MCP Servers: Multi-Tool Orchestration with Claude Code
Model Context Protocol servers let Claude Code reach databases, browsers, design tools, and SaaS APIs through one standard interface. Here is how to think about orchestration when every tool is an MCP server.
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) turns "the model can use tools" into "the model can use any tool, uniformly." Instead of hand-wiring each integration, you stand up an MCP server that exposes resources, prompts, and tools behind a single contract — and any MCP-aware client (Claude Code, the SDK, an IDE extension) can consume them.
What changes when tools are uniform
The real unlock is composability. When your Postgres explorer, your Playwright browser, your GitHub client, and your Figma reader all speak MCP, an agent can chain them without per-integration glue code: query the DB, open the failing page in a browser, read the relevant Figma frame, and open a PR — in one flow.
Designing tools that agents use well
- One responsibility per tool. A tool that does "fetch and summarize and post" is harder for a model to call correctly than three focused tools. Compose at the flow level, not inside the tool.
- Describe the failure modes. If a tool can return partial or stale data, say so in its description. Agents reason about trust; vague tools get over-trusted.
- Keep schemas narrow. Optional fields are fine; giant unions of mutually-exclusive shapes are not. The model picks better when the shape is obvious.
- Rate-limit and idempotency at the server. Agents retry. Make retries cheap and safe.
Orchestration vs. scripting
With enough MCP servers, the temptation is to script a fixed pipeline. Resist it. The value is letting the model decide which tool to reach for based on what it just observed — that adaptation is what makes an agent more than a cron job. Give it good tools and good descriptions, and let the orchestration emerge.