Claude Code Plugins: Extend Your AI Agent With MCP
Manas Takalpati
Founder, Blue Orchid
Out of the box, Claude Code reads files, writes code, and runs commands. With plugins and MCP servers, it can query databases, call APIs, search documentation, manage cloud infrastructure, and much more.
What Is MCP?
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is Anthropic's standard for connecting AI agents to external tools and data sources. Think of it as USB for AI - a universal interface that lets Claude Code plug into anything.
MCP servers provide tools that Claude Code can discover and use. When you configure an MCP server, Claude Code sees the available tools and can call them during your session.
Setting Up Plugins
Plugins live in .claude/plugins/ or are configured in .claude/settings.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"filesystem": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-filesystem"]
}
}
}
Claude Code discovers available tools on startup and uses them when relevant.
Popular Plugins
Context7 - Real-time library documentation lookup. Ask about any npm package or framework and get current docs.
Filesystem MCP - Enhanced file operations beyond basic read/write.
Serena - Semantic code understanding with LSP integration. Understands symbols, references, and code structure.
Database connectors - Query PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQLite directly from Claude Code.
Building Custom MCP Servers
If you need Claude Code to interact with your specific tools, you can build custom MCP servers. The MCP SDK supports TypeScript and Python.
The basic pattern: define tools with descriptions and parameters, implement handlers, and register with Claude Code.
For the full Claude Code ecosystem, see the Claude Code Complete Guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
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