🧳 MCP Travel Desk — A Minimal MCP Client & Server Demo

What is 🧳 MCP Travel Desk?

🧳 MCP Travel Desk is a minimal demonstration of an MCP server built with the MCP Python SDK and used with Claude Desktop as an MCP client. It implements a simple Travel Desk system that allows employees to submit travel requests, check approval status, and view travel history — all accessible directly from Claude.

How to use 🧳 MCP Travel Desk?

Install Claude Desktop, then install the MCP Python SDK (pip install mcp) and uv (Python package manager). Create a main.py file with the server code and run uv run mcp install main.py to register the server in Claude’s configuration. Once installed, the tools appear in Claude’s UI and you can ask queries like “Submit a travel request for E001 to Paris.”

Key features of 🧳 MCP Travel Desk

• submit_travel_request – submit a new employee travel request
• get_travel_history – retrieve travel history for an employee
• approved_trips_count – count approved trips for an employee
• greeting – a simple demo tool that responds with a greeting
• Demonstrates building an MCP server and using Claude Desktop as client

Use cases of 🧳 MCP Travel Desk

• Submit a travel request for an employee with destination and dates
• Check how many approved trips a given employee has
• Retrieve the full travel history of an employee
• Use as a learning example for MCP server development

FAQ from 🧳 MCP Travel Desk

What are the runtime dependencies?

You need Claude Desktop, Python, the mcp Python package, and uv (Python package manager). On macOS, uv can be installed via Homebrew.

How do I install the server into Claude?

Run uv run mcp install main.py in the project directory. This creates a virtual environment, adds the server to Claude’s config, and prints a success message.

What tools does the server expose?

The server exposes four tools: submit_travel_request, get_travel_history, approved_trips_count, and greeting.

Why doesn’t the server start in Claude on macOS?

If the server fails to start, ensure uv is installed via Homebrew (brew install uv), then restart Claude Desktop and check that the server shows as “Running” in Developer Settings.

Can I use a different MCP client?

The demonstration is designed specifically for Claude Desktop as the MCP client. No other clients are mentioned in the setup instructions.