v1.3.03 loop iterations

MCP Connection Guide

MCP is straightforward in concept and sharp-edged in setup — JSON with no schema, paths that differ per OS, silent failures that leave you guessing. The MCP Connection Guide walks you from 'I want to connect X' to a working integration in minutes, with the exact config to paste.

What this skill does

The Model Context Protocol is simple to describe and brutal to debug. The config is JSON with no schema validation, so a trailing comma kills the whole file silently. Env vars set in your shell don't carry into the server process. Tilde expansion doesn't always work inside JSON. Authentication varies per server. And Claude Code gives you almost no error feedback when something is wrong — the server just isn't there. This skill exists for that exact gap.

The flow is deliberately step-by-step rather than a config dump. First, confirm what you actually want to connect (GitHub means several different things). Then check prerequisites — Node version, tokens, scopes. Then generate the exact JSON you paste, not a template with placeholders. Then verify with a specific test action ("List my open PRs on X" for GitHub, "Show me the tables" for Postgres). Then troubleshoot if needed, using the checklist that covers the six things that go wrong 90% of the time.

It's explicit about file locations because that's the number-one source of confusion. Project-level .claude/settings.json for team tools. User-level ~/.claude/settings.json for personal ones. .claude/settings.local.json for personal API keys inside a shared repo so secrets stay out of git. Always npx -y so the install prompt doesn't hang. Absolute paths over tilde. Windows backslashes escaped or swapped for forward slashes.

The skill covers the well-established servers (GitHub, Filesystem, Postgres, SQLite, Slack, Brave Search, Memory, Fetch) with the specific scopes, env vars, and common mistakes for each. When no server exists for what you want, it doesn't fake one — it points to the Fetch server for simple REST APIs or the MCP SDK for a custom build. "I'm not aware of a maintained server for X" beats guessing at package names that won't install.

When this triggers

·You want to connect GitHub, Postgres, Slack, or another service to Claude Code
·You added an MCP server to your config and the connection silently fails
·You don't know whether it goes in `.claude/settings.json` or `~/.claude/settings.json`
·You're getting 'not found' errors from a server and suspect token scopes
·You're sharing a repo with a team and don't want secrets in committed config

Example

Trigger

User: 'I tried to connect the GitHub MCP server and Claude says no tools are available. Here's my config.'

Output

Two problems in your config: 1. Trailing comma after the last env value — JSON breaks silently on this. Remove the comma after "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_...". 2. You're missing `-y` in the args. Without it, `npx` hangs waiting for an install confirmation that never arrives. Corrected config (paste this into .claude/settings.json): { "mcpServers": { "github": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"], "env": { "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_..." } } } } Restart Claude Code. Run /mcp to confirm "github" shows healthy. Then test: "List my open PRs on [repo]". Also — your token only has `public_repo` scope. For private repos you need `repo`. That's the source of any "not found" responses you'll see next.

Get this skill + 15 more

Included in the The Solopreneur Stack — run a one-person empire. Save $110+ vs buying individually.

Get The Solopreneur Stack — $129

What you get

105-line SKILL.md, ready to drop into ~/.claude/skills/
Tested through 3 Karpathy-loop iterations (versions v1.0.0 → v1.3.0)
Triggers automatically when relevant — no command to remember
Lifetime updates as the skill is refined further