Comprehensive Project Assessment: Seed MCP Server

Assessment Date: January 5, 2026 Assessed By: Claude Code (Sonnet 4.5) Overall Grade: A- (90/100)

Executive Summary

The Seed MCP Server is a well-architected, production-ready implementation with strong code quality, comprehensive testing, and solid security practices. The project demonstrates professional software engineering standards with 95% test coverage, strict TypeScript configuration, and thoughtful security measures.

Key Strengths

✅ Excellent code quality and TypeScript strictness
✅ Comprehensive test coverage (95.29%, 513 tests)
✅ Strong authentication and authorization implementation
✅ Well-documented codebase with extensive wiki
✅ Proper MCP SDK usage
✅ Production-ready Docker configuration

Areas for Improvement

⚠️ Dependency vulnerabilities in dev dependencies
⚠️ Minor security hardening opportunities
⚠️ Some best practice enhancements for production deployment

1. Code Quality Assessment ✅ Grade: A (95/100)

Strengths

TypeScript Configuration

json

{
  "strict": true,
  "noUncheckedIndexedAccess": true,
  "exactOptionalPropertyTypes": true,
  "noUnusedLocals": true,
  "noUnusedParameters": true,
  "noImplicitReturns": true,
  "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true
}

Exceptional: Uses strictest TypeScript settings beyond standard strict mode
Enables noUncheckedIndexedAccess (rare in production code) preventing array index bugs
exactOptionalPropertyTypes ensures precise type safety
Modern ES2022 target with NodeNext module resolution

ESLint Configuration

javascript

...tseslint.configs.strictTypeChecked,
...tseslint.configs.stylisticTypeChecked,

Uses strictTypeChecked rules (most rigorous TypeScript linting)
Enforces consistent type imports
Prettier integration for formatting
Proper test file exception handling

Code Organization

Excellent separation of concerns: Config, middleware, routes, services, MCP components
Clear module boundaries: Each module has single responsibility
Consistent patterns: All files follow similar structure
Type-first design: Comprehensive type definitions in src/types/index.ts

Test Coverage

File Coverage:
- Statements: 95.29%
- Branches: 90.45%
- Functions: 95.27%
- Lines: 95.27%
Total: 513 tests across 35 test files

Outstanding: 95%+ coverage across all metrics
Integration tests with supertest for HTTP endpoints
Mocked external dependencies (Redis, JWKS)
Tests for error paths and edge cases

Minor Issues

Index.ts Coverage (src/index.ts:6-26)
- Entry point has 0% coverage (acceptable, hard to test)
- Consider integration tests if critical startup logic added
Documentation Route (src/routes/docs.ts:20-28)
- Only 73.68% coverage on static file serving
- Low risk but could add edge case tests

2. Best Practices Assessment ✅ Grade: A (93/100)

Excellent Practices

Configuration Management

Centralized configuration: All config in one module
Environment variable validation: Clear defaults and documentation
Type-safe config: Exported as const objects
Modular design: Separate files for CORS, OIDC, security, etc.

Error Handling

typescript

function sendAuthError(
  res: Response,
  reason: AuthErrorReason,
  details: string,
  httpStatus = 401,
): void {
  res.setHeader("WWW-Authenticate", getWwwAuthenticateHeader());
  res.status(httpStatus).json({
    jsonrpc: "2.0",
    error: {
      code: -32001,
      message: "Unauthorized",
      data: { reason, details }
    }
  });
}

JSON-RPC 2.0 compliance: Proper error structure
Specific error codes: Custom auth error codes with details
RFC compliance: WWW-Authenticate headers per OAuth 2.0 specs

Logging

Structured logging: Winston with JSON output
Configurable levels: Via environment variables
Security event tracking: Auth attempts, token validation
Metrics integration: Prometheus metrics for observability

Session Management

typescript

// Hybrid approach: in-memory + Redis
const transports: TransportStore = {}; // Fast O(1) lookup
await sessionStore.set(sessionId, { ... }); // Redis with TTL

Hybrid storage: In-memory for speed, Redis for distributed TTL
Automatic expiration: Redis TTL with sliding window
Clean architecture: SessionStore interface with implementation

Rate Limiting

Sliding window algorithm: Using Redis sorted sets
Per-IP tracking: Identifier-based limiting
Graceful degradation: Non-blocking on Redis failure
Configurable limits: Environment-based configuration

Good Practices

Docker Multi-stage Build

dockerfile

FROM node:24-alpine AS builder
# Build stage with all dependencies

FROM node:24-alpine AS production
# Production with only runtime deps
RUN adduser -S seed -u 1001 -G nodejs
USER seed

Security: Non-root user, minimal alpine base
Optimization: Multi-stage reduces image size
Health checks: Built-in readiness probes
Labels: OCI image metadata

Git Workflow

Clean commit history with descriptive messages
Security policy in place
Contributing guidelines
Comprehensive README and documentation

Recommendations

See recommendations/ directory for actionable improvements.

3. MCP Server Best Practices ✅ Grade: A (94/100)

SDK Usage Assessment

Excellent MCP Implementation

Server Creation (src/mcp/mcp.ts:18-38)

typescript

export function createMcpServer(): McpServer {
  const server = new McpServer(
    { name: config.server.name, version: config.server.version },
    { capabilities: { tools: {}, prompts: {}, resources: {} } }
  );

  registerTools(server);
  registerPrompts(server);
  registerResources(server);

  return server;
}

✅ Correct: Factory pattern with capability registration ✅ Correct: Centralized tool/prompt/resource registration ✅ Correct: Version and name from config

Transport Management (src/mcp/mcp.ts:71-100)

typescript

export async function createTransport(): Promise<StreamableHTTPServerTransport> {
  const transport = new StreamableHTTPServerTransport({
    sessionIdGenerator: () => randomUUID(),
    enableJsonResponse: true,
    onsessioninitialized: async (sessionId: string) => {
      transports[sessionId] = transport;
      await sessionStore.set(sessionId, { ... });
      mcpSessionsActive.inc();
    }
  });

  await server.connect(transport);
  return transport;
}

✅ Correct: UUID-based session IDs (cryptographically secure) ✅ Correct: JSON responses enabled for HTTP ✅ Correct: Session lifecycle hooks properly used ✅ Correct: Metrics tracking on session events

Request Routing (src/routes/mcp.ts:14-42)

typescript

mcpRouter.post("/", async (req: Request, res: Response): Promise<void> => {
  const sessionId = req.headers["mcp-session-id"] as string | undefined;

  if (sessionId) {
    const transport = await getTransport(sessionId);
    if (transport) {
      await sessionStore.touch(sessionId); // Refresh TTL
      await transport.handleRequest(req, res, req.body);
      return;
    }
  }

  if (!sessionId && isInitializeRequest(req.body)) {
    const transport = await createTransport();
    await transport.handleRequest(req, res, req.body);
    return;
  }

  res.status(400).json({ ... }); // Error response
});

✅ Correct: Proper session header handling ✅ Correct: Initialize request detection ✅ Correct: TTL refresh on access (sliding window) ✅ Correct: Error handling for missing sessions

Tool Implementations

Reviewed all 8 tools in src/mcp/tools/:

healthcheck.ts - ✅ Simple, correct
echo.ts - ✅ Good demonstration of text/image responses
user-info.ts - ✅ Proper user context extraction
system-status.ts - ✅ Excellent metrics exposure to Claude
log-demo.ts - ✅ Good logging patterns demonstration
trigger-notification.ts - ✅ Correct notification API usage
sampling-demo.ts - ✅ Excellent sampling patterns demonstration
roots-demo.ts - ✅ Good root list patterns

All tools:

Follow correct SDK patterns
Have comprehensive tests (14-28 tests each)
Properly handle user context
Return appropriate content types

Resource Implementations

user-profile.ts - User context checking, URI scheme usage, MIME type specification config.ts - Configuration exposure with proper formatting

Both resources follow correct patterns with good test coverage.

Prompt Implementations

Both prompts follow correct patterns:

Proper schema handling
Dynamic argument support
User context integration
Good test coverage

Minor Recommendations

Add Tool Description Best Practices
- Tool descriptions are good but could be more detailed
- Consider adding example usage in descriptions
Add More Resource Types
- Only 2 resources implemented (user-profile, config)
- Consider exposing system logs, metrics, session info as resources
Session Cleanup
- Current cleanup relies on Redis TTL
- Consider periodic sweep for orphaned in-memory transports

4. Security Assessment ⚠️ Grade: B+ (87/100)

Strong Security Implementations

JWT Authentication (`src/middleware/auth.ts`)

✅ Excellent Practices:

Uses jose library (industry standard, maintained by Panva)
Validates JWT signature against JWKS
Checks issuer, audience, expiration
Proper error categorization (expired, invalid signature, wrong issuer)
Metrics and logging for all auth attempts
Public path exemptions clearly defined

✅ JWKS Management (src/services/jwks.ts)

Automatic OIDC discovery
Caching to prevent repeated fetches
Configurable refresh with TTL
Background refresh before expiration

OAuth 2.1 Implementation

✅ Token Endpoint (src/routes/oauth-token.ts)

PKCE enforcement (requires code_verifier)
Dynamic client validation
Proper OAuth error responses per RFC 6749
Client TTL enforcement via Redis

✅ Authorization Endpoint (src/routes/oauth-authorize.ts)

Proper parameter validation
PKCE challenge validation
Redirect URI validation
State parameter support

✅ Dynamic Client Registration (src/routes/oauth-register.ts)

RFC 7591 compliant
Rate limiting on registration (10 per hour)
Client TTL (30 days default)
Redirect URI validation

CORS and Origin Validation

✅ CORS Configuration - Proper origin allowlist, credentials support, configurable ✅ Origin Validation Middleware - DNS rebinding protection, host header validation

Rate Limiting

Redis-backed sliding window
Per-IP tracking
Configurable limits (100 req/min for MCP, 10 reg/hour for DCR)
Graceful degradation on Redis failure

Security Vulnerabilities Found

🔴 HIGH: qs Dependency (npm audit)

qs < 6.14.1: DoS via memory exhaustion (CVSS 7.5)

Impact: Used by Express for query string parsing Risk: HIGH - DoS potential on production servers Fix: See recommendations/01-critical-fix-qs-vulnerability.md

🟡 MODERATE: esbuild, vite, vitepress (npm audit)

esbuild <=0.24.2: Dev server request interception (CVSS 5.3)

Impact: Dev dependencies only (VitePress documentation build) Risk: LOW in production (not deployed with docs builder) Fix: Update VitePress when fixed version available Mitigation: Dev dependencies not in production Docker image ✅

Security Improvements Needed

See recommendations/ directory for detailed remediation steps:

Secrets Management ⚠️ CRITICAL - No secrets management solution documented
Redis Authentication ⚠️ HIGH - Redis URL doesn't enforce password
Session Hijacking Protection ⚠️ MEDIUM - No IP binding or fingerprinting
Metrics Endpoint Protection ⚠️ MEDIUM - Prometheus metrics expose sensitive system info
Timing Attack Protection ⚠️ LOW - Minor timing differences could leak info
CSP Headers Missing ⚠️ LOW - No Content-Security-Policy

Security Best Practices - Already Implemented ✅

✅ JWT Signature Validation - Using jose with JWKS
✅ Rate Limiting - Redis-backed sliding window
✅ CORS Protection - Origin allowlist
✅ Origin Validation - DNS rebinding protection
✅ Session TTL - Redis-backed expiration
✅ Docker Non-root User - User seed:nodejs
✅ Structured Logging - Security event tracking
✅ PKCE Enforcement - Required for auth code flow
✅ Client TTL - Dynamic clients expire

5. Penetration Testing Readiness 🔒 Grade: B+ (87/100)

Attack Surface Analysis

Exposed Endpoints

Public (No Auth Required):

GET /health - Health check
POST /oauth/token - Token exchange
POST /oauth/authorize - Authorization proxy
POST /oauth/register - DCR (rate limited)
GET /.well-known/* - OAuth discovery
GET /metrics - Prometheus (if enabled)
GET /, /assets/* - Documentation

Protected (Auth Required):

POST /mcp - MCP JSON-RPC endpoint
DELETE /mcp - Session termination

Vulnerability Assessment by OWASP Top 10

Category	Status	Notes
1. Broken Access Control	✅ PASS	JWT validation on all protected routes
2. Cryptographic Failures	✅ PASS	JWT signatures, PKCE, UUIDs
3. Injection	✅ PASS	No SQL, Redis parameterized
4. Insecure Design	✅ PASS	Hybrid session storage, rate limiting
5. Security Misconfiguration	⚠️ NEEDS WORK	Metrics public, no CSP headers
6. Vulnerable Components	⚠️ NEEDS WORK	qs vulnerability
7. Authentication Failures	✅ PASS	Comprehensive JWT validation
8. Software/Data Integrity	✅ PASS	Signed JWTs, lockfiles
9. Logging & Monitoring	✅ STRONG	Winston, Prometheus, event tracking
10. SSRF	⚠️ MEDIUM RISK	OIDC issuer validation needed

Penetration Test Scenarios

🔴 Would FAIL

DoS via qs vulnerability - Exploit: Send deeply nested query strings
Metrics endpoint scraping - Exploit: Access /metrics to gather system info

🟡 Might FAIL

Redis command injection - Exploit: Malicious session IDs or keys
Session hijacking - Exploit: Steal session ID, access from different IP
Rate limit bypass - Exploit: Distributed attack from multiple IPs

✅ Would PASS

JWT forging, SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, authentication bypass, session fixation, CORS bypass

Recommended Hardening Steps

Before Production:

Update qs dependency (CRITICAL)
Add Redis password requirement (HIGH)
Document secrets management (HIGH)
Add helmet middleware (MEDIUM)
Restrict /metrics endpoint (MEDIUM)
Add session IP binding (MEDIUM)

For Enterprise Deployment: 7. Add WAF rules (Cloudflare, AWS WAF) 8. Enable Redis TLS 9. Add SIEM integration 10. Implement distributed tracing 11. Add audit logging 12. Set up anomaly detection

See recommendations/ directory for implementation details.

6. Overall Recommendations

Immediate Actions (Before Production)

All immediate action items have been documented in the recommendations/ directory:

Fix qs Vulnerability 🔴 CRITICAL - recommendations/01-critical-fix-qs-vulnerability.md
Update Dependencies 🟡 MEDIUM - recommendations/02-update-dependencies.md
Add Security Headers 🟡 MEDIUM - recommendations/03-add-security-headers.md
Document Secrets Management 🟡 MEDIUM - recommendations/04-document-secrets-management.md
Add .dockerignore 🟢 LOW - recommendations/05-add-dockerignore.md

Long-term Improvements

Long-term enhancements documented in:

Add Distributed Rate Limiting - recommendations/06-distributed-rate-limiting.md
Implement Session IP Binding - recommendations/07-session-ip-binding.md
Add Role-Based Access Control - recommendations/08-rbac-implementation.md
Add Audit Logging - recommendations/09-audit-logging.md
Add Distributed Tracing - recommendations/10-distributed-tracing.md

7. Final Scores

Category	Grade	Score	Comments
Code Quality	A	95/100	Exceptional TypeScript strictness, 95% test coverage
Best Practices	A	93/100	Clean architecture, good patterns, excellent docs
MCP Implementation	A	94/100	Proper SDK usage, comprehensive tool implementations
Security	B+	87/100	Strong auth, needs qs fix and secrets mgmt
Pentest Readiness	B+	87/100	Would pass most tests, needs hardening
Overall	A-	90/100	Production-ready with minor improvements needed

8. Comparison to Industry Standards

This project exceeds typical standards in:

TypeScript strictness (noUncheckedIndexedAccess is rare)
Test coverage (95% is exceptional)
Documentation quality (comprehensive wiki)
MCP SDK adherence (textbook implementation)

This project meets typical standards in:

Security practices (JWT, CORS, rate limiting)
Docker configuration (multi-stage, non-root)
Code organization (clear module boundaries)

This project could improve on:

Dependency management (qs vulnerability)
Production hardening (secrets, Redis auth)
Enterprise features (RBAC, audit logs)

9. Conclusion

The Seed MCP Server is a high-quality, well-engineered project that demonstrates professional software development practices. With 95% test coverage, strict TypeScript configuration, and comprehensive documentation, it stands out as an exemplary MCP server implementation.

The security implementation is strong, with proper JWT validation, OAuth 2.1 support, and rate limiting. However, the qs dependency vulnerability must be fixed before production deployment, and secrets management should be documented.

For a penetration test, this project would pass most security assessments after addressing the qs vulnerability and implementing the recommended hardening steps. The codebase is clean, maintainable, and ready for production use with minor improvements.

Recommendation: Deploy to production after addressing the critical qs vulnerability and implementing recommended hardening steps.

Next Steps:

Review and implement immediate action items in recommendations/
Run npm audit fix to address qs vulnerability
Add security documentation for production deployment
Schedule long-term improvements based on business priorities

Report Generated: January 5, 2026 Assessor: Claude Code (Sonnet 4.5) Repository: https://gitlab.byterecursion.com/mcp-servers/seed

Comprehensive Project Assessment: Seed MCP Server ​

Executive Summary ​

Key Strengths ​

Areas for Improvement ​

1. Code Quality Assessment ✅ Grade: A (95/100) ​

Strengths ​

TypeScript Configuration ​

ESLint Configuration ​

Code Organization ​

Test Coverage ​

Minor Issues ​

2. Best Practices Assessment ✅ Grade: A (93/100) ​

Excellent Practices ​

Configuration Management ​

Error Handling ​

Logging ​

Session Management ​

Rate Limiting ​

Good Practices ​

Docker Multi-stage Build ​

Git Workflow ​

Recommendations ​

3. MCP Server Best Practices ✅ Grade: A (94/100) ​

SDK Usage Assessment ​

Excellent MCP Implementation ​

Tool Implementations ​

Resource Implementations ​

Prompt Implementations ​

Minor Recommendations ​

4. Security Assessment ⚠️ Grade: B+ (87/100) ​

Strong Security Implementations ​

JWT Authentication (src/middleware/auth.ts) ​

OAuth 2.1 Implementation ​

CORS and Origin Validation ​

Rate Limiting ​

Security Vulnerabilities Found ​

🔴 HIGH: qs Dependency (npm audit) ​

🟡 MODERATE: esbuild, vite, vitepress (npm audit) ​

Security Improvements Needed ​

Security Best Practices - Already Implemented ✅ ​

5. Penetration Testing Readiness 🔒 Grade: B+ (87/100) ​

Attack Surface Analysis ​

Exposed Endpoints ​

Vulnerability Assessment by OWASP Top 10 ​

Penetration Test Scenarios ​

🔴 Would FAIL ​

🟡 Might FAIL ​

✅ Would PASS ​

Recommended Hardening Steps ​

6. Overall Recommendations ​

Immediate Actions (Before Production) ​

Long-term Improvements ​

7. Final Scores ​

8. Comparison to Industry Standards ​

9. Conclusion ​

Comprehensive Project Assessment: Seed MCP Server

Executive Summary

Key Strengths

Areas for Improvement

1. Code Quality Assessment ✅ Grade: A (95/100)

Strengths

TypeScript Configuration

ESLint Configuration

Code Organization

Test Coverage

Minor Issues

2. Best Practices Assessment ✅ Grade: A (93/100)

Excellent Practices

Configuration Management

Error Handling

Logging

Session Management

Rate Limiting

Good Practices

Docker Multi-stage Build

Git Workflow

Recommendations

3. MCP Server Best Practices ✅ Grade: A (94/100)

SDK Usage Assessment

Excellent MCP Implementation

Tool Implementations

Resource Implementations

Prompt Implementations

Minor Recommendations

4. Security Assessment ⚠️ Grade: B+ (87/100)

Strong Security Implementations

JWT Authentication (`src/middleware/auth.ts`)

OAuth 2.1 Implementation

CORS and Origin Validation

Rate Limiting

Security Vulnerabilities Found

🔴 HIGH: qs Dependency (npm audit)

🟡 MODERATE: esbuild, vite, vitepress (npm audit)

Security Improvements Needed

Security Best Practices - Already Implemented ✅

5. Penetration Testing Readiness 🔒 Grade: B+ (87/100)

Attack Surface Analysis

Exposed Endpoints

Vulnerability Assessment by OWASP Top 10

Penetration Test Scenarios

🔴 Would FAIL

🟡 Might FAIL

✅ Would PASS

Recommended Hardening Steps

6. Overall Recommendations

Immediate Actions (Before Production)

Long-term Improvements

7. Final Scores

8. Comparison to Industry Standards

9. Conclusion