✅ Step 1: Download Node.js

  1. Go to the official Node.js website:
    👉 https://nodejs.org

  2. You’ll see two versions:

    📥 Click on the LTS version to download the installer.

✅ Step 2: Install Node.js

  1. Open the downloaded file (it will be a .msi file on Windows or .pkg on macOS).

  2. Follow the installation steps:

Node.js and npm will be installed together.

✅ Step 3: Check the installation

After installation, open a terminal or command prompt and type:

bash
node -v

This shows the installed Node.js version (e.g., v18.17.1).

Then check npm:

bash
npm -v

This shows the npm version (e.g., 9.5.0).

👉 npx comes with npm (version 5.2.0 and above), so it's already installed. Check with:

bash
npx -v



🟢 Node.js

MCP servers and tools are often developed in JavaScript or TypeScript, which run on the Node.js runtime. For instance, the official MCP SDK (@modelcontextprotocol/sdk) is a TypeScript library that requires Node.js to execute. Akos Komuves+6Scrum Bug+6GitHub+6Medium+2modelcontextprotocol.info+2npm+2

📦 npm (Node Package Manager)

npm is used to manage and install MCP-related packages. Whether you're setting up an MCP server or client, you'll use npm to install dependencies like the MCP Framework or other related tools. apidog

⚙️ npx

npx allows you to run Node.js packages without installing them globally. For example, you can start an MCP server directly using:

bash
npx -y replicate-mcp


This command launches a local HTTP server that adheres to the MCP standard, facilitating integration with AI tools like Claude or Cursor. Akos Komuves+5Replicate+5Medium+5

✅ Summary

Installing Node.js, npm, and npx is necessary because: