MCP servers I use every single day. What's in your stack?

Who Should Read

Developers adopting Claude Code into their workflow, or those already using it but unsure how to configure their MCP stack.

Core Mechanics

• For Filesystem + Git MCP, stick with the built-in versions rather than third-party ones. This conclusion came from direct experience — they tried third-party, then switched back.
• Connecting GitHub MCP lets Claude handle issue creation, PR reviews, and code search, practically eliminating the need to open GitHub in a browser. Install command: `claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/`.
• AgentMail MCP gives the agent its own email inbox. It's been genuinely useful for automating tasks like summarizing competitor newsletters and triaging deployment failure alerts.
• Postgres/Supabase MCP provides direct DB access, so requests like 'check if this user exists' can be handled without writing queries or opening TablePlus. Use caution with production DBs though.
• Playwright MCP handles browser automation (screenshots, form filling, scraping) — not frequently used but irreplaceable when needed.
• The more MCPs you add, the more tools the agent has to choose from, which can actually degrade performance. This is exactly why they went from 15 to 6 — 'less is more' is the practical takeaway.

Evidence

• After 3 months, Slack MCP was removed because the agent kept trying to post updates creating too much noise. Notion MCP was cut because they didn't use Notion enough. Calendar MCP seemed useful but never got used once.
• AgentMail seemed unnecessary at first, but became one of the most valuable MCPs — the agent summarizes competitor newsletters weekly and triages deployment failure alerts before bedtime.
• After adding GitHub MCP, opening GitHub in a browser became rare outside of visual diff review. Issue creation, PR reviews, and code search all happen within Claude.
• Memory/knowledge graph MCP is currently using the default memory MCP for cross-session project context, though they mentioned experimenting with better options.

How to Apply

• If you have 5+ MCPs installed in Claude Code, check which ones actually triggered in the past 2 weeks and remove the unused ones. Fewer tools means better agent selection accuracy.
• If you haven't connected GitHub, run `claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/` right now. You'll be able to handle PR reviews and issue creation directly within Claude.
• If you're manually checking deployment failures or error alerts, connect AgentMail MCP (`npx -y @agentmail/mcp`) and create a workflow where the agent triages alerts for you.

Code Example

// Claude Code MCP configuration example (claude_desktop_config.json or .claude/config)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": { /* built-in default */ },
    "github": {
      // claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/
    },
    "postgres": {
      // claude mcp add --transport stdio db -- npx -y @bytebase/dbhub
    },
    "agentmail": {
      // claude mcp add agentmail -e AGENTMAIL_API_KEY=your_key -- npx -y @agentmail/mcp
    },
    "playwright": {
      // claude mcp add --transport stdio playwright -- npx -y @playwright/mcp@latest
    },
    "memory": { /* basic memory mcp */ }
  }
}

Terminology

Related Papers

• Show HN: ctx – Search the coding agent history already on your machine

  Claude Code, Cursor, Codex 등 코딩 에이전트가 이전 세션의 논의·결정·실패 시도를 잊지 않도록 SQLite로 인덱싱해 재사용할 수 있게 해주는 오픈소스 CLI 도구다.

• Micro-Agent: Beat Frontier Models with Collaboration Inside Model API

  vLLM 팀이 단일 모델 API 호출 뒤에서 여러 모델이 협업하는 'Micro-Agent' 개념을 공개했습니다. 별도의 에이전트 코드 없이 라우터 레이어에서 모델 조합을 실행해 GPT-4급 결과를 더 저렴하게 낼 수 있다는 아이디어입니다.

• Ornith-1.0: self-improving open-source models for agentic coding

  Gemma 4와 Qwen 3.5를 기반으로 파인튜닝한 코딩 특화 오픈소스 모델로, RL(강화학습)을 통해 스캐폴드(에이전트 실행 구조)까지 함께 최적화하는 방식을 주장하지만, 커뮤니티에서는 벤치마크 과최적화에 불과하다는 의심을 받고 있다.

• Entity Binding Failures in Tool-Augmented Agents

  AI 에이전트가 올바른 도구를 선택해도 잘못된 대상에 실행하는 'Entity Binding 실패' 문제를 정의하고, 이를 막는 실행 정책을 평가한 논문.

• Herdr: Agent multiplexer that lives in your terminal

  여러 AI 코딩 에이전트(Claude, Codex 등)를 하나의 터미널에서 동시에 실행·관리할 수 있는 Rust 기반 오픈소스 툴로, tmux처럼 세션이 유지되고 SSH로 원격 접속도 가능해 멀티 에이전트 워크플로우를 크게 단순화해준다.

• Ornith-1.0: Self-scaffolding LLMs for agentic coding

  모델이 문제 풀이 전략(scaffold)을 직접 생성하고 개선하는 자기강화 학습 프레임워크를 적용한 오픈소스 코딩 특화 LLM으로, 9B 소형 모델부터 397B 대형 모델까지 라인업을 갖추고 SWE-Bench 등 주요 벤치마크에서 Claude Opus 4.7을 능가하는 성능을 보여줬다.

Related Resources

• Original Reddit Post - MCP servers I use every single day
• GitHub MCP (GitHub Copilot MCP Endpoint)
• AgentMail MCP (npm)
• Bytebase DBHub - Postgres MCP (npm)
• Playwright MCP (npm)