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docs: consolidate MCP coverage into a single canonical guide #808

@danielmeppiel

Description

@danielmeppiel

Context: Surfaced via #122 and the followup conversation with @lirantal -- MCP coverage is spread across 24 doc pages with declaration syntax duplicated 3x and trust model duplicated 2x. There is no canonical MCP Servers guide. Result: users with the universal mcp.json / Claude Desktop / Cursor mental model can't find the answer and bounce.

Audit numbers (verified):

  • 44 MCP mentions in integrations/ide-tool-integration.md (declaration syntax buried inside an "IDE integration" page)
  • 26 in guides/dependencies.md (duplicate declaration syntax)
  • 17 in reference/manifest-schema.md (third copy)
  • 8 in enterprise/security.md (duplicate trust model)
  • Plus 20 other pages with passing mentions

Asymmetry: Skills, Prompts, Plugins each have a dedicated guide page. MCP does not. That gap is the structural reason for the discoverability failure.

Proposed change (consolidate, don't add)

+1 page: docs/src/content/docs/guides/mcp-servers.md

Sidebar slot: under Guides, between Plugins and Dependencies & Lockfile -- the missing primitive guide.

Outline:

  • Overview + table comparing registry-backed vs self-defined
  • Quick start: add a one-off MCP server (the lirantal-shaped section, top of page)
    • Side-by-side: mcp.json / Claude Desktop block -> APM equivalent
    • The exact command + args snippet
    • One-liner CLI: apm install --mcp NAME -- COMMAND ARGS... (references shipped CLI from [link-to-w3-issue])
  • Registry-backed servers (name, overlays, version pinning)
  • Self-defined servers -- stdio / http / sse / streamable-http
    • Common mistakes: command: "npx pkg" anti-pattern (references shipped warn from [link-to-w4-issue])
  • Trust model (canonical home; other pages deep-link here)
  • Governance / policies (1 paragraph + deep-link)
  • IDE behavior (1 paragraph + deep-link)
  • CLI commands (tight list + deep-links)
  • Schema reference (deep-link)

-3 sections shrink:

  1. integrations/ide-tool-integration.md MCP section: ~150 -> ~30 lines (IDE-specific writeout behavior only)
  2. guides/dependencies.md MCP Formats section: ~50 -> ~20 lines (summary + deep-link)
  3. enterprise/security.md MCP trust model: drop duplication, deep-link to new guide

Sync: packages/apm-guide/.apm/skills/apm-usage/dependencies.md -- terse mirror of the new guide (per repo doc-sync rule).

Net effect: +1 page (~250 lines), -200 lines from duplicates = +50 lines net. Adds canonical surface; reduces total MCP content.

Anti-patterns to avoid:

  • Don't add three separate pages (sprawl trap)
  • Don't add a new sidebar section for MCP (reuse Guides)
  • Don't grow ide-tool-integration.md further

Scope

  • New page (doc-writer)
  • Three section shrinks (doc-writer)
  • Skill sync (doc-writer + doc-sync rule check)
  • Cross-link audit + updates (doc-analyser)
  • Sidebar update in docs/astro.config.mjs
  • SEO/meta polish (oss-growth-hacker)
  • Local docs build verification (no broken links)

Sequencing: Sequential after [link-to-w3-issue] so Quick Start can reference the shipped apm install --mcp CLI without "coming soon" placeholders.

Workstream: Part of #122 followup.

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