Review of MCP Fundamentals

Foundation recap

Recap: MCP Core Concepts

This advanced course assumes familiarity with MCP fundamentals. This module provides a quick review of the key concepts before moving into advanced topics.

Protocol Overview

MCP is a client-server protocol built on JSON-RPC 2.0. Hosts (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, custom apps) connect to servers via two transport options:

stdio: Server is a subprocess; communication via stdin/stdout
HTTP+SSE: Server is an HTTP service; communication via HTTP requests and Server-Sent Events

The Three Primitives

Tools: Functions Claude calls to take actions or retrieve live data
Resources: Data sources Claude reads by URI
Prompts: Parameterized prompt templates

Lifecycle

The MCP session lifecycle: Initialize (exchange capabilities) → Operate (tool calls, resource reads) → Shutdown (clean disconnect). Servers must handle all three phases gracefully.

What's Coming in This Course

This course covers the advanced capabilities that enable production-grade MCP systems:

Sampling — letting servers request AI completions
Notifications — server-to-client push updates
Advanced file system operations
Production transport mechanisms (HTTP+SSE in depth)
Security hardening
Performance optimization and production deployment

Key Takeaways

MCP: JSON-RPC 2.0 protocol with stdio and HTTP+SSE transports
Three primitives: Tools (actions), Resources (data), Prompts (templates)
Session lifecycle: Initialize → Operate → Shutdown
This course covers sampling, notifications, file operations, HTTP transport, security, and performance

Course overview Advanced Sampling Techniques