using-mcp

using-mcp is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from andreaswasita/copilot-agents-dojo. It costs 17 tokens per session (1,405 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A setup guide for connecting MCP servers to coding clients. MCP, or Model Context Protocol, lets an agent use tools and data from services such as GitHub, databases, cloud systems, browsers, or files.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to configure MCP files for Copilot, Claude Code, Cursor, or similar clients, connect supported servers, verify authentication, and limit access to only what is needed.
Why use it?
It helps find why a client cannot access an external tool and checks that the connection and permissions work correctly.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Written for no agent in particular: nothing here depends on one. Also seen: reads .claude/ paths; mentions Claude Code.

Needs its repository: it runs a file that does not travel with it, so clone the repository first. The line is Generic → node mcp/scripts/mcp-subprocess.js list <server-binary>.

Good fit Use it to configure MCP files for Copilot, Claude Code, Cursor, or similar clients, connect supported servers, verify authentication, and limit access to only what is needed.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install

Getting it into your agent

It runs from inside its repository, so the clone comes first — what it calls does not travel with the file alone.

Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/andreaswasita/copilot-agents-dojo
agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/andreaswasita/copilot-agents-dojo/using-mcp

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for using-mcp

README.md
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Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for using-mcp

Your own site · 80×15
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Per session 17 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 1,405 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 1 finding. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe. Third-party audits
  • NVIDIA SkillSpector pass 7 Sept 2026
How audits are shown
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00017 $0.01405
Opus 5 $0.00009 $0.00702
Sonnet 5 $0.00003 $0.00281
Haiku 4.5 $0.00002 $0.00140

Measured 9d ago against content hash 4067ea12a909, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-08, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

using-mcp scanned grade A with 1 finding against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 9d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Runs shell commandslowCapability

Expected in a hook, worth knowing in a rule or an instructions file.

Generic → node mcp/scripts/mcp-subprocess.js list <server-binary>
optional-skills/using-mcp/SKILL.md · 134 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 134 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Using MCP Skill

Discovers, configures, and verifies Model Context Protocol servers from Copilot, Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP-compliant clients. Treats mcp/registry.yaml as the source of truth and least-privilege scopes as non-negotiable. Does NOT itself author servers (see building-mcp-servers) or bypass the broker (see calling-mcp-tools-via-subprocess).

When to Use

  • User mentions MCP, MCP server, "add a tool", "connect to ".
  • Agent needs data from an external system (GitHub, Postgres, Azure, Graph, browser, FS).
  • "Why can't Copilot see X?" — check the MCP wiring before anything else.
  • Authoring or modifying .vscode/mcp.json, .mcp.json, .cursor/mcp.json.

Prerequisites

  • A Copilot client that supports MCP (Copilot CLI, VS Code agent mode, Claude Code, Cursor).
  • mcp/registry.yaml accessible in the dojo (this skill is parasitic on the registry).
  • npx / node available for stdio servers, or hosted endpoint for Streamable HTTP.
  • Auth context already set up (az login, gh auth, OAuth flow, etc.) — never paste raw secrets into configs.
  • The view, edit, and powershell Copilot tools.

How to Run

1. Open `mcp/registry.yaml`. Find the server.
2. Pick the transport (stdio for local, Streamable HTTP for hosted).
3. Drop the config snippet from `mcp/configs/` into the client's config file.
4. Set scopes to least privilege.
5. Verify the server is green in the client; call one tool end-to-end.

Quick Reference

Transport When Auth model
stdio Local dev, single user Inherits CLI session env (az, gh)
Streamable HTTP Hosted, teams, sandboxed OAuth 2.1 + PKCE
SSE (legacy) Only if server still requires it Migrate to Streamable HTTP
Client Config file
VS Code / GHCP agent mode .vscode/mcp.json (workspace) or user-level via MCP: Open User Configuration
Copilot CLI ~/.copilot/mcp.json or per-project .copilot/mcp.json
Claude Code .mcp.json (repo) or ~/.claude.json (user)
Cursor .cursor/mcp.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json

Read the full file on GitHub · 134 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 9d ago First seen · 134 lines · 17 tokens per session scan A 4067ea12a909

Subscribe to this mod's changes

using-mcp is a skill published in the GitHub repository andreaswasita/copilot-agents-dojo (52 stars, last pushed 2d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 17 tokens to every session and 1,405 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 1 finding (runs shell commands). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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