Beginner

Popular MCP Servers

Explore the most widely used MCP servers for files, databases, APIs, and more. Install them in minutes.

Filesystem Server

The most commonly used MCP server. Gives the AI model controlled access to read and write files on your local machine.

Configuration
{
  "filesystem": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": [
      "-y",
      "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
      "/Users/you/Documents",
      "/Users/you/Projects"
    ]
  }
}

// Available tools:
read_file       - Read contents of a file
write_file      - Write content to a file
list_directory  - List files in a directory
create_directory- Create a new directory
move_file       - Move or rename a file
search_files    - Search for files by pattern
get_file_info   - Get file metadata
Security: Only grant access to specific directories you want the AI to access. Never expose your entire home directory or system directories.

Database Servers

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL MCP Server
{
  "postgres": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": [
      "-y",
      "@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres",
      "postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb"
    ]
  }
}

// Available tools:
query  - Execute read-only SQL queries

// Resources: database schema as resource

SQLite

SQLite MCP Server
{
  "sqlite": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": [
      "-y",
      "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sqlite",
      "/path/to/database.db"
    ]
  }
}

GitHub Server

Manage GitHub repositories, issues, pull requests, and more:

GitHub MCP Server
{
  "github": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
    "env": {
      "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token"
    }
  }
}

// Available tools:
create_or_update_file  - Create/update a file in a repo
search_repositories    - Search GitHub repositories
create_issue           - Create a new issue
create_pull_request    - Create a pull request
fork_repository        - Fork a repository
create_branch          - Create a new branch
list_commits           - List recent commits
list_issues            - List repository issues

Slack Server

Slack MCP Server
{
  "slack": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-slack"],
    "env": {
      "SLACK_BOT_TOKEN": "xoxb-your-token",
      "SLACK_TEAM_ID": "T0123456789"
    }
  }
}

// Available tools:
send_message      - Send a message to a channel
list_channels     - List available channels
get_channel_history- Read recent messages
reply_to_thread   - Reply in a thread

Brave Search Server

Brave Search MCP Server
{
  "brave-search": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"],
    "env": {
      "BRAVE_API_KEY": "BSA..."
    }
  }
}

// Available tools:
brave_web_search   - Search the web
brave_local_search - Search for local businesses

Google Drive Server

Google Drive MCP Server
{
  "gdrive": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-gdrive"],
    "env": {
      "GDRIVE_CREDENTIALS_PATH": "/path/to/credentials.json"
    }
  }
}

// Available tools:
search_files  - Search Google Drive files
read_file     - Read a file's content

Puppeteer Server

Browser automation for web scraping and testing:

Puppeteer MCP Server
{
  "puppeteer": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-puppeteer"]
  }
}

// Available tools:
navigate     - Navigate to a URL
screenshot   - Take a screenshot
click        - Click an element
fill         - Fill a form field
evaluate     - Run JavaScript in page

Server Comparison

Server Category Auth Required Use Case
Filesystem Local Files No Read/write local files
PostgreSQL Database Connection string Query databases
GitHub API PAT token Repo management
Slack Messaging Bot token Send/read messages
Brave Search Web Search API key Search the internet
Google Drive Cloud Storage OAuth credentials Access Drive files
Puppeteer Browser No Web scraping, testing

Finding Community Servers

The MCP ecosystem is growing rapidly. Here is where to find community-built servers:

💻

MCP Servers GitHub

The official modelcontextprotocol/servers repository on GitHub contains reference implementations and community contributions.

🔍

npm / PyPI

Search for @modelcontextprotocol on npm or mcp-server- on PyPI to find published servers.

🌐

Awesome MCP Lists

Community-curated lists on GitHub collect the best MCP servers across categories.

Building Your Own: If you cannot find a server for your use case, build one! The Building Servers lesson shows you how in under 50 lines of code.

What's Next?

The next lesson covers deploying MCP servers — from local stdio to remote HTTP/SSE, Docker containers, and cloud platforms.