). Run nitrostack-py --help to list commands.

Project lifecycle

nitrostack-py init my-server
nitrostack-py dev          # hot-reload development server
nitrostack-py start        # production server (no reload)
nitrostack-py register --name my-mcp-server --file app.py

Generate components

Existing tool and module generators are unchanged. Additional generators create pipeline and service stubs that follow the current Python decorator/protocol APIs:

nitrostack-py generate tool add_numbers
nitrostack-py generate module payments
nitrostack-py generate guard MyGuard
nitrostack-py generate pipe Validation
nitrostack-py generate interceptor Transform
nitrostack-py generate filter HttpException
nitrostack-py generate service Email

Generated files:

Command Output
generate tool <name> {name}_tool.py in the current directory
generate module <name> {name}_module.py in the current directory
generate guard <Name> guards/<name>.py
generate pipe <Name> pipes/<name>.py
generate interceptor <Name> interceptors/<name>.py
generate filter <Name> filters/<name>.py
generate service <Name> services/<name>.py

Attach generated pipeline classes with @use_guards, @use_pipes, @use_interceptors, or @use_filters. Register services in a module's providers list.

Pack a deployable wheel

nitrostack-py pack --dry-run    # list files; does not write an artifact
nitrostack-py pack              # write dist/*.whl

pack builds a wheel with setuptools (the same backend as this SDK), refreshes requirements.txt from pyproject.toml when possible, and always includes .env.example. The real .env file and other secrets are never packed. Temporary build directories are deleted afterwards.

Upgrade, install, validate

nitrostack-py upgrade                 # latest nitrostack on PyPI (writes nitrostack>=latest)
nitrostack-py upgrade --version 0.3.2 # pin exactly this version (writes nitrostack==0.3.2)
nitrostack-py upgrade --dry-run       # print the change; do not edit files
nitrostack-py upgrade --allow-downgrade --version 0.1.0  # required to pin an older version

nitrostack-py install                 # install project + development dependencies
nitrostack-py install --production    # skip optional extras and requirements-dev.txt

nitrostack-py validate                # lint deps, @mcp_app imports, and @module() refs

init writes pyproject.toml, .python-version, and uv.toml, then runs uv lock when uv is on PATH. install prefers uv sync in that case. If requirements.txt pins nitrostack as a local path (-e /path/to/nitrostack-python-sdk), install uses pip install -r requirements.txt instead so unpublished SDK testing still works. The uv equivalent is:

[tool.uv.sources]
nitrostack = { path = "/path/to/nitrostack-python-sdk", editable = true }

then uv lock / uv sync. Without uv, install falls back to .venv + pip.

upgrade updates the nitrostack dependency spec in pyproject.toml in place (and requirements.txt when it already pins nitrostack). --version X writes nitrostack==X. Without --version, the latest PyPI release is written as nitrostack>=latest. A target older than the currently declared version is rejected unless --allow-downgrade is passed. validate reports missing/conflicting dependencies, @mcp_app modules that fail to import, and @module() imports/exports that are not real classes.

Quick Start

1. Write your First Server

Create a file named app.py:

import asyncio
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
from nitrostack import (
    tool,
    resource,
    injectable,
    module,
    mcp_app,
    McpApplicationFactory,
    ServerConfig,
    ExecutionContext,
)

# 1. Input Validation Schema
class AddInput(BaseModel):
    a: float = Field(description="First number")
    b: float = Field(description="Second number")

# 2. Injected Provider Service
@injectable(deps=[])
class CalculatorService:
    def add(self, a: float, b: float) -> float:
        return a + b

# 3. Controller
@injectable(deps=[CalculatorService])
class CalculatorController:
    def __init__(self, service: CalculatorService):
        self.service = service

    @tool(
        name="add",
        description="Add two numbers together",
        input_schema=AddInput
    )
    async def add(self, input: AddInput, context: ExecutionContext) -> float:
        context.logger.info(f"Adding {input.a} and {input.b}")
        return self.service.add(input.a, input.b)

    @resource(
        uri="calc://info",
        name="Calculator Info",
        description="Metadata about this calculator"
    )
    async def get_info(self, context: ExecutionContext) -> str:
        return "Simple Add Calculator v1.0.0"

# 4. Modules
@module(
    name="calculator",
    controllers=[CalculatorController],
    providers=[CalculatorService]
)
class CalculatorModule:
    pass

@module(
    name="app",
    imports=[CalculatorModule]
)
class AppModule:
    pass

# 5. Application Entrypoint
@mcp_app(
    module=AppModule,
    server=ServerConfig(name="math-server", version="1.0.0")
)
class App:
    pass

async def main():
    app = await McpApplicationFactory.create(App)
    await app.start()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

2. Configure Environment Variables

The SDK reads standard settings from the environment or .env files:

Environment Variable Description
HOST Bind address for HTTP/SSE (default: 127.0.0.1). Set 0.0.0.0 to listen on all interfaces (containers).
TRUSTED_PROXIES / MCP_TRUSTED_PROXIES Comma-separated IPs, CIDRs, or hostnames allowed to send X-Forwarded-Host / X-Forwarded-Proto. Unset means those headers are ignored. X-Forwarded-For is never used to decide trust.
PORT / MCP_SERVER_PORT The port to bind for HTTP/SSE transport (default: 3000). Overridden by nitrostack-py --port.
WIDGETS_DEV_PORT Widget Next.js port (default: 3001). Overridden by nitrostack-py --widget.
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE Transport selection: stdio, http, or dual (combining stdio + HTTP/SSE).
NODE_ENV If set to production, defaults to dual transport. Otherwise defaults to stdio.
MCP_MAX_SESSIONS Cap on concurrent Streamable HTTP sessions; new sessions beyond the cap get an HTTP 429. Unset = unlimited.
MCP_SESSION_TIMEOUT_MS Idle timeout (ms) for stateful HTTP sessions; sessions with no activity for this long are terminated automatically. Unset = no timeout.
MCP_GRACEFUL_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT_MS How long (ms) the HTTP transport waits for in-flight requests to finish when shutting down (default: 10000).
NITRO_MCP_PROTOCOL_VERSION Protocol era (case-insensitive): auto / both / dual / dual-spec (default when unset or unknown), modern / latest / 2026 / 2026-07-28, or legacy / 2025 / 2025-06-18 / 2025-11-25. auto is not the same as modern. Wins over ServerConfig.protocol_era.
MCP_STATELESS Explicit override: true forces modern (stateless HTTP), false forces legacy (sessionful). Wins over NITRO_MCP_PROTOCOL_VERSION and ServerConfig.protocol_era.
MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS / MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS Comma-separated allow-lists for DNS-rebinding protection, used only when CORS is disabled.
NITROSTACK_LOG_FILE Destination file for logs (default: nitrostack.log).
NITROSTACK_LOG_LEVEL Log level (DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR).
NITROSTACK_LOG_TO_STDOUT Set to true to allow logging to stdout under stdio transport (Caution: may corrupt protocol stream).
NITROSTACK_HTTP_DEBUG Set to 1 to log every HTTP request (method, path, headers, body) and response status to stderr. Use when diagnosing a client that fails to connect: uvicorn's access log shows neither headers nor timestamps.

Transport Options

NitroStack apps can run over three transports, selected via MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE (or ServerConfig(transport_type=...)):

  • stdio (default outside production): JSON-RPC over stdin/stdout — the standard mode for desktop MCP clients (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.).
  • http: Streamable HTTP + legacy SSE over a real network port, for cloud/remote deployments. Exposes:
    • POST/GET/DELETE /mcp — Streamable HTTP (session-based JSON-RPC + SSE streaming). /mcp and /mcp/ are equivalent; the server does not 307 between them (MCP Inspector needs the no-slash URL for its SSE GET).
    • GET /sse + POST /mcp/messages/ — legacy HTTP+SSE for older clients (trailing slash required so messages aren't swallowed by the Streamable HTTP /mcp mount)
    • GET /mcp/health — health check (status, active session count, uptime)
    • Per-session isolation, idle-session timeouts, and DNS-rebinding protection are provided by the underlying mcp SDK's StreamableHTTPSessionManager; NitroStack adds CORS, a concurrent-session cap, and the health endpoint on top.
    • Task-mode tools that call context.task.update_progress(...) push a live notifications/progress event over the session's SSE stream (in addition to always being pollable via tasks/get) whenever the client sends a _meta.progressToken on the tools/call request.
  • dual (default in production): runs stdio and http concurrently as asyncio tasks in the same process/event loop — not separate threads — so both share the same DIContainer singletons, and uvicorn's signal-based graceful shutdown works correctly (it only installs signal handlers on the main thread). Shutdown is coordinated: either transport stopping (STDIO hitting EOF, or HTTP receiving a termination signal) cleanly stops the other.

Example:

server = ServerConfig(name="my-server", transport_type="http", max_sessions=100, session_timeout_ms=1_800_000)

ServerConfig.protocol_era is used only when MCP_STATELESS and NITRO_MCP_PROTOCOL_VERSION are both unset. Unknown tokens become auto, same as an unknown env value.

Developing & Testing

Auto-Registering with Claude Desktop

To automatically configure your server script with Claude Desktop without any manual editing:

nitrostack-py register --name my-mcp-server --file app.py

(If your scripts folder is not in PATH, use: python -m nitrostack.cli.main register --name my-mcp-server --file app.py)

This detects all standard and Windows Store installation directories, sets up virtualenv executables, and writes the JSON configuration. Once registered, simply restart Claude Desktop.

Widgets (UI tools)

Bind a static HTML template to a tool with @widget and return domain JSON from the handler:

from nitrostack import tool, widget, ExecutionContext

@tool(name="show_card", description="Product card", input_schema=CardInput)
@widget("card")
async def show_card(self, input: CardInput, context: ExecutionContext) -> dict:
    return {"name": "Widget", "price": 9.99}

Place HTML at widgets/out/{route}.html (e.g. widgets/out/card.html). The SDK registers ui://widget/card.html as an MCP resource and sets mode-gated _meta on tools/list and tools/call results.

NITROSTACK_APP_MODE (default universal):

Mode Tool _meta Resource MIME
universal (default) Both OpenAI and MCP Apps keys text/html;profile=mcp-app
openai openai/outputTemplate, ui/template text/html
mcp-app _meta.ui (resourceUri, visibility, CSP) text/html;profile=mcp-app

Object form for CSP and border options:

from nitrostack import WidgetOptions, WidgetCsp, widget

@widget(WidgetOptions(
    route="chart",
    prefers_border=True,
    csp=WidgetCsp(connect_domains=["https://api.example.com"]),
))

nitrostack-py init copies widgets/out/{route}.html for every @widget. Widget HTML is generated in Python from the tool's structuredContent (one iframe, N cards).

MCP Inspector: use HTTP + stateless, then the Apps tab. tools/call also embeds the data-filled HTML. Do not use widgets/preview.html as the live result — that file is a static helper. Live preview: http://localhost:3000/widgets/preview.

Turn Authentication off in Inspector. Pizzaz/starter have no OAuth. If Auth is on, Inspector POSTs /register and you will see Cannot POST /register / Unexpected token '<'. Connect Streamable HTTP to http://localhost:3000/mcp (no trailing slash).

For open pizza shops only, call show_pizza_list with {"openNow": true} or show_pizza_map with {"filter": "open_now"}. Omitting those fields returns every shop, including closed ones (Pizzeria Delfina).

NitroStudio: folder-connect looks for a TypeScript project (package.json with @nitrostack/core and src/index.ts). A Python server will not detect. Keep using MCP Inspector over HTTP, or point Studio at a custom Streamable HTTP URL if the build supports it. Do not enable OAuth against this server.

Example server: examples/widgets_example.py with templates in examples/widgets/out/. For MCP Inspector over HTTP, use stateless mode:

cd examples
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_STATELESS=true NITROSTACK_APP_MODE=universal python widgets_example.py

Running Tests

To run the automated test suite, execute:

python tests/test_basic.py
python tests/test_tasks.py
python tests/test_initial_tool.py
python tests/test_transports.py
python tests/test_widgets.py
python tests/test_widget_metadata.py
python tests/test_pizzaz_widgets.py
python tests/test_template_widgets.py
python tests/test_cli.py
pytest tests/test_cli.py -v
python tests/test_tool_input_schema.py

Testing Harness

Write in-process unit tests using the harness:

import asyncio
from nitrostack.testing import NitroTestingModule
from app import AppModule

async def test_add():
    harness = await NitroTestingModule.create(AppModule)
    result = await harness.call_tool("add", {"input": {"a": 5, "b": 10}})
    assert result == 15.0
    print("Test passed!")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(test_add())

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