MCP Crash Course: Complete Model Context Protocol in a Day

<div>This course contains the use of artificial intelligence :)</div><div><br></div><div>Please note that this is not a course for beginners. This course assumes that you have a background in software engineering and are proficient in Python. I will be using Cursor IDE but you can use any editor you'd like since we only use basic feature of the IDE like debugging and running scripts .</div><div>Ideal students are software developers / data scientists</div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">MCP (Model Context Protocol): A protocol that helps build agents and complex workflows on top of LLMs, providing pre-built integrations, flexibility to switch between LLM providers, and security for your data.</span></div><div><br></div><div>Architecture Components</div><div><ul><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">MCP Hosts: Programs like Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, or AI tools that want to access data through MCP</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">MCP Clients: Protocol clients that maintain 1:1 connections with servers&nbsp; (Content ETA April)</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">MCP Servers: Lightweight programs that each expose specific capabilities through the standardized Model Context Protocol</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Local Data Sources: Your computer's files, databases, and services that MCP servers can securely access&nbsp; (Content ETA End of March)</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Remote Services: External systems available over the internet (e.g., through APIs) that MCP servers can connect to</span></li><li>(Content ETA End of March)</li><li>Authenticaiton</li></ul></div><div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Key Capabilities</span></div><div><ul><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Resources: Components that expose data and content from your servers to LLMs</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Prompts: Functionality to create reusable prompt templates and workflows</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Tools: Features that enable LLMs to perform actions through your server</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Sampling: Capability that lets your servers request completions from LLMs</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Transports: MCP's communication mechanism between clients and servers</span></li></ul></div><div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Topic Covered:</span></div><div><ul><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">MCP + Agent Security best practices</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Containerizing MCP Servers</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Protocol Flow</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">MCP + Docker</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">MCP + LangChain</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">OAuth 2.0 with MCP featuring Auth0</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">MCP Deployment (featuring Cloudflare)</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 1rem;">A2A - Agent 2 Agent Protocol (WIP)</span></li></ul></div>

What you'll learn:

• Model Context Protocol (MCP) Theory
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) Servers
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) Clients
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) Tools, Resources, Prompts
• MCP Security