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