MCP servers

The config file, the three values that actually matter, and how to know it worked.

A five-step order that eliminates transport, credentials, arguments, and context before you blame the model.

Five checks that take ten minutes and predict most of the pain: maintenance, transport, permissions, blast radius, and install path.

The smallest useful server is about forty lines: two tools, a schema, and a decision about what not to expose.

The problem the protocol solves, in terms of the alternative you were probably using: custom integrations per client.