---
title: "DF0017: MCP Server Start Failure"
description: "Failed to start MCP server ({transport}): {reason}"
canonical_url: "https://devfra.me/errors/df0017"
---
# DF0017: MCP Server Start Failure

> Failed to start MCP server (\{transport}): \{reason}

## Message

> Failed to start MCP server (`{transport}`): `{reason}`

## Cause

The MCP server failed while initializing. Common reasons:

- The stdio transport threw during `connect()` (e.g. stdin/stdout unavailable).
- The MCP adapter module could not be loaded (e.g. a corrupted install missing `@modelcontextprotocol/server`).

## Fix

- **Transport failure**: inspect the underlying error attached as `cause`.
- **Broken install**: reinstall dependencies so `@modelcontextprotocol/server` (a dependency of `devframe`) resolves.

## Source

- [`packages/devframe/src/adapters/mcp/build-server.ts`](https://github.com/devframes/devframe/blob/main/packages/devframe/src/adapters/mcp/build-server.ts): `createMcpServer()` throws `DF0017` when the stdio transport fails to `connect()`.
- [`packages/devframe/src/adapters/dev.ts`](https://github.com/devframes/devframe/blob/main/packages/devframe/src/adapters/dev.ts): `createDevServer()` throws `DF0017` (transport `http`) when the route-based MCP server can't load its transport module.


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