mcp-server-offering Skill (samber): Design Your Product's MCP Server

Makes Claude design the MCP server your product offers to AI agents: which tools to expose, how to protect writes, and how to roll it out.

Installs: 9.6K; on skills.sh
Stars: 9; on GitHub
Files: 5; besides SKILL.md
Updated: Nov 2026; last repo commit

mcp-server-offering makes Claude design a SaaS product's MCP server as a product surface for AI agents. It sizes the investment, curates 5 to 15 workflow tools instead of mirroring API endpoints, applies write-tool safety patterns, picks hosting and sign-in, versions the tools and plans a staged rollout.

It starts when you mention MCP, an agent-facing tool surface, or exposing a product to AI assistants. Claude asks 6 opening questions, then works through 8 steps. SKILL.md calls it the design layer: code-generation MCP builder skills scaffold the server once you know what it should expose.

Good for

Product and platform teams asked by customers for agent access
Engineers whose MCP server mirrors 60 endpoints and confuses agents
Leads deciding how much to invest after a competitor shipped an MCP server

Install mcp-server-offering

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the mcp-server-offering skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

/plugin marketplace add samber/developer-platform-skills
/plugin install developer-platform-skills@developer-platform-skills

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Pick one route, not both, or you get every skill twice. The README asks you to install the whole set, not just mcp-server-offering, because the skills reference each other and a lone skill leaves those hand-offs with nowhere to go. The plugin adds all 61 skills in the repo (counted from the repo tree). Its manifests list no hooks, agents or MCP servers.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Design a SaaS product's MCP server as a product surface AI agents operate - sizing the build investment, curating a 5-15 workflow-tool agent surface instead of mirroring API endpoints, MCP Apps interactive UI, named write-tool safety patterns (scoped credentials, read-only lockdown, human-in-the-loop approval, risk-tiered server-side gates, dry-run preflight, idempotency and spend caps), remote hosting with OAuth 2.1, versioning the tool surface, MCP registry discoverability, and measuring agent adoption. Use whenever the user mentions MCP, Model Context Protocol, an agent-facing tool surface, exposing a product to AI agents or coding assistants, or MCP write-tool safety - even if they never say "MCP server". Design layer only - code-generation MCP builder skills scaffold what this specifies.

Sections in SKILL.md

Clarifying questions
Audience split: agent-consumer type
Workflow
1. Size the build investment
2. Curate the tool surface
MCP Apps: when a tool returns interactive UI
3. Apply write-tool safety patterns
4. Choose hosting and auth
5. Version the tool surface
6. Publish for discoverability
7. Measure agent adoption
8. Roll out in stages
Failure modes
Measurement
Invocation examples
References

Key facts

Author: Samuel Berthe
License: MIT
Version: 1.1.3
Installs on skills.sh: 9,563 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 9 (Nov 2, 2026)
skills.sh audits: Gen Agent Trust Hub pass; Socket pass; Snyk pass (Nov 2, 2026)
Last repo commit: Nov 1, 2026
What installs: 6 files including SKILL.md: evals/evals.json and 4 reference files. It bundles no scripts.
Needs: The other skills in the repo; the README says to install the whole set
Works in: Claude Code, Claude.ai, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, and other agents through the skills CLI

What it includes

Asks 6 questions in one batch before designing anything.
Try: “We have a stable REST API and customers asking for agent access - design our MCP server: which tools do we expose and how do we secure the write ones?”
Opening questions
Sets how much to invest in an MCP server and in what order.
Size the build investment
Designs 5 to 15 workflow tools, not a copy of every API endpoint.
Curate the tool surface
Orders six patterns for tools that change data, such as scoped credentials and approval.
Apply write-tool safety patterns
Ranks three hosting options and covers sign-in with OAuth 2.1.
Choose hosting and auth
Versions three layers separately, starting with the protocol version.
Version the tool surface
Lists the server in the official MCP registry and in third-party directories.
Publish for discoverability
Tracks call volume, errors, per-tool use, active users and client mix.
Measure agent adoption
Starts with a read-only launch of the curated tools, then widens on measured thresholds.
Roll out in stages
Advises saving decisions to developer-platform-context.md when memory is a file.
Write · Remember decisions (optional)

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

This skill is written advice that bundles no scripts. The one thing it may write is a decisions file, so check what Claude saves.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

It may save decisions to a file
SKILL.md advises using developer-platform-context.md when memory lives in a file, and calls it an advisory reference. Check or delete that file if you do not want decisions kept. github.com
The plugin route adds all 61 skills
The README asks you to install every skill in the repo, and the repo has 61. The plugin manifests list no hooks, agents or MCP servers, and the repo tree holds none. github.com
Folder holds Markdown and one JSON file
This skill's folder has 6 files: SKILL.md, evals/evals.json and 4 reference files. It has no .py, .sh or .js file. github.com

Security advisories

No published security advisories as of Nov 2, 2026.

Technical details

Turning on read-only	No read-only setting is documented. Decline the memory-file suggestion if you want no files written.
Scopes	Asks you opening questions and works from your answers and anything you share, such as specs or docs May save settled decisions to a file named developer-platform-context.md if your memory lives in a file

Questions

How do I install mcp-server-offering?

Use the install box above. The README asks you to install all 61 skills in the repo, not just this one, because the skills point to each other. In Claude Code that is the plugin route, and elsewhere the skills CLI or the client's own route installs the set.

Does mcp-server-offering work in Claude.ai, Codex or Cursor?

The README documents installs for Claude.ai, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and Gemini CLI. It also lists the skills CLI, which it calls universal for Agent Skills-compatible tools. The Claude.ai route adds the whole repo as a plugin marketplace.

Does it need an API key or any setup?

SKILL.md sets no environment variable and the folder bundles no scripts. It does ask for details of your own API or product in its opening questions.

Is mcp-server-offering safe to use?

The folder holds Markdown and one JSON file, and no scripts. SKILL.md does suggest saving settled decisions to developer-platform-context.md when your memory lives in a file, so check what Claude writes. Our advice: treat the design it produces as a draft for your team to review before you publish it.

mcp-server-offering vs api-integration-surface-strategy?

api-integration-surface-strategy decides whether to offer MCP at all, and this skill starts once MCP is on the roadmap. SKILL.md also points to cli-interface-design, ide-extension-offering, agent-skill-offering and agent-integration-surfaces for the neighbouring surfaces.

Does it build the MCP server for me?

It designs what the server should expose. SKILL.md calls it the design layer and says MCP builder skills and generators scaffold the code afterwards. Whether to offer MCP at all is decided by api-integration-surface-strategy, and this skill starts once MCP is on the roadmap.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: samber/developer-platform-skills
Folder: skills/mcp-server-offering

samber/developer-platform-skills skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 6

README · github.com
mcp-server-offering SKILL.md · github.com
mcp-server-offering folder · github.com
api-integration-surface-strategy SKILL.md · github.com
marketplace.json · github.com
plugin.json · github.com