mcp-builder

mcp-builder is a skill for Claude Code from martineserios/thebrana. It costs 19 tokens per session (2,733 once invoked), scanned A, a copy of mcp-builder, MIT.

A guide to building MCP servers, which let AI agents use tools and connect to outside services through a standard interface.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when planning, implementing, testing, or deploying an MCP server and its tools.
Why use it?
It helps turn external service operations into useful agent workflows instead of isolated API calls.

Skill for Claude Code

Written for Claude Code: allowed-tools in frontmatter. Also seen: model in frontmatter.

Part of the brana plugin — 56 skills, 4 commands, 14 agents, 13 hooks shipped together

Good fit Use it when planning, implementing, testing, or deploying an MCP server and its tools.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/martineserios/thebrana/mcp-builder
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add martineserios/thebrana --skill mcp-builder
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/martineserios/thebrana

Made for: Claude Code.

Or install brana, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 56 skills, 4 commands, 14 agents, 13 hooks.

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 mcp-builder

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/martineserios/thebrana/mcp-builder/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/martineserios/thebrana/mcp-builder)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/martineserios/thebrana/mcp-builder"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/martineserios/thebrana/mcp-builder/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

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 mcp-builder

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/martineserios/thebrana/mcp-builder"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/martineserios/thebrana/mcp-builder.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 19 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 2,733 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin 83% copy Near-identical to another mod 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 $0.00019 $0.02733
Opus 5 $0.00010 $0.01367
Sonnet 5 $0.00004 $0.00547
Haiku 4.5 $0.00002 $0.00273

Measured 6d ago against content hash 7cd92f8d765a, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-09, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

mcp-builder scanned grade A with 0 findings 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 6d 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.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

Origin

This is a copy

83% identical to mcp-builder — 40 lines differ, which has more behind it and is treated as the original. This page carries a canonical link to it rather than competing with it.

system/skills/mcp-builder/SKILL.md · 335 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 335 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

MCP Server Development Guide

Overview

To create high-quality MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers that enable LLMs to effectively interact with external services, use this skill. An MCP server provides tools that allow LLMs to access external services and APIs. The quality of an MCP server is measured by how well it enables LLMs to accomplish real-world tasks using the tools provided.


Process

🚀 High-Level Workflow

Creating a high-quality MCP server involves four main phases:

Phase 1: Deep Research and Planning

1.1 Understand Agent-Centric Design Principles

Before diving into implementation, understand how to design tools for AI agents by reviewing these principles:

Build for Workflows, Not Just API Endpoints:

  • Don't simply wrap existing API endpoints - build thoughtful, high-impact workflow tools
  • Consolidate related operations (e.g., schedule_event that both checks availability and creates event)
  • Focus on tools that enable complete tasks, not just individual API calls
  • Consider what workflows agents actually need to accomplish

Optimize for Limited Context:

  • Agents have constrained context windows - make every token count
  • Return high-signal information, not exhaustive data dumps
  • Provide "concise" vs "detailed" response format options
  • Default to human-readable identifiers over technical codes (names over IDs)
  • Consider the agent's context budget as a scarce resource

Design Actionable Error Messages:

  • Error messages should guide agents toward correct usage patterns
  • Suggest specific next steps: "Try using filter='active_only' to reduce results"
  • Make errors educational, not just diagnostic
  • Help agents learn proper tool usage through clear feedback

Follow Natural Task Subdivisions:

  • Tool names should reflect how humans think about tasks
  • Group related tools with consistent prefixes for discoverability
  • Design tools around natural workflows, not just API structure

Use Evaluation-Driven Development:

  • Create realistic evaluation scenarios early
  • Let agent feedback drive tool improvements
  • Prototype quickly and iterate based on actual agent performance

Read the full file on GitHub · 335 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. 6d ago First seen · 335 lines · 19 tokens per session scan A 7cd92f8d765a

Subscribe to this mod's changes

mcp-builder is a skill published in the GitHub repository martineserios/thebrana (3 stars, last pushed yesterday), licensed MIT. It adds 19 tokens to every session and 2,733 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. It is 83% identical to mcp-builder, differing in 40 lines, and is treated as a copy.