MCP implementation guide
How to connect AI to your business tools with MCP
MCP, the Model Context Protocol, lets an AI assistant use tools and read information from other systems. Start with one task. Agree on the data it may read, the actions it may take, and when a person must approve. Test those limits and keep a record of each result.
- Good fit
- Use this approach when an assistant needs repeatable access to business data or actions and the organization must retain ownership of credentials, policy, logs, and recovery.
- Pause when
- Do not begin with a custom server when a read-only export answers the question, an established connector already provides the exact boundary, or nobody owns the source system after launch.
When this approach helps
- The same manual lookup or action appears in more than one assistant session.
- Credentials, tenant identity, approvals, or audit evidence matter to the action.
- A failed call needs a defined retry, stop, or human handoff instead of a plausible chat response.
Follow these steps
- 01
Choose the information to expose
List the records, identifiers, dates, owners, and privacy rules. Preserve source names and timestamps so old information cannot pass for an up-to-date record.
- 02
Give each tool one job
Define its inputs, output limits, and failure behavior. Separate reading from changing records. Require verifiable approval for irreversible or high-impact actions.
- 03
Check who has access
Identify the person, workspace, service account, or customer using the tool. Check that identity for each action. Request only the OAuth permissions needed. Reject missing or unclear account links.
- 04
Test it and hand it over
Test success, denied access, missing evidence, stale data, duplicates, and unknown actions. Include data definitions, instructions, recovery steps, and example results in the handover.
Documents and records to keep
Tool and resource contract
A versioned catalog states what each primitive reads or changes, which identifiers it accepts, the scope it requires, and the structured result it returns.
Authority matrix
A compact policy names automatic actions, approval-required actions, blocked actions, and the owner who can change those rules.
Verification receipt set
Representative executions preserve source, request, decision, result, and failure evidence without leaking tokens or private record bodies.
Common questions
What should an MCP server expose first?
Expose the smallest read-only resource that resolves a repeated business question. It gives operators a way to validate identity, data shape, freshness, and privacy before granting an assistant any ability to change an external system.
How many tools should the first MCP release include?
There is no useful universal count. Include only the tools needed to complete one named workflow, and require a distinct test and authority rule for each. A small complete path is easier to evaluate than a broad catalog with unclear ownership.
Who owns an MCP server after delivery?
The client should own the accounts, source data, credential relationships, policy choices, deployment access, logs, and recovery procedure. A delivery partner can maintain the implementation, but should not become an invisible authorization dependency.