Connecting anything (MCP) — Claude

1In one sentence

MCP is the standard plug that lets Claude use any tool or data source, and every connector you met in Chapter 1.9 is MCP underneath.

2New words

MCP (Model Context Protocol) — an open standard, published by Anthropic in 2024, for how an AI talks to tools: what tools exist, what they need, what they return.
Server — the program that offers tools over MCP: a GitHub server, a database server, a browser server. Thousands exist; you can write your own.
Client — the side that uses the tools: Claude Code, the Claude app, or your own program.
Remote vs local — a remote server runs on the internet (you connect by link); a local one runs on your computer (you install it).

3Why you would want it

Anything with an MCP server becomes something Claude can read and act on: your issue tracker, your database, your company's internal tool. For a professional this is just "connectors". For a builder it means you can expose your own system to Claude in an afternoon, and it then works in chat, Cowork and Code.

4Try it now

(Claude Code, paid plans)

In Claude Code, type /mcp to see what is connected.
Add one server from Anthropic's directory (GitHub is a good first one): follow the one-line add command the docs give, and sign in when asked.
Ask: List my open issues on GitHub and suggest which to do first.

5What you will see

[Picture pending: the /mcp list and Claude reading live data from the server.] The server's tools appear in Claude's list, and the answer comes from your real data. Servers only expose their own tools; they never get Claude's file access.

6Watch out

Only connect servers you trust; a server sees what you send it. Prefer official ones from the tool's maker.
Each server adds tool descriptions to Claude's context. Connect what you use, not everything.

7Go further

Write your own server for a tool nobody has wrapped yet; Anthropic's docs have small examples in Python and TypeScript, and Claude Code can write most of it. Chapter 6.6 goes one level deeper: talking to Claude directly from a program.