MCP in Claude Code

Connecting Claude Code to tools and data sources via MCP

What MCP means in the Code context

MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets Claude Code connect to external tools and data sources beyond the local filesystem. In a coding context, this means Claude can query databases, call internal APIs, read from services like GitHub or Linear, and interact with deployment platforms — all from within a Claude Code session.

The difference it makes

Setting up an MCP server in Claude Code

# In your project directory, create .claude/settings.json:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "database": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres"],
      "env": {
        "POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING": "postgresql://user:pass@localhost/db"
      }
    },
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using MCP-connected tools in a session

"Query the database and show me all orders from the last 7 days where status = 'pending' and total > 500."

"Read the open GitHub issues labeled 'bug' and create a prioritized fix list based on severity and user impact."