Chapter 1: Installation & Setup

Getting started with PMCP is straightforward. This chapter will guide you through installing PMCP, setting up your development environment, and verifying everything works correctly.

System Requirements

PMCP supports all major platforms:

• Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+, RHEL 8+, Arch Linux)
• macOS (10.15+)
• Windows (Windows 10+)
• WebAssembly (for browser environments)

Minimum Requirements:

• Rust 1.82+
• 2GB RAM
• 1GB disk space

Installation Methods

Method 1: Using Cargo (Recommended)

Add PMCP to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
pmcp = "1.4.1"

Or use cargo add:

cargo add pmcp

Method 2: From Source

Clone and build from source for the latest features:

git clone https://github.com/paiml/pmcp.git
cd pmcp
cargo build --release

Method 3: Pre-built Binaries

Download pre-built binaries from the releases page:

# Linux/macOS
curl -L https://github.com/paiml/pmcp/releases/latest/download/pmcp-linux.tar.gz | tar xz

# Windows PowerShell  
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/paiml/pmcp/releases/latest/download/pmcp-windows.zip" -OutFile "pmcp.zip"
Expand-Archive pmcp.zip

Feature Flags

PMCP uses feature flags to minimize binary size. Choose the features you need:

[dependencies]
pmcp = { version = "1.4.1", features = ["full"] }

Available Features

Common Configurations

Minimal client:

pmcp = { version = "1.4.1", features = ["validation"] }

WebSocket server:

pmcp = { version = "1.4.1", features = ["websocket", "validation"] }

Production server:

pmcp = { version = "1.4.1", features = ["full"] }

Development Environment Setup

Install Required Tools

# Install Rust toolchain
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

# Add required components
rustup component add rustfmt clippy llvm-tools-preview

# Install development tools
cargo install cargo-nextest cargo-llvm-cov cargo-audit

IDE Configuration

Visual Studio Code:

# Install Rust extension
code --install-extension rust-lang.rust-analyzer

vim/neovim:

" Add to your config
Plug 'rust-lang/rust.vim'
Plug 'neoclide/coc.nvim'

JetBrains IntelliJ/CLion:

• Install the Rust plugin from the marketplace

Verification

Quick Test

Create a new project and verify PMCP works:

cargo new pmcp-test
cd pmcp-test

Add to Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
pmcp = "1.4.1"
tokio = { version = "1.0", features = ["full"] }

Replace src/main.rs:

use pmcp::{Client, ClientCapabilities};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> pmcp::Result<()> {
    println!("PMCP version: {}", pmcp::VERSION);
    
    // Test client creation
    let client = Client::builder()
        .name("test-client")
        .version("1.0.0")
        .capabilities(ClientCapabilities::default())
        .build()?;
    
    println!("✅ PMCP client created successfully!");
    println!("Client name: {}", client.name());
    
    Ok(())
}

Run the test:

cargo run

Expected output:

PMCP version: 1.4.1
✅ PMCP client created successfully!
Client name: test-client

Run Examples

Test with the included examples:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/paiml/pmcp.git
cd pmcp

# Run basic server example  
cargo run --example 02_server_basic --features full

# In another terminal, run client example
cargo run --example 01_client_initialize --features full

Performance Benchmark

Verify performance with built-in benchmarks:

cargo bench --all-features

Expected results (approximate):

simple_protocol_parse    time: [12.5 ns 12.8 ns 13.2 ns]
json_serialization      time: [1.85 μs 1.89 μs 1.94 μs]  
websocket_roundtrip     time: [45.2 μs 46.1 μs 47.3 μs]

Common Issues

Compilation Errors

Issue: Missing features

error[E0432]: unresolved import `pmcp::WebSocketTransport`

Solution: Enable required features:

pmcp = { version = "1.4.1", features = ["websocket"] }

Issue: MSRV (Minimum Supported Rust Version)

error: package `pmcp v1.4.1` cannot be built because it requires rustc 1.82 or newer

Solution: Update Rust:

rustup update stable

Runtime Issues

Issue: Port already in use

Error: Address already in use (os error 98)

Solution: Use a different port:

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
server.bind("127.0.0.1:0").await?; // Let OS choose port
}

Issue: Permission denied

Error: Permission denied (os error 13)

Solution: Use unprivileged port (>1024):

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
server.bind("127.0.0.1:8080").await?;
}

Performance Issues

Issue: High memory usage

Memory usage: 2.3GB for simple server

Solution: Disable debug symbols in release:

[profile.release]
debug = false
strip = true

Next Steps

Now that PMCP is installed and working, you’re ready to:

1. Build your first server - Chapter 2 walks through creating a basic MCP server
2. Create a client - Chapter 3 shows how to connect and interact with servers
3. Explore examples - Check out the examples/ directory for real-world patterns

Getting Help

If you encounter issues:

• Documentation: https://docs.rs/pmcp
• Examples: https://github.com/paiml/pmcp/tree/main/examples
• Issues: https://github.com/paiml/pmcp/issues
• Discussions: https://github.com/paiml/pmcp/discussions

You’re all set! Let’s start building with PMCP.