MCP Servers
Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers let Claude Code connect to external tools and data sources — GitHub, databases, APIs, file systems, and more. This turns Claude from a code editor into a full development assistant.
Start with the filesystem and GitHub MCP servers — they're the most immediately useful.
MCP servers run locally on your machine. They don't send your data to third parties — the connection is between Claude Code and the local server.
Configure MCP servers in your project's .mcp.json file for project-specific tools, or in ~/.claude/mcp.json for global tools.
Community MCP servers are available for Slack, Linear, Notion, databases, and many more. Check the MCP server registry.
Understand what MCP is: a protocol that lets Claude Code use external tools
Configure a server in .mcp.json in your project root
Example: filesystem server for reading/writing files outside the project
Example: GitHub server for creating PRs, reading issues, managing repos
Run Claude Code — it will automatically discover configured MCP servers
Ask Claude to use the connected tools: 'create a PR for these changes' or 'read the latest issues'
Build custom MCP servers for your own APIs and internal tools
Use /mcp in Claude Code to see connected servers and available tools