MCP Builder: Connect Claude to Your APIs Without Reading the Docs

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MCP Server Builder

Summary

You want Claude to talk to your company's API or internal database. But MCP documentation is dense, the setup is confusing, and you're not sure where to start.

Instead, describe what you want to connect. Claude builds a working MCP server with proper error handling and authentication, ready to deploy.

Stop wrestling with protocol specs. Start shipping integrations that work.

Describe, don't configure

Tell Claude what API or database you need. It handles the MCP boilerplate, auth patterns, and error handling.

Production-ready from day one

Every server includes proper logging, graceful failures, and security best practices. Not a tutorial—real code.

Connect anything

Databases, REST APIs, GraphQL endpoints, internal tools. If it has an interface, Claude can build the bridge.

Pros

Build working MCP servers without reading protocol documentation
Production-ready code with error handling, logging, and auth patterns
Connect Claude to any API, database, or internal tool
Skip weeks of integration work—describe what you need in minutes
Security best practices built in from the start
Official Anthropic skill that understands MCP inside and out

Cons

You still need API credentials and access—Claude builds the bridge, not the permissions
Complex OAuth flows may require manual configuration of redirect URIs
Generated servers are starting points—production deployments should include your security review

How to Use MCP Server Builder Skill

Skill command:

Install the Skill

Install via the plugin marketplace, or download the skill file directly. Skills auto-activate when relevant—no manual invocation needed.

Option 1: Plugin Marketplace

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills
/plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills

Option 2: Direct Download

curl -o .claude/skills/mcp-builder.md https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anthropics/skills/main/skills/mcp-builder/SKILL.md

Describe Your Integration

Tell Claude what you want to connect and what operations you need. Be specific about auth requirements.

Example Prompt

Build an MCP server that connects to our PostgreSQL database. Read-only queries for now. We use connection pooling and need to handle timeouts gracefully.

Review and Customize

Claude generates the server code with your specific requirements. Review the auth handling and add your credentials.

Example Prompt

Add rate limiting—max 100 requests per minute. Also add a tool that lists available tables.

Test Locally

Run the server locally and test each tool. Claude helps debug connection issues and validates responses.

Example Prompt

The connection is timing out. Help me debug—here's the error: [paste error]

Deploy and Connect

Deploy your server and configure Claude to use it. Your integration is live.

Example Prompt

How do I add this MCP server to my Claude Desktop config?

Example Prompts

Real-world scenarios showing how to use MCP Server Builder effectively

Scenario: Connect to a REST API

Your Prompt

/mcp-builder Build an MCP server for our internal inventory API. Base URL is https://api.internal/v2. It uses API key auth in the header. I need tools for: list products, get product by SKU, check stock levels.

Expected Outcome

Claude generates a complete MCP server with three tools, proper API key handling, request/response validation, and error handling for common HTTP failures.

Scenario: Database read access

Your Prompt

/mcp-builder I need Claude to query our analytics PostgreSQL database. Read-only access. Connection string is in DATABASE_URL env var. Should be able to run arbitrary SELECT queries and describe table schemas.

Expected Outcome

Claude builds an MCP server with SQL query execution, schema introspection tools, connection pooling, query timeout protection, and guards against non-SELECT statements.

Scenario: Third-party SaaS integration

Your Prompt

/mcp-builder Create an MCP server for Stripe. I need to list customers, get payment history, and check subscription status. We have a restricted API key with read-only permissions.

Expected Outcome

Claude generates a Stripe MCP server using the official SDK, with proper pagination handling, rate limit awareness, and typed responses for each operation.

Scenario: Internal tool automation

Your Prompt

/mcp-builder Our team uses a custom ticketing system with a GraphQL API. I want Claude to be able to create tickets, update status, and add comments. Auth is OAuth2 with refresh tokens.

Expected Outcome

Claude builds an MCP server with GraphQL operations, OAuth2 token management including automatic refresh, and mutation tools for ticket CRUD operations.

Scenario: Multi-service orchestration

Your Prompt

/mcp-builder I need an MCP server that coordinates between our CRM (Salesforce) and support system (Zendesk). Should be able to look up a customer and see their support history in one call.

Expected Outcome

Claude creates an MCP server with tools for both services and a combined lookup tool that fetches from both APIs and merges the results.

Frequently Asked Questions

Model Context Protocol is how Claude talks to the outside world. Without MCP, Claude can only work with what you paste into the chat. With MCP, Claude can query databases, call APIs, and interact with your tools directly. It turns Claude from a chatbot into an assistant that can actually do things in your systems.

No. That's the point. Describe what you want to connect and what operations you need. Claude handles the protocol details, message formats, and server boilerplate. You focus on what the integration should do, not how MCP implements it.

It's a strong starting point. Claude includes error handling, logging, auth patterns, and security basics. For production deployment, you should review credentials handling and add monitoring appropriate to your infrastructure. The code is meant to be customized, not black-boxed.

Yes. Share the error messages and Claude will debug connection issues, auth failures, and protocol problems. It knows the common failure modes and can trace through the request/response cycle to find what's broken.

TypeScript by default—it's the best-supported MCP SDK. Claude can also generate Python servers if you prefer. Just mention your language preference in the prompt.

Claude will show you the exact config to add to your claude_desktop_config.json file. It includes the command to run your server and any environment variables for credentials. Copy-paste and restart Claude Desktop.

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