MCP basics with Conda and Claude
summary
Builds a working MCP server in Python and a reproducible conda env that lets Claude Desktop call the New York Times Books API for real‑time bestseller data; code shows exact MCP JSON tool schemas, SDIO transport, HTTPX API wrapper, and env file usage for the API key. The demo runs locally, Claude requests permission, calls the server, retrieves JSON, and synthesizes results — the example successfully queries best‑seller lists end‑to‑end.
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chapters (15)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:24What is MCP and why it matters
- 3:10MCP tools and descriptions
- 7:09MCP tools communication
- 9:02MCP server architecture
- 11:34Conda development environment
- 17:01Repository and workspace setup
- 19:33Conda environment setup
- 23:02API key and connection test
- 27:26Claude Desktop MCP config
- 31:19Server paths setup
- 37:19Run MCP server and test
- 42:37Live demo and troubleshooting
- 45:26MCP server code walkthrough
- 55:00Summary
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