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Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
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There are 3 modules in this course
Get hands-on designing secure, intelligent AI agent workflows using the Model Context Protocol (MCP) in this labs-driven course. You’ll see how AI systems connect to external tools, services, and data sources. You’ll learn how those connections can be designed to stay safe and predictable using structured permissions, user prompts, and validation workflows. And in hands-on labs, you’ll build agents that reason, retrieve information, and carry out tasks while maintaining security and control.
You’ll also work with permission enforcement models, JSON-schema-based elicitation, auditing concepts, and real-world security scenarios. You’ll explore how MCP works and why secure design decisions matter in practice. Plus, you’ll break down user requests, shape safe execution flows, and reduce the risk of unintended actions.
Finally, you’ll plan and test a complete MCP-driven agent workflow, showing how usability, capability, and security come together in a real implementation.
This course is designed for professionals in development, architecture, automation, or AI-powered applications who want hands-on, practical experience building responsible AI workflows.
In this module, you will gain a hands-on introduction to the Model Context Protocol (MCP). You will explore what MCP is, why it is used, and how it solves challenges compared to traditional APIs and tool-calling approaches. You will examine MCP's architecture, including clients, servers, and transport mechanisms, and see how MCP applications work in practice. Through guided demos and labs, you will connect to existing MCP servers and build your own MCP application.
MCP vs API: Simplifying AI Agent Integration with External Data•8 minutes
MCP Application Demo•4 minutes
MCP Architecture•9 minutes
MCP in Action•8 minutes
Run Existing MCP Servers•11 minutes
Build an MCP Application with Python•7 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
Course Overview•10 minutes
3 assignments•Total 41 minutes
Graded Quiz: Getting Started with MCP•21 minutes
Practice Quiz: Introduction to MCP•10 minutes
Practice Quiz: MCP in Action •10 minutes
2 app items•Total 60 minutes
Lab: Run Existing MCP Servers•30 minutes
Lab: Build an MCP Application•30 minutes
4 plugins•Total 34 minutes
Reading: Helpful Tips for Course Completion•10 minutes
Reading: Agentic AI Protocols•10 minutes
Summary and Highlights: Getting Started with MCP •4 minutes
Cheat Sheet: Getting Started with MCP •10 minutes
MCP Server
Module 2•2 hours to complete
Module details
In this module, you will learn how to build and enhance MCP servers. You will begin by converting tools into MCP servers and exploring simple "Hello World" examples. You will then extend server functionality with resources, prompts, and tools for real-world applications such as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). Finally, you will explore MCP transport mechanisms, including streamable HTTP, standard IO, and deprecated SSE, while considering their security and performance trade-offs. Through guided labs, you will build and run MCP servers, connect to them using different transports, and experiment with enhanced capabilities.
What's included
2 videos3 assignments2 app items2 plugins
Show info about module content
2 videos•Total 19 minutes
Hello World of MCP Servers•11 minutes
Build an Enhanced MCP Server•9 minutes
3 assignments•Total 41 minutes
Graded Quiz: MCP Server•21 minutes
Practice Quiz: MCP Server Basics•10 minutes
Practice Quiz: Building Enhanced MCP Servers•10 minutes
2 app items•Total 60 minutes
Lab: Hello World of MCP Servers•30 minutes
Lab: Build an Enhanced MCP Server•30 minutes
2 plugins•Total 13 minutes
Summary and Highlights: MCP Server•3 minutes
Cheat Sheet: MCP Server•10 minutes
MCP Hosts and Clients
Module 3•4 hours to complete
Module details
In this module, you will learn how MCP clients are built and optimized for real-world use. You will examine client architecture, lifecycle management, and performance strategies such as connection pooling, caching, and load balancing. You will also explore advanced features like sampling and root controls to understand bidirectional LLM calls and filesystem boundaries. Finally, through guided labs, you will create custom MCP clients, implement advanced features, and design secure, interactive applications.
At IBM, we know how rapidly tech evolves and recognize the crucial need for businesses and professionals to build job-ready, hands-on skills quickly. As a market-leading tech innovator, we’re committed to helping you thrive in this dynamic landscape. Through IBM Skills Network, our expertly designed training programs in AI, software development, cybersecurity, data science, business management, and more, provide the essential skills you need to secure your first job, advance your career, or drive business success. Whether you’re upskilling yourself or your team, our courses, Specializations, and Professional Certificates build the technical expertise that ensures you, and your organization, excel in a competitive world.
This course equips professionals with valuable, hands-on skills used in roles such as MCP Developer, AI Agent Engineer, AI Tool Integration Specialist, Multi-Agent System Developer, and AI Workflow Engineer. It is ideal for software developers, Python programmers, and AI practitioners looking to expand into building and managing MCP-based AI applications. This course is also suitable for professionals reskilling to work on secure, multi-server AI agent systems.
What prior knowledge is essential for this course?
You’ll need familiarity with basic programming skills (Python recommended) and a general understanding of how AI applications interact with tools and data sources. Completing the earlier courses in the IBM RAG and Agentic AI Professional Certificate is highly recommended for smooth progression.
What tools and technologies will I learn in this course?
You’ll work with MCP servers and clients, explore FastMCP, STDIO and HTTP transports, ReAct agents, and implement tools, prompts, resources, and user-aware workflows. Labs provide hands-on experience with multi-server interactions, context management, and secure elicitation workflows.
What practical skills will I gain from this course?
You’ll learn to build and test MCP servers and clients, integrate ReAct agents, configure tools, prompts, and resources, manage multi-server interactions and context, and implement secure user-approval workflows. By the end, you’ll be able to develop fast, scalable, and secure MCP applications and manage structured LLM interactions like a practicing AI agent developer.
How does MCP differ from traditional API tool-calling in AI agent development?
Traditional tool-calling requires custom integration for every new data source, creating a fragmented ecosystem. The Model Context Protocol (MCP)provides a universal, open standard that replaces these "one-off" connectors. This course teaches you how to move beyond static APIs to a client-server-host architecture, where a single MCP client can discover and use tools across multiple servers simultaneously. You will learn to use FastMCP to provide AI models with secure, standardized access to local resources, databases, and web services without rewriting the integration layer for every new LLM.
Does this course cover the security protocols required for autonomous AI agents?
Yes. Security is the primary bottleneck for deploying AI agents in enterprise environments, and this course addresses it through permission-based workflows. You will get hands-on experience implementing sampling, roots, and user-approval mechanisms—ensuring that your agents operate within strict filesystem boundaries and never execute unintended actions. By mastering JSON-schema-based elicitation and auditing, you’ll learn how to build "human-in-the-loop" systems where the AI must request explicit permission before accessing sensitive data or performing external writes.
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Certificate?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Certificate, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.