MCP Wait Server Overview

The MCP Wait Server fills a common gap in AI‑assistant workflows: the need for controlled pauses and real‑time timestamps. When an assistant orchestrates long‑running scripts, downloads, or external API calls, it often must wait for those processes to finish before proceeding. Traditional approaches rely on ad‑hoc sleep commands or external schedulers, which can be brittle and hard to manage within an MCP‑based system. This server offers a lightweight, declarative toolset that lets assistants pause execution precisely and retrieve the current time in ISO 8601 format, all through standard MCP calls.

At its core, the server exposes two tools. The tool accepts a duration in seconds and suspends the assistant’s flow for that period. It is bounded by a configurable maximum (default 210 seconds) to prevent runaway waits, but it can be invoked repeatedly with the remaining time if a longer pause is required. This makes it ideal for pacing API requests, giving external services time to process data, or simply spacing out steps in a complex workflow. The tool returns the current UTC timestamp, allowing assistants to log events, schedule actions, or synchronize state without leaving the MCP ecosystem.

Developers benefit from the server’s minimal footprint and straightforward integration. It is written in TypeScript, runs on any Node.js environment, and can be launched via —eliminating the need for global installation. Configuration is a single JSON snippet in Claude Desktop’s config file, where environment variables control maximum wait time and tool description. Once configured, the tools appear in Claude’s toolbox automatically, ready to be invoked with natural language prompts like “Please wait for 120 seconds before continuing” or “Give me the current date and time.”

Real‑world use cases abound. In CI/CD pipelines, an assistant can trigger a build, wait for the artifact to be available, then proceed to deployment. For data pipelines, it can pause between extraction steps to respect rate limits or allow downstream services to catch up. In interactive applications, it can add deliberate delays for user experience purposes or synchronize with external hardware that reports status asynchronously. The ISO‑8601 timestamps enable precise logging and audit trails, essential for compliance or debugging.

Overall, the MCP Wait Server provides a clean, declarative way to manage timing within AI workflows. Its simplicity, configurability, and tight integration with MCP clients make it a standout tool for developers looking to add reliable pause and time‑query capabilities without reinventing the wheel.