mcp-integration

name

mcp-integration

description

Comprehensive guide for setting up and managing MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers in Claude Code. Use when configuring MCP servers, connecting external services via MCP, setting up .mcp.json files, choosing between stdio/HTTP/SSE transports, authenticating with remote MCP servers, bundling MCP servers in plugins, managing MCP scopes (local/project/user), using MCP resources and prompts, configuring managed MCP for organizations, or troubleshooting MCP connections. Trigger phrases: "MCP server", "Model Context Protocol", ".mcp.json", "connect external service", "MCP in plugin", "stdio transport", "SSE transport", "HTTP transport", "remote MCP", "MCP authentication", "MCP tools", "claude mcp add", "MCP OAuth", "MCP scope", "managed MCP", "MCP tool search", "MCP resources", "MCP prompts".

MCP Integration Guide

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for connecting AI tools to external data sources, APIs, and services. Claude Code supports MCP natively, allowing you to connect to hundreds of external tools through a unified protocol. MCP servers give Claude Code access to your tools, databases, and APIs -- from GitHub and Sentry to PostgreSQL and custom internal services.

MCP servers come in two main flavors: local stdio servers that run as processes on your machine (ideal for direct system access and custom scripts), and remote servers that connect over HTTP or SSE transport (ideal for cloud-based services). Claude Code manages the lifecycle of these servers, handles authentication, and makes their tools available seamlessly during your conversations.

With MCP configured, you can ask Claude Code to implement features from issue trackers, analyze monitoring data, query databases, integrate designs, and automate multi-step workflows -- all by connecting the right MCP servers for your stack.

When to Use This Skill

• Adding an MCP server to Claude Code (any transport type)
• Configuring .mcp.json for project-shared MCP servers
• Choosing the right transport: stdio vs HTTP vs SSE
• Authenticating with remote MCP servers via OAuth or API keys
• Setting up environment variables for MCP servers
• Understanding MCP scopes (local, project, user)
• Bundling MCP servers inside a plugin
• Managing MCP servers (list, get, remove)
• Using MCP resources via @ mentions
• Using MCP prompts as slash commands
• Configuring managed MCP for enterprise/team deployments
• Configuring MCP tool search for large numbers of tools
• Importing MCP servers from Claude Desktop
• Using Claude Code itself as an MCP server

When NOT to Use This Skill

• Creating a full plugin (use plugin-development skill)
• Writing custom skills or agents (use skills-authoring or subagents-and-teams)
• General Claude Code configuration unrelated to MCP (use claude-code-best-practices)
• Troubleshooting non-MCP issues (use claude-code-troubleshooting)

Quick Reference

Topic	Reference File
.mcp.json format, stdio setup, env vars, scope hierarchy, CLI commands, examples	references/mcp-server-setup.md
HTTP/SSE transports, remote server config, OAuth authentication, headers, security	references/remote-servers.md
Bundling MCP in plugins, plugin.json mcp field, ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}, examples	references/mcp-in-plugins.md

MCP Setup Workflow

Step 1: Choose Your Transport

Transport	Use Case	Command Flag
HTTP (recommended)	Cloud-based services, remote APIs	--transport http
SSE (deprecated)	Legacy remote servers	--transport sse
stdio	Local processes, custom scripts, direct system access	--transport stdio

Step 2: Add the Server

# Remote HTTP server
claude mcp add --transport http <name> <url>

# Remote HTTP with auth header
claude mcp add --transport http <name> <url> --header "Authorization: Bearer <token>"

# Local stdio server
claude mcp add --transport stdio <name> -- <command> [args...]

# Local stdio with environment variables
claude mcp add --transport stdio --env KEY=value <name> -- <command> [args...]

Important: All options (--transport, --env, --scope, --header) must come before the server name. The -- (double dash) separates the server name from the command and arguments passed to the MCP server.

Step 3: Choose the Scope

# Local scope (default) - private to you, current project only
claude mcp add --transport http stripe https://mcp.stripe.com

# Project scope - shared via .mcp.json, checked into version control
claude mcp add --transport http stripe --scope project https://mcp.stripe.com

# User scope - available to you across all projects
claude mcp add --transport http stripe --scope user https://mcp.stripe.com

Step 4: Authenticate (if needed)

For remote servers requiring OAuth:

> /mcp
# Select the server, then follow the browser login flow

Step 5: Verify

# List all configured servers
claude mcp list

# Get details for a specific server
claude mcp get <name>

# Check status within Claude Code
> /mcp

Common MCP Server Examples

GitHub

claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/
# Then authenticate:
> /mcp

Sentry

claude mcp add --transport http sentry https://mcp.sentry.dev/mcp
> /mcp

Notion

claude mcp add --transport http notion https://mcp.notion.com/mcp

PostgreSQL

claude mcp add --transport stdio db -- npx -y @bytebase/dbhub \
  --dsn "postgresql://readonly:[e-mail]:5432/analytics"

Airtable

claude mcp add --transport stdio --env AIRTABLE_API_KEY=YOUR_KEY airtable \
  -- npx -y airtable-mcp-server

MCP Server Categories

MCP servers connect Claude Code to many types of external services:

Category	Examples
Code & Version Control	GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket
Issue Tracking	Jira, Linear, Asana
Monitoring & Observability	Sentry, Datadog, PagerDuty
Databases	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Supabase
Communication	Slack, Discord, Gmail
Design & Documentation	Figma, Notion, Confluence
Cloud & Infrastructure	AWS, GCP, Cloudflare
CRM & Sales	HubSpot, Salesforce
Custom & Internal	Build your own using the MCP SDK

Note: Use third-party MCP servers at your own risk. Anthropic has not verified the correctness or security of all listed servers. Be especially careful with MCP servers that could fetch untrusted content, as these can expose you to prompt injection risk.

Find hundreds more MCP servers at https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers or build your own using the MCP SDK at https://modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/server.

Managing Servers

# List all configured servers
claude mcp list

# Get details for a specific server
claude mcp get <name>

# Remove a server
claude mcp remove <name>

# Add from JSON configuration
claude mcp add-json <name> '<json>'

# Import from Claude Desktop (macOS and WSL only)
claude mcp add-from-claude-desktop

MCP Scopes

Scope	Storage	Visibility	Use Case
Local (default)	~/.claude.json under project path	Private, current project	Personal servers, sensitive credentials
Project	.mcp.json in project root	Shared via version control	Team-shared servers, project-specific tools
User	~/.claude.json	Private, all projects	Personal utilities across projects

Precedence: Local > Project > User. When servers with the same name exist at multiple scopes, local-scoped servers take priority.

Environment Variable Expansion in .mcp.json

.mcp.json files support environment variable expansion:

• ${VAR} - Expands to the value of environment variable VAR
• ${VAR:-default} - Expands to VAR if set, otherwise uses default

Variables can be expanded in: command, args, env, url, and headers fields.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "api-server": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "${API_BASE_URL:-https://api.example.com}/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP Resources

MCP servers can expose resources that you reference using @ mentions:

> Can you analyze @github:issue://123 and suggest a fix?
> Compare @postgres:schema://users with @docs:file://database/user-model

Resources are automatically fetched and included as attachments. Type @ to see all available resources from connected servers.

MCP Prompts as Commands

MCP servers can expose prompts that become available as slash commands:

> /mcp__github__list_prs
> /mcp__github__pr_review 456
> /mcp__jira__create_issue "Bug in login flow" high

Type / to discover available prompts from connected servers.

MCP Tool Search

When you have many MCP servers, tool definitions can consume significant context. Claude Code automatically enables Tool Search when MCP tool descriptions exceed 10% of the context window. When active, tools are loaded on-demand rather than all at once.

Configure with the ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH environment variable:

Value	Behavior
auto	Activates when MCP tools exceed 10% of context (default)
auto:<N>	Activates at custom threshold percentage
true	Always enabled
false	Disabled, all MCP tools loaded upfront

ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=auto:5 claude   # 5% threshold
ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=false claude    # Disable tool search

MCP Output Limits

• Warning threshold: 10,000 tokens per tool output
• Default maximum: 25,000 tokens
• Configure with MAX_MCP_OUTPUT_TOKENS:

export MAX_MCP_OUTPUT_TOKENS=50000
claude

Using Claude Code as an MCP Server

Claude Code can itself serve as an MCP server for other applications:

claude mcp serve

Add to Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-code": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "claude",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

If claude is not in your PATH, use the full path from which claude.

Managed MCP for Organizations

Organizations can centrally control MCP servers through two options:

1. managed-mcp.json: Deploy a fixed set of MCP servers that users cannot modify. Located at system-wide paths requiring admin privileges:

   • macOS: /Library/Application Support/ClaudeCode/managed-mcp.json
   • Linux/WSL: /etc/claude-code/managed-mcp.json
   • Windows: C:\Program Files\ClaudeCode\managed-mcp.json

2. Allowlists/Denylists: Allow users to add their own servers within policy constraints using allowedMcpServers and deniedMcpServers in managed settings.

See references/remote-servers.md for details on managed configurations.

Reference File Index

File	Contents
references/mcp-server-setup.md	.mcp.json configuration format, stdio server setup, environment variables, scope hierarchy, CLI commands, JSON configuration, importing from Claude Desktop, practical examples
references/remote-servers.md	HTTP and SSE transports, remote server configuration, OAuth 2.0 authentication, pre-configured OAuth credentials, headers, managed MCP configuration, allowlists/denylists, security considerations
references/mcp-in-plugins.md	Bundling MCP servers in plugins, .mcp.json at plugin root, plugin.json inline MCP, ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}, automatic lifecycle, transport types, viewing plugin MCP servers