Developer Setup Guide

Complete guide for setting up the MCP Server LangGraph development environment with all required and optional tools.

Developer Setup Guide

Complete guide for setting up the MCP Server LangGraph development environment with all required and optional tools.

Last Updated: 2025-11-24 Target Audience: New developers, CI/CD engineers, contributors

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Table of Contents

• Quick Start
• Required Tools
• Optional Tools
• Platform-Specific Installation
• Verification
• Troubleshooting

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Quick Start

# 1. Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/your-org/mcp-server-langgraph.git
cd mcp-server-langgraph

# 2. Install required tools (see platform-specific sections below)

# 3. Install Python dependencies
make install-dev

# 4. Verify setup
make validate-setup

# 5. Run tests
make test-dev

Estimated setup time: 15-30 minutes

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Required Tools

These tools are mandatory for core development workflows. Pre-commit hooks will block commits if these are missing.

Python 3.12+

Purpose: Main programming language Used by: All development, testing, CI/CD Install:

• macOS: brew install python@3.12
• Linux (Ubuntu/Debian): sudo apt install python3.12 python3.12-venv
• Linux (Fedora/RHEL): sudo dnf install python3.12
• Windows: Download from python.org

Verification:

python3 --version  # Should show 3.12.x or higher

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uv (Package Manager)

Purpose: Fast Python package management (10-100x faster than pip) Used by: All dependency installation, virtual environment management Install:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Verification:

uv --version

Documentation: https://github.com/astral-sh/uv

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Git

Purpose: Version control Used by: All development workflows Install:

• macOS: brew install git or use Xcode Command Line Tools
• Linux: sudo apt install git or sudo dnf install git
• Windows: Download from git-scm.com

Verification:

git --version

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ShellCheck

Purpose: Shell script linting and validation Used by: Pre-commit hooks (REQUIRED - blocks commits if missing) Install:

• macOS: brew install shellcheck
• Linux (Ubuntu/Debian): sudo apt install shellcheck
• Linux (Fedora/RHEL): sudo dnf install ShellCheck
• Windows (WSL): sudo apt install shellcheck

Verification:

shellcheck --version

Why Required: Validates all bash scripts in scripts/ directory. Without shellcheck, pre-commit hooks will fail.

Documentation: https://www.shellcheck.net/

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Optional Tools

These tools enhance development workflows but are not required. Pre-commit hooks will gracefully skip validation if these are missing.

Docker & Docker Compose

Purpose: Local infrastructure (PostgreSQL, Redis, Keycloak, etc.) Used by: Integration tests, local development Install:

• macOS: Docker Desktop for Mac
• Linux: Docker Engine
• Windows: Docker Desktop for Windows

Verification:

docker --version
docker-compose --version  # or docker compose version

Note: Integration tests require Docker. Without it, run make test-dev (unit tests only) instead of make test (all tests).

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Trivy (Security Scanner)

Purpose: Container and Kubernetes manifest security scanning Used by: Pre-commit hooks (optional), CI security scans Install:

• macOS: brew install trivy
• Linux:
  wget -qO - https://aquasecurity.github.io/trivy-repo/deb/public.key | sudo apt-key add -
  echo "deb https://aquasecurity.github.io/trivy-repo/deb $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/trivy.list
  sudo apt update && sudo apt install trivy
  
• Windows (WSL): Same as Linux

Verification:

trivy --version

Documentation: https://trivy.dev/

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Helm

Purpose: Kubernetes package management Used by: Deployment validation, Helm chart linting Install:

• macOS: brew install helm
• Linux:
  curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash
  
• Windows: choco install kubernetes-helm

Verification:

helm version

Documentation: https://helm.sh/docs/intro/install/

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kubectl

Purpose: Kubernetes command-line tool Used by: Kustomize validation, deployment testing Install:

• macOS: brew install kubectl
• Linux:
  curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
  chmod +x kubectl
  sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/
  
• Windows: choco install kubernetes-cli

Verification:

kubectl version --client

Documentation: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/

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Terraform

Purpose: Infrastructure as Code Used by: Infrastructure deployment, pre-commit Terraform formatting Install:

• macOS: brew install terraform
• Linux:
  wget -O- https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg
  echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hashicorp.list
  sudo apt update && sudo apt install terraform
  
• Windows: choco install terraform

Verification:

terraform --version

Documentation: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/downloads

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Node.js & npm

Purpose: Mintlify documentation validation Used by: Documentation link checking, Mintlify local preview Install:

• macOS: brew install node
• Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):
  curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
  sudo apt install -y nodejs
  
• Windows: Download from nodejs.org

Verification:

node --version
npm --version

Documentation: https://nodejs.org/

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actionlint

Purpose: GitHub Actions workflow validation Used by: Pre-commit hooks (optional), CI workflow syntax checking Install:

• macOS: brew install actionlint
• Linux:
  bash <(curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rhysd/actionlint/main/scripts/download-actionlint.bash)
  sudo mv ./actionlint /usr/local/bin/
  
• Windows (WSL): Same as Linux

Verification:

actionlint --version

Documentation: https://github.com/rhysd/actionlint

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Platform-Specific Installation

macOS (Homebrew)

One-liner to install all tools:

brew install python@3.12 git shellcheck docker helm kubectl terraform node actionlint trivy

Install uv separately:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

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Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

Required tools:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3.12 python3.12-venv git shellcheck
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Optional tools:

# Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

# Helm
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash

# kubectl
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
chmod +x kubectl && sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/

# Terraform
wget -O- https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hashicorp.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install terraform

# Node.js
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

# Trivy
wget -qO - https://aquasecurity.github.io/trivy-repo/deb/public.key | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb https://aquasecurity.github.io/trivy-repo/deb $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/trivy.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install trivy

# actionlint
bash <(curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rhysd/actionlint/main/scripts/download-actionlint.bash)
sudo mv ./actionlint /usr/local/bin/

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Windows (WSL2 Recommended)

We recommend using WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) for development on Windows.

Install WSL2:

wsl --install

Then follow the Linux (Ubuntu/Debian) instructions inside WSL.

Alternative (Native Windows with Chocolatey):

choco install python git docker-desktop kubernetes-helm kubernetes-cli terraform nodejs

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Verification

Automated Setup Verification

Run the automated setup verification script:

make validate-setup

This checks for all required and optional tools and reports their status.

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Manual Verification

Check required tools:

python3 --version        # Should be 3.12+
uv --version            # Should be installed
git --version           # Any recent version
shellcheck --version    # Should be installed

Check optional tools:

docker --version        # Optional
trivy --version         # Optional
helm version           # Optional
kubectl version --client  # Optional
terraform --version    # Optional
node --version         # Optional
npm --version          # Optional
actionlint --version   # Optional

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Troubleshooting

”shellcheck: command not found” during pre-commit

Problem: ShellCheck is required but not installed.

Solution:

# macOS
brew install shellcheck

# Linux
sudo apt install shellcheck

Why: ShellCheck validates bash scripts and is a required dependency for pre-commit hooks.

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”Docker daemon is not running” during integration tests

Problem: Integration tests require Docker, but Docker daemon is not running.

Solution:

# macOS/Windows: Start Docker Desktop application

# Linux: Start Docker service
sudo systemctl start docker

Alternative: Skip integration tests:

make test-dev  # Runs unit tests only (no Docker required)

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“uv: command not found”

Problem: uv package manager is not installed or not in PATH.

Solution:

# Install uv
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Add to PATH (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"

# Reload shell
source ~/.bashrc  # or source ~/.zshrc

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Pre-commit hook fails with “Skipping: tool not installed”

Problem: Optional tool is missing, but hook is trying to run.

Solution: This is expected behavior. Optional tools gracefully skip with a warning message. The commit will still succeed.

If you want to install the tool for full validation:

• See the Optional Tools section above
• Or run the tool-specific install command shown in the warning message

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Python version mismatch (3.11 vs 3.12)

Problem: System has Python 3.11 but project requires 3.12+.

Solution:

# macOS
brew install python@3.12

# Linux (Ubuntu)
sudo apt install python3.12 python3.12-venv

# Use specific version
python3.12 -m venv .venv

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Next Steps

After completing setup:

1. Install Python dependencies:

   make install-dev
   

2. Run tests:

   make test-dev  # Fast unit tests (~2-3 min)
   

3. Start local infrastructure (optional):

   make quick-start  # Starts Docker infrastructure
   

4. Read development guides:

   • Testing Guide - Test-driven development guide
   • Contributing Guidelines - Contribution guidelines
   • Project Overview - Main project README

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CLI Tool Summary

Tool	Required?	Purpose	Install Command (macOS)
Python 3.12+	✅ Required	Main language	brew install python@3.12
uv	✅ Required	Package manager	curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
Git	✅ Required	Version control	brew install git
ShellCheck	✅ Required	Shell linting	brew install shellcheck
Docker	⚠️ Optional	Infrastructure	brew install --cask docker
Trivy	⚠️ Optional	Security scanning	brew install trivy
Helm	⚠️ Optional	K8s packages	brew install helm
kubectl	⚠️ Optional	K8s CLI	brew install kubectl
Terraform	⚠️ Optional	Infrastructure	brew install terraform
Node.js/npm	⚠️ Optional	Documentation	brew install node
actionlint	⚠️ Optional	Workflow validation	brew install actionlint

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References

• Codex Audit Finding: Make/Test Flow Issue 1.3 (CLI dependency documentation)
• Hooks & Tooling Issue 2.2: Ambient CLI dependencies
• Pre-commit Configuration: .pre-commit-config.yaml - Complete hook catalog
• Makefile Targets: Makefile - All available development commands

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Questions or Issues?

• Check Troubleshooting section above
• Review .claude/memory/python-environment-usage.md for Python-specific guidance
• Open an issue: GitHub Issues