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.
npx skills add pbc-os/smb-starter-kit --skill mcp-guidegit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/pbc-os/smb-starter-kitWrote 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.
[](https://agentmods.dev/skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/mcp-guide)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/mcp-guide"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/mcp-guide/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.
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/mcp-guide"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/pbc-os/smb-starter-kit/mcp-guide.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>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.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5.1 | $0.00054 | $0.02696 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00027 | $0.01348 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00011 | $0.00539 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00005 | $0.00270 |
Grade A, and why
mcp-guide 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.
Makes network callslowCapability
Not a fault in itself. Listed so you know the mod talks to something, and to what.
| You're doing simple CRUD operations | **Direct API calls** via curl/scripts in a skill | How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 255 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
MCP Guide
Understand MCP so you can decide if you need one — and build one if you do.
This is an educational skill. It doesn't install anything. It teaches agents and humans what MCP (Model Context Protocol) is, when it's the right tool, and when simpler alternatives (CLIs + skills) are better.
Triggers
- "what is MCP"
- "should I build an MCP server"
- "MCP vs CLI"
- "how do MCPs work"
- "build an MCP"
- "connect [service] to my agent"
- When an agent is trying to figure out how to integrate an external service
What Is MCP?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI agents talk to external services through a structured interface. Think of it as a universal adapter between your AI agent and the tools it uses.
The Restaurant Metaphor
| Without MCP | With MCP |
|---|---|
| You walk into every restaurant and shout your order in English, hoping someone understands | Every restaurant has the same ordering kiosk with the same interface — you always know how to order |
Without MCP, every integration is custom. With MCP, there's a standard way for agents to discover tools, understand their inputs/outputs, and call them.
How It Works
Your Agent (Claude Code, etc.)
↕ MCP Protocol (JSON-RPC)
MCP Server (runs locally or remotely)
↕ API calls
External Service (Gmail, Slack, Square, etc.)
An MCP server:
- Advertises tools — "I can send emails, read inbox, create filters"
- Describes each tool — "send_email takes: to, subject, body. Returns: message_id"
- Executes tool calls — Agent says "call send_email with these params" → server makes the API call → returns the result
- Handles auth — Server manages API keys, OAuth tokens, etc.
The agent never touches the raw API. It just calls structured tools.
When Do You Need an MCP?
You probably DON'T need an MCP if:
| Situation | Better Alternative |
|---|---|
| There's already a good CLI for the service | CLI + skill (like gws + our Google Workspace skills) |
| You're doing simple CRUD operations | Direct API calls via curl/scripts in a skill |
| Your agent only needs read access | CLI + skill with read-only commands |
| You're the only user | Scripts + skill — less infra to maintain |
| The service has a well-designed REST API | Skill with curl patterns — teach the agent to call it directly |
What ships with it
1 file beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.
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.
- 9d ago First seen · 255 lines · 54 tokens per session scan A 06ec3fd8d6ec
mcp-guide is a skill published in the GitHub repository pbc-os/smb-starter-kit (10 stars, last pushed 3mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 54 tokens to every session and 2,696 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 1 finding (makes network calls). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.
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