> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs-mcp.phake.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Node.js

> Run your MCP server on Node.js using Hono and the @phake/mcp Node.js adapter.

<Note>
  The Node.js runtime adapter is **experimental**. APIs may change between releases.
</Note>

<Tip>
  The fastest way to get a Node.js MCP server is the scaffold CLI, which generates a complete, working project:

  ```bash theme={null}
  bun create @phake/mcp my-mcp-app --template node-hono --install
  ```
</Tip>

## Manual setup

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install dependencies">
    Install `@phake/mcp` along with its peer dependencies for the Node.js runtime:

    <Tabs>
      <Tab title="npm">
        ```bash theme={null}
        npm install @phake/mcp hono @hono/node-server
        ```
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="bun">
        ```bash theme={null}
        bun add @phake/mcp hono @hono/node-server
        ```
      </Tab>
    </Tabs>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Define your tools">
    Use `defineTool` from `@phake/mcp` to create type-safe tools with Zod schemas:

    ```typescript src/tools/greet.ts theme={null}
    import { z } from "zod";
    import { defineTool } from "@phake/mcp";

    export const greetTool = defineTool({
      name: "greet",
      title: "Greet User",
      description: "Returns a greeting for the given name",
      inputSchema: z.object({
        name: z.string().describe("Name to greet"),
      }),
      outputSchema: z.object({
        message: z.string().describe("The greeting message"),
      }),
      handler: async (args) => {
        return { message: `Hello, ${args.name}!` };
      },
    });
    ```

    Tool definitions are runtime-agnostic — the same `defineTool` call works on both Cloudflare Workers and Node.js.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure environment variables">
    Create a `.env` file in your project root for local development:

    ```ini .env theme={null}
    AUTH_STRATEGY=none
    LOG_LEVEL=debug
    PORT=3000
    ```

    For production, add your auth strategy variables and `RS_TOKENS_ENC_KEY`. See the [environment variables reference](/configuration/environment-variables) for the full list.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Node.js runtime exports

The `@phake/mcp/runtime/node` package exports the following for use in Node.js projects:

| Export                 | Description                                                |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| `buildServer(options)` | Creates an `McpServer` instance from the MCP SDK           |
| `FileTokenStore`       | File-backed token store (experimental)                     |
| `SqliteSessionStore`   | SQLite-backed session store via Drizzle ORM (experimental) |

```typescript theme={null}
import { buildServer, FileTokenStore, SqliteSessionStore } from "@phake/mcp/runtime/node";
```

See [Storage backends](/api/storage-backends) for details on the experimental stores.

<Note>
  The `node-hono` scaffold template wires up the Hono HTTP layer, auth middleware, MCP transport, and tool registration automatically. It is the recommended starting point for Node.js deployments.
</Note>