Build with Agent Skills

docs/draft/develop/build-with-agent-skills New page · 100 lines, new page

# Build with Agent Skills ## Available skills ## Start a build ## Deployment paths ## Next steps

A whole new page. There's nothing to diff it against, so here is what it says.

# Build with Agent Skills

> Use agent skills to guide AI coding assistants through MCP server design and implementation

[Agent skills](https://agentskills.io/home) are portable instruction sets that
give AI coding assistants domain knowledge for a task. For MCP development,
they encode the design decisions (deployment model, tool patterns, auth) so
your agent can interrogate your use case and scaffold a server that fits.

## Available skills

A reference set of MCP development skills is available as the
[`mcp-server-dev` plugin](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official/tree/main/plugins/mcp-server-dev).
It provides three composing skills:

| Skill              | Purpose                                                                                                                 |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `build-mcp-server` | Entry point. Interrogates the use case, picks a deployment model and tool-design pattern, routes to specialized skills. |
| `build-mcp-app`    | Adds interactive UI widgets (forms, pickers, dashboards) rendered inline in chat.                                       |
| `build-mcpb`       | Packages a local stdio server with its runtime so users can install it without Node or Python.                          |

Each skill ships a `SKILL.md` file plus a `references/` folder of supporting
material (auth flows, tool-design patterns, widget templates, manifest schemas)
that the agent reads on demand. The files follow the open format and work with
any agent that implements the standard. For example, to install them in Claude
Code:

```bash theme={null}
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-official
/plugin install mcp-server-dev
```

For other agents, check your skills or extensions catalog, or clone the
[skill directories](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official/tree/main/plugins/mcp-server-dev/skills)
(`SKILL.md` plus `references/`) into your agent's skills location.

## Start a build

With the skills installed, ask your agent to help you build an MCP server. The
entry skill triggers on natural-language requests, or you can invoke it
directly using your agent's skill-invocation syntax.

The skill runs a short discovery phase before writing any code. Expect
questions about:

* **What it connects to** — a cloud API, a local process, the filesystem, hardware
* **Who will use it** — just you, your team, or anyone who installs it
* **Action surface size** — a handful of operations versus wrapping a large API
* **User interaction needs** — plain text results, structured input via
  [elicitation](/specification/draft/client/elicitation), or rich UI widgets
* **Upstream auth** — API keys, OAuth 2.0, or none

If your opening message already covers these, the agent skips ahead to the
recommendation.

## Deployment paths

Based on discovery, the skill recommends one of four paths and scaffolds
accordingly:

**Remote [Streamable HTTP](/specification/draft/basic/transports/streamable-http)**
is the default for anything wrapping a cloud API. Zero install friction, one
deployment serves all users, and OAuth flows work properly because the server
can handle redirects and token storage. The reference skill includes scaffolds
for Cloudflare Workers and portable Express/FastMCP setups.

**[MCP apps](/extensions/apps/overview)** extend a server with interactive
widgets rendered in chat, such as searchable pickers, charts, and live
dashboards. The skill hands off to `build-mcp-app` when
[elicitation's](/specification/draft/client/elicitation) flat-form constraints
don't fit.

**[MCP Bundles (MCPB)](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/mcpb)** package a
local server together with its runtime as a single `.mcpb` archive, so users
can install it without setting up Node or Python. Use this path when the server
must touch the user's machine: reading local files, driving desktop apps, or
talking to localhost services. The skill hands off to `build-mcpb`.

**Local [stdio](/specification/draft/basic/transports/stdio)** remains available
for prototyping, with a noted upgrade path to MCPB when you're ready to
distribute.

## Next steps

Once your agent scaffolds the server, iterate on tool descriptions and error
handling, then test and ship:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="MCP Inspector" icon="magnifying-glass" href="/docs/draft/tools/inspector">
    Test your server's tools, resources, and prompts interactively
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect to a client" icon="plug" href="/docs/draft/develop/connect-local-servers">
    Wire your server into an MCP client via local or remote configuration
  </Card>

  <Card title="Publish to the Registry" icon="box" href="/registry/quickstart">
    Make your server discoverable in the MCP Registry
  </Card>
</CardGroup>