Part 3: MCP Servers — Claude's Integrations

MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets Claude interact with external tools and services.

What MCP Servers Do

"MCP is an open protocol that standardizes how applications provide context to LLMs."

MCP servers give Claude:

Access to databases
Integration with APIs
File system capabilities beyond the project
Browser automation
And much more

Adding MCP Servers

# Add a server
claude mcp add <server-name> -- <command>

# List servers
claude mcp list

# Remove a server
claude mcp remove <server-name>

Essential MCP Servers

Server	Purpose	Install
Context7	Live documentation	`claude mcp add context7 -- npx -y @anthropic-ai/context7-mcp`
Playwright	Browser testing	`claude mcp add playwright -- npx -y @anthropic-ai/playwright-mcp`
GitHub	Repo management	`claude mcp add github -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-github`
PostgreSQL	Database queries	`claude mcp add postgres -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres`
Filesystem	Extended file access	`claude mcp add fs -- npx -y @anthropic-ai/filesystem-mcp`

Browser Automation: Choosing the Right MCP

Browser automation gets its own section because there are multiple solid options with different tradeoffs.

MCP Server	Best For	Session State	Runs
Playwright	Testing, scraping, fresh contexts	None	Local
Browser MCP	Tasks needing your logins	Your Chrome profile	Local
Browser Use	Complex AI-driven workflows	Cloud profiles	Cloud

Playwright MCP (Default Choice)

claude mcp add playwright -- npx -y @anthropic-ai/playwright-mcp

Pros: Official Anthropic server, reliable, uses accessibility trees for semantic page understanding, well-documented.

Cons: Spawns fresh browser contexts — no access to your logged-in sessions. Every task starts from scratch.

Use when: Writing tests, scraping public sites, debugging web apps.

Browser MCP (Best for Authenticated Tasks)

# Install Chrome extension from https://browsermcp.io
claude mcp add browser-mcp -- npx -y @anthropic-ai/browser-mcp

Pros: Uses your actual Chrome profile — stay logged into Gmail, GitHub, Twitter, etc. Bypasses bot detection using your real browser fingerprint. Local execution = no latency.

Cons: Requires Chrome extension. Only works with your current browser session.

Use when: "Check my email", "Post to my Twitter", "Review my GitHub notifications" — any task needing your existing logins.

Browser Use MCP (AI-Driven Automation)

# Requires API key from https://browser-use.com
claude mcp add browser-use -- npx -y browser-use-mcp

Pros: AI agent reasoning (describe tasks in natural language), persistent cloud profiles, 85.8% WebVoyager benchmark score, real-time task monitoring.

Cons: Cloud-hosted (data leaves your machine), requires API key, higher abstraction = less direct control.

Use when: Complex multi-step workflows, tasks requiring persistent cloud sessions, when you need AI to figure out the "how."

Quick Decision Guide

Need your logged-in sessions? → Browser MCP
Need AI to figure out complex steps? → Browser Use
Writing tests or scraping? → Playwright
Want the official/stable option? → Playwright

MCP in CLAUDE.md

Document required MCP servers in your global file:

## Required MCP Servers

These MCP servers must be installed for full functionality:

### context7
Live documentation access for all libraries.
Install: `claude mcp add context7 -- npx -y @anthropic-ai/context7-mcp`

### playwright
Browser automation for testing.
Install: `claude mcp add playwright -- npx -y @anthropic-ai/playwright-mcp`