TimoBy Amotion AI

MCP server integration: CCAR-F task statement 2.4

CCAR-F · Tool Design & MCP Integration (18% of the exam)

Task statement 2.4 sits in Tool Design & MCP Integration, 18% of the CCAR-F exam. It tests how you connect MCP servers to Claude Code and agents: where the configuration lives, how secrets stay out of the repository, and how to make Claude use the right tool.

What the official guide covers

The Claude Certified Architect Foundations exam guide (version 1.0, effective July 2026) lists this under task statement 2.4, "Integrate MCP servers into Claude Code and agent workflows":

Knowledge ofSkills in
Project-level .mcp.json for shared team tools vs user-level ~/.claude.json for personal or experimental serversConfiguring shared servers in project-scoped .mcp.json with environment variables for tokens
Environment variable expansion in .mcp.json, such as ${GITHUB_TOKEN}, so secrets are never committedConfiguring personal or experimental servers in user-scoped ~/.claude.json
Tools from every configured server are discovered at connection time and available togetherWriting detailed MCP tool descriptions so Claude does not fall back to built-in tools such as Grep
MCP resources expose content catalogs (issue summaries, documentation trees, database schemas) and cut exploratory tool callsChoosing community servers for standard systems such as Jira, and custom servers for team-specific workflows

Where MCP configuration lives

ScopeStored inWho gets itUse it for
Project.mcp.json in the repository root, committedEveryone working in the projectShared team tools
User~/.claude.jsonYou, in every projectPersonal tools you use everywhere
Local (default)~/.claude.json, for this project onlyYou, in this projectExperiments you do not want to share

Add a server with claude mcp add and choose the scope with --scope project, --scope user or the default local scope. Claude Code asks each person to approve project-scoped servers from .mcp.json before it uses them.

Keep secrets out of the repository

Commit .mcp.json, but never the token. Reference an environment variable instead:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://jira.example.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${JIRA_API_TOKEN}" }
    }
  }
}

Each developer sets JIRA_API_TOKEN on their own machine. ${VAR:-default} supplies a fallback when the variable is not set.

Make Claude choose the right tool

Claude picks tools by reading their descriptions. If an MCP search tool has a one-line description, Claude may use the built-in Grep instead, even when the MCP tool searches more data. Write descriptions that say what the tool searches, what it returns and when to prefer it.

Use MCP resources for catalogs Claude needs to browse, such as a list of open issues or a database schema. Claude can read the catalog directly instead of making exploratory tool calls.

Decisions the exam tests

QuestionChooseWhy
Standard system such as Jira, GitHub or Slack?An existing community or vendor MCP serverAlready maintained; no code to own
Workflow specific to your team?A custom MCP serverNothing off the shelf fits
Claude needs to browse what exists (issues, schemas, docs)?MCP resourceRead once instead of many search calls
Claude needs to act or query with parameters?MCP toolTakes input and returns a result
Whole team needs it?Project scope, .mcp.jsonCommitted and shared
Only you, or still experimenting?User or local scopeStays on your machine

Where it appears in the exam

Tool Design & MCP Integration is a primary domain in three of the six exam scenarios: Customer Support Resolution Agent, Multi-Agent Research System and Developer Productivity with Claude.

Two sample questions

These are original Timo practice questions. They are not official exam questions.

Question 1

A team of eight developers wants everyone's Claude Code to use the same Jira MCP server. Each developer has a personal Jira API token. Security policy forbids secrets in the repository. Where should the configuration go?

Answer: C. Project scope shares one configuration with the whole team, and the environment variable keeps each token out of the repository. A works for one person but is not shared, and the team has to keep eight copies in step. B commits a secret. D does not reach the other seven developers.

Question 2

A team added an MCP server whose search_tickets tool searches all support tickets, including closed ones. Claude Code keeps using the built-in Grep on a local export that is a month old. What should the team do first?

Answer: B. Claude chooses tools from their descriptions, so a clear description fixes the cause. A removes a tool developers need for other work. C adds a duplicate tool and more confusion. D changes who gets the server, not which tool Claude picks.

Build exercise

  1. Add an HTTP MCP server to a test repository with claude mcp add --scope project, then open .mcp.json and replace the token with ${YOUR_TOKEN}.
  2. Clone the repository into a second folder, start Claude Code and note the approval prompt for the project-scoped server.
  3. Give one MCP tool a one-line description and ask a question it should answer. Note whether Claude uses it or Grep. Rewrite the description and ask again.
  4. Run claude mcp list and confirm which scope each server came from.

Practise this topic

Sources