tech shortcuts • Wednesday, April 22, 2026

MCP: wire Gmail, Calendar, and your own DB into Claude Code

Model Context Protocol makes any tool a first-class citizen inside Claude Code. Three integrations, one config file, no glue code.

What MCP actually is

MCP is a small protocol that lets a process expose tools, resources, and prompts to an AI client. The client (Claude Code, Claude desktop, etc.) discovers what the server can do and calls it. You write zero glue — just point Claude at the server.

Add servers via the CLI

# generic fetch (web fetching + scraping)
claude mcp add fetch -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-fetch

# filesystem (scoped to a dir)
claude mcp add fs -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem ~/projects

# Postgres
claude mcp add pg -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres \
  postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb

Or edit the config directly

// ~/.claude/mcp_servers.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "supabase": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@supabase/mcp-server-supabase"],
      "env": {
        "SUPABASE_URL": "https://your-project.supabase.co",
        "SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY": "..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Verify it loaded

claude mcp list
# inside a session:
# /mcp   — see connected servers and their tools

Rule of thumb: scope writes tightly. Give read-only creds by default, and expose a second server with write access only in sessions where you need it. MCP makes tool sprawl easy — tool discipline has to come from you.

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