72 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
72 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
# MCP + Skills Integration
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## The Kitchen Analogy
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- **MCP** provides the professional kitchen: access to tools, ingredients, equipment
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- **Skills** provide the recipes: step-by-step instructions to create something valuable
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Together, they enable users to accomplish complex tasks without figuring out every step.
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## How They Work Together
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| MCP (Connectivity) | Skills (Knowledge) |
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|---|---|
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| Connects Claude to services (Notion, Asana, Linear) | Teaches Claude how to use services effectively |
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| Provides real-time data access and tool invocation | Captures workflows and best practices |
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| What Claude *can* do | How Claude *should* do it |
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## Without Skills (MCP only)
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- Users connect MCP but don't know what to do next
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- Support tickets: "how do I do X with your integration?"
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- Each conversation starts from scratch
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- Inconsistent results (users prompt differently)
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- Users blame connector when issue is workflow guidance
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## With Skills (MCP + Skills)
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- Pre-built workflows activate automatically
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- Consistent, reliable tool usage
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- Best practices embedded in every interaction
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- Lower learning curve for integration
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## Building MCP-Enhanced Skills
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### Key Techniques
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1. **Reference correct MCP tool names** — tool names are case-sensitive
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2. **Include error handling** for common MCP issues (connection refused, auth expired)
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3. **Embed domain expertise** users would otherwise need to specify each time
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4. **Coordinate multiple MCP calls** in sequence with data passing between steps
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5. **Add fallback instructions** when MCP is unavailable
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### Example: MCP Enhancement Skill Structure
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```markdown
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## Prerequisites
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- [Service] MCP server must be connected (Settings > Extensions)
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- Valid API key with [specific scopes]
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## Workflow: [Task Name]
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### Step 1: Fetch Context
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Call `mcp_tool_name` with parameters from user input
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### Step 2: Process
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Apply domain rules to MCP response
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### Step 3: Execute
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Call `mcp_action_tool` with processed data
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### Step 4: Verify
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Confirm action completed, report results
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## Troubleshooting
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If "Connection refused": verify MCP server running
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If auth error: check API key in Settings > Extensions
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```
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## Positioning MCP + Skills
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**Focus on outcomes:**
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> "The ProjectHub skill enables teams to set up complete project workspaces in seconds — instead of 30 minutes on manual setup."
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**Not features:**
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> ~~"The ProjectHub skill is a folder containing YAML frontmatter that calls our MCP server tools."~~
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