Agent skill

MCP Server Development

Model Context Protocol server development, MCP tool patterns, MCP configuration best practices, GitHub MCP integration

Apache-2.0Auto-check passedAgent Workflows

Install MCP Server Development

skills CLI

$ npx skills add Hack23/cia --skill mcp-server-development -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install Hack23/cia mcp-server-development --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Hack23/cia.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.github/skills/mcp-server-development .claude/skills/mcp-server-development && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "mcp-server-development" agent skill from https://github.com/Hack23/cia/tree/master/.github/skills/mcp-server-development into .claude/skills/mcp-server-development/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "mcp-server-development", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/Hack23/cia/tree/master/.github/skills/mcp-server-development

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add Hack23/cia --skill mcp-server-development -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install Hack23/cia mcp-server-development --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Hack23/cia.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/.github/skills/mcp-server-development .agents/skills/mcp-server-development && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "mcp-server-development" agent skill from https://github.com/Hack23/cia/tree/master/.github/skills/mcp-server-development into .agents/skills/mcp-server-development/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "mcp-server-development", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add Hack23/cia --skill mcp-server-development -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install Hack23/cia mcp-server-development --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Hack23/cia.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/.github/skills/mcp-server-development .cursor/skills/mcp-server-development && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "mcp-server-development" agent skill from https://github.com/Hack23/cia/tree/master/.github/skills/mcp-server-development into .cursor/skills/mcp-server-development/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "mcp-server-development", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/Hack23/cia.git --path .github/skills/mcp-server-development

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add Hack23/cia --skill mcp-server-development -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install Hack23/cia mcp-server-development --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Hack23/cia.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/.github/skills/mcp-server-development .gemini/skills/mcp-server-development && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "mcp-server-development" agent skill from https://github.com/Hack23/cia/tree/master/.github/skills/mcp-server-development into .gemini/skills/mcp-server-development/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "mcp-server-development", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install Hack23/cia mcp-server-development

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add Hack23/cia --skill mcp-server-development -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Hack23/cia.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/.github/skills/mcp-server-development .github/skills/mcp-server-development && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "mcp-server-development" agent skill from https://github.com/Hack23/cia/tree/master/.github/skills/mcp-server-development into .github/skills/mcp-server-development/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "mcp-server-development", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add Hack23/cia --skill mcp-server-development -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install Hack23/cia mcp-server-development --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Hack23/cia.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/.github/skills/mcp-server-development .opencode/skills/mcp-server-development && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "mcp-server-development" agent skill from https://github.com/Hack23/cia/tree/master/.github/skills/mcp-server-development into .opencode/skills/mcp-server-development/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "mcp-server-development", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: mcp-server-development
GitHub stars: 239
Token cost: ~1.3k tokens
SKILL.md length: 323 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 78
Repo updated: Oct 6, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: Apache-2.0

At a glance

Model Context Protocol server development, MCP tool patterns, MCP configuration best practices, GitHub MCP integration

Works in 5 steps: Never embed secrets in… → Scope tools narrowly — each tool should… → Validate all inputs against JSON Schema… → …
Tasks that involve MCP servers
SKILL.md covers Purpose, When to Use, MCP Architecture Overview and MCP Configuration Best Practices, plus 4 more sections
Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

MCP Server Development is an agent skill from Hack23/cia. Model Context Protocol server development, MCP tool patterns, MCP configuration best practices, GitHub MCP integration

Its SKILL.md is about 1.3k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Agent Workflows, covering MCP servers. It works with Model Context Protocol and GitHub. The repository describes itself as: Citizen Intelligence Agency. Open-source intelligence platform analyzing Swedish political activities using AI and data visualization. Tracks politicians, government… The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

Tasks that involve MCP servers

Example prompts

“/mcp-server-development”

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

Never embed secrets in copilot-mcp-config.json — use environment references
Scope tools narrowly — each tool should do one thing well
Validate all inputs against JSON Schema before processing
Return structured data — prefer typed objects over free-form strings
Include error details in tool responses for debugging

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 6a9797b. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are typescript and json).
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

MCP Server Development loads about 1.3k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 35 tokens; SKILL.md has 323 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~35
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1.3k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from Hack23/cia at commit 6a9797b, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© Hack23). 323 words, ~1,273 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/mcp-server-development/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).

name: mcp-server-development
description: Model Context Protocol server development, MCP tool patterns, MCP configuration best practices, GitHub MCP integration
license: Apache-2.0

MCP Server Development Skill

Purpose

Guide the development and configuration of Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers for the CIA platform, enabling AI-powered tooling integration with GitHub Copilot and other MCP-compatible clients.

When to Use

✅ Creating new MCP server tools for political data access
✅ Configuring .github/copilot-mcp-config.json for new integrations
✅ Designing tool schemas for structured data retrieval
✅ Implementing MCP transports (stdio, SSE, HTTP)
✅ Integrating GitHub MCP tools with CI/CD workflows

Do NOT use for:

❌ Standard REST API development (use api-integration skill)
❌ UI component development (use vaadin-component-design skill)

MCP Architecture Overview

┌─────────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│  MCP Client     │────▶│  MCP Server  │────▶│  Data Sources   │
│  (Copilot/IDE)  │◀────│  (Tools)     │◀────│  (Riksdag API)  │
└─────────────────┘     └──────────────┘     └─────────────────┘
        │                       │
        │ JSON-RPC 2.0         │ Tool Definitions
        │ over stdio/SSE       │ Input/Output Schemas

MCP Configuration Best Practices

GitHub Copilot MCP Config

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cia-political-data": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["dist/mcp-server.js"],
      "env": {
        "CIA_DATA_DIR": "${workspaceFolder}/data"
      }
    }
  }
}

Key Configuration Rules

Never embed secrets in copilot-mcp-config.json — use environment references
Scope tools narrowly — each tool should do one thing well
Validate all inputs against JSON Schema before processing
Return structured data — prefer typed objects over free-form strings
Include error details in tool responses for debugging

MCP Tool Design Patterns

Tool Definition Schema

typescript

interface McpToolDefinition {
  name: string;           // e.g., "get_politician_votes"
  description: string;    // Clear, concise purpose
  inputSchema: {
    type: "object";
    properties: Record<string, JsonSchema>;
    required: string[];
  };
}

CIA-Specific Tool Examples

typescript

// Politician lookup tool
const getPoliticianTool = {
  name: "get_politician_profile",
  description: "Retrieve profile and voting record for a Swedish Parliament member",
  inputSchema: {
    type: "object",
    properties: {
      personId: { type: "string", description: "Riksdagen person ID" },
      includeVotes: { type: "boolean", default: false }
    },
    required: ["personId"]
  }
};

// Document search tool
const searchDocumentsTool = {
  name: "search_riksdag_documents",
  description: "Search Swedish Parliament documents by keyword, type, and date range",
  inputSchema: {
    type: "object",
    properties: {
      query: { type: "string" },
      docType: { type: "string", enum: ["motion", "proposition", "betankande"] },
      fromDate: { type: "string", format: "date" },
      toDate: { type: "string", format: "date" }
    },
    required: ["query"]
  }
};

Error Handling Pattern

typescript

async function handleToolCall(name: string, args: unknown): Promise<McpResult> {
  try {
    const validated = validateInput(name, args);
    const result = await executeQuery(validated);
    return { content: [{ type: "text", text: JSON.stringify(result) }] };
  } catch (error) {
    return {
      content: [{ type: "text", text: `Error: ${error.message}` }],
      isError: true
    };
  }
}

GitHub MCP Integration

Available GitHub MCP Tools

The CIA project uses GitHub MCP server for:

Repository management — branches, commits, file operations
Issue tracking — create, update, search issues
Pull request workflows — reviews, comments, merges
Actions integration — trigger workflows, check status
Security scanning — code scanning alerts, Dependabot

Best Practices for GitHub MCP

Use specific queries — avoid broad searches that return too many results
Paginate results — always handle pagination for large result sets
Cache responses — reduce API calls for frequently accessed data
Handle rate limits — implement exponential backoff

Security Considerations

Input validation — sanitize all tool inputs before processing
Authentication — use token-based auth, never hardcode credentials
Authorization — scope tool access to minimum required permissions
Logging — log tool invocations for audit trails, never log sensitive data
Transport security — use encrypted transports for remote MCP servers

ISMS Alignment

Control	Requirement
ISO 27001 A.8.9	Configuration management for MCP servers
NIST CSF PR.DS-2	Data-in-transit protection for MCP transport
CIS Control 16	Application software security for MCP tools

Files

Just SKILL.md in .github/skills/mcp-server-development of Hack23/cia.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 6a9797b

Compare with similar skills

MCP Server Development next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

MCP Server Development compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
MCP Server Development this skillHack23/cia	239	—	~1.3k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	today
Skill Seekers Builderyusufkaraaslan/Skill_Seekers	15k	—	~760	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	7 days ago
MCP Apps Builderawslabs/cli-agent-orchestrator	1.4k	—	~1.7k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	today
Releasejgravelle/jcodemunch-mcp	2.7k	—	~6.5k	Automated safety check: Pass	Custom licence	today
Open PRArcadeAI/arcade-mcp	1k	—	~2.9k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
MCP Clientcoleam00/second-brain-skills	832	—	~1k	Automated safety check: Pass	None	8 mo ago

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Questions about MCP Server Development

What does MCP Server Development do?

Model Context Protocol server development, MCP tool patterns, MCP configuration best practices, GitHub MCP integration. MCP Server Development is an agent skill from Hack23/cia.

When should I use MCP Server Development?

MCP Server Development fits situations like: tasks that involve MCP servers.

How do I install MCP Server Development in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add Hack23/cia --skill mcp-server-development -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.github/skills/mcp-server-development in Hack23/cia) into .claude/skills/mcp-server-development in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install MCP Server Development in Codex?

Run `npx skills add Hack23/cia --skill mcp-server-development -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.github/skills/mcp-server-development in Hack23/cia) into .agents/skills/mcp-server-development in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use MCP Server Development in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add Hack23/cia --skill mcp-server-development -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/mcp-server-development, .gemini/skills/mcp-server-development, .github/skills/mcp-server-development and .opencode/skills/mcp-server-development in your project.

What does MCP Server Development need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: MCP Server Development is instructions for the agent only.

Does MCP Server Development access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is MCP Server Development safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does MCP Server Development use?

MCP Server Development is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does MCP Server Development use?

About 1.3k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.1k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to MCP Server Development?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with MCP Server Development: Skill Seekers Builder (yusufkaraaslan/Skill_Seekers, 15k stars), MCP Apps Builder (awslabs/cli-agent-orchestrator, 1.4k stars), Release (jgravelle/jcodemunch-mcp, 2.7k stars) and Open PR (ArcadeAI/arcade-mcp, 1k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains MCP Server Development?

Hack23 (a GitHub organization) maintains it in Hack23/cia, which has 239 GitHub stars. The repository holds 78 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 6, 2026.

Source: Hack23/cia on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install MCP Server Development

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

MCP Server Development Skill

Purpose

When to Use

MCP Architecture Overview

MCP Configuration Best Practices

GitHub Copilot MCP Config

Key Configuration Rules

MCP Tool Design Patterns

Tool Definition Schema

CIA-Specific Tool Examples

Error Handling Pattern

GitHub MCP Integration

Available GitHub MCP Tools

Best Practices for GitHub MCP

Security Considerations

ISMS Alignment

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from Hack23/cia

Related

Questions about MCP Server Development