MCP servers
From installing your first server to writing one, including the security model nobody explains.
- What MCP is, and why it existsLevel 1 · 8 min — The problem the protocol solves, in terms of the alternative you were probably using: custom integrations per client.
- Install your first server without guessingLevel 1 · 6 min — The config file, the three values that actually matter, and how to know it worked.
- Debugging a server that will not startLevel 2 · 7 min — A five-step order that eliminates transport, credentials, arguments, and context before you blame the model.
- Judging a server before you install itLevel 2 · 8 min — Five checks that take ten minutes and predict most of the pain: maintenance, transport, permissions, blast radius, and install path.
- Writing your first MCP serverLevel 3 · 10 min — The smallest useful server is about forty lines: two tools, a schema, and a decision about what not to expose.