/discover-mcp

name: discover-mcp
description: Automatically discover MCP (Model Context Protocol) skills when building MCP servers, designing tools, implementing resources/prompts, or testing MCP integrations. Activates for MCP server development tasks.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: rand
  version: "4.0"
compatibility: Designed for Claude Code. Compatible with any agent supporting the Agent Skills format.

MCP Skills Discovery

Provides automatic access to comprehensive MCP server development, tool design, and testing skills.

When This Skill Activates

This skill auto-activates when you're working with:

• Building MCP servers (TypeScript or Python)
• Designing MCP tools, resources, or prompts
• Choosing MCP transports (stdio, SSE, Streamable HTTP)
• Implementing JSON-RPC 2.0 over MCP
• Testing MCP servers with Inspector or automated tests
• Debugging MCP protocol or transport issues
• Publishing or deploying MCP servers

Available Skills

Quick Reference

The MCP category contains 3 specialized skills:

1. **mcp-server-fundamentals** - Architecture, transports, tools/resources/prompts primitives, SDK setup 2. **mcp-tool-design** - Tool naming, schemas, error handling, annotations, progressive disclosure 3. **mcp-testing** - Inspector, unit tests, integration tests, transport debugging, CI/CD

Load Full Category Details

For complete descriptions and workflows:

Read ../mcp/INDEX.md

This loads the full MCP category index with:

• Detailed skill descriptions
• Usage triggers for each skill
• Common workflow combinations
• Cross-references to related skills

Load Specific Skills

Load individual skills as needed:

Server architecture and setup

Read ../mcp/mcp-server-fundamentals.md

Tool design and best practices

Read ../mcp/mcp-tool-design.md

Testing and debugging

Read ../mcp/mcp-testing.md

Common Workflows

New MCP Server

**Sequence**: Fundamentals -> Tool Design -> Testing

Read ../mcp/mcp-server-fundamentals.md # Architecture, transport, SDK Read ../mcp/mcp-tool-design.md # Design tool interfaces Read ../mcp/mcp-testing.md # Test with Inspector, CI

Adding Tools to Existing Server

**Sequence**: Tool Design -> Testing

Read ../mcp/mcp-tool-design.md # Naming, schemas, errors Read ../mcp/mcp-testing.md # Test new tools

Debugging MCP Issues

**Sequence**: Testing -> Fundamentals

Read ../mcp/mcp-testing.md # Inspector, transport debugging Read ../mcp/mcp-server-fundamentals.md # Lifecycle, capabilities

Integration with Other Skills

MCP skills commonly combine with:

**API skills** (`discover-api`):

• MCP servers wrapping REST or GraphQL APIs
• Authentication for MCP tool backends

**Testing skills** (`discover-testing`):

• Comprehensive test strategies
• Contract testing patterns

**Infrastructure skills** (`discover-infra`, `discover-cloud`):

• Deploying MCP servers
• Scaling HTTP transports

Progressive Loading

This gateway skill (~170 lines, ~1.5K tokens) enables progressive loading:

• **Level 1**: Gateway loads automatically (you're here now)
• **Level 2**: Load category INDEX.md (~2.5K tokens) for full overview
• **Level 3**: Load specific skills (~2-3K tokens each) as needed

Total context: 1.5K + 2.5K + skill(s) = 4-8K tokens vs 12K+ for everything.

Quick Start Examples

**"Build an MCP server"**: Read ../mcp/mcp-server-fundamentals.md

**"Design MCP tools for my API"**: Read ../mcp/mcp-tool-design.md

**"Test my MCP server"**: Read ../mcp/mcp-testing.md

**"Debug why my MCP tool isn't showing up"**: Read ../mcp/mcp-testing.md

**Next Steps**: Run `Read ../mcp/INDEX.md` to see full category details, or load specific skills using the commands above.