Using MCP Tools

MCP lets Claude Code connect to external tools and data sources. The important beginner lesson is not “connect everything.” The important lesson is to connect one useful tool safely, understand scopes, and only then decide whether it belongs in shared project setup.

1. Start with personal scope while you learn

Use user scope for your first experiment. That keeps the integration private to you while you learn how it behaves.

The official docs use commands like this:

bash

claude mcp add --scope user --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/

What you should see: Claude Code registers a user-scoped MCP server instead of immediately writing shared project configuration.

2. Authenticate from inside Claude Code

Run:

text

/mcp

Then choose the server you added and authenticate if it requires OAuth.

What you should see: Claude Code opens the MCP authentication flow for the selected server.

3. Ask Claude to use the tool naturally

Prompt:

text

Use the GitHub MCP connection to show me the open pull requests assigned to me.
Explain what data source you are using.

What you should see: Claude tells you it is using the MCP-backed GitHub tool and answers using real external data.

4. Inspect what you added from the CLI

Run:

bash

claude mcp list
claude mcp get github

What you should see: the server appears in your MCP list, and get shows its configuration.

5. Learn when project scope is appropriate

Move an MCP server into project scope only when:

the whole team needs the same integration
the integration is part of normal repo work
you are comfortable checking .mcp.json into version control

At that point, the flow becomes shared infrastructure instead of a personal experiment.

6. Know the three scopes

Scope	Use it for
`local`	experiments tied to one project for one developer
`project`	team-shared integrations committed through `.mcp.json`
`user`	personal utilities you want across multiple projects

The official guidance is clear here: do not jump to project scope just because the integration works.

Starter baseline note

The default starter files on this site do not currently ship a .mcp.json.

That means MCP is outside the starter-project baseline on purpose:

learn it here
use it personally first
move it into project scope only when the repo truly needs a shared integration

What to repeat in real work

bash

claude mcp add --scope user ...
claude mcp list
claude mcp get <name>

text

/mcp

Next step

If the integration is still personal, keep it that way. If the team now clearly needs it, carry that decision into Build the Full Project Setup and Project Setup.