# Oscar Docs MCP Server

## MCP Servers

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server is a lightweight service that exposes tools, resources, or prompts to AI models through a standardized protocol developed originally by Anthropic.

The core idea is straightforward: instead of every AI application building custom integrations with external services, MCP provides a common interface. An MCP server acts as a bridge between an AI model and some external capability—a database, an API, a file system, a SaaS product, etc.

## Oscar Documentation MCP Server

The documentation for Oscar (i.e., what you're reading now) is currently hosted on the GitBook platform. A recently added new feature on GitBook is that you can turn any GitBook into an MCP server by just flipping a switch. Here is why that's useful: if you use Claude Code or other AI assistants/editors you can now add the Oscar docs MCP server to your tools, which will allow the assistant/editor to automatically access the documentation and answer with that context.

### Claude Code

The command below will register the Oscar docs MCP server with your instance of Claude Code.

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http oscar-docs https://docs.ccv.brown.edu/oscar/~gitbook/mcp
```

This will allow you to ask Claude Code questions related to Oscar, and it will answer with full knowledge of everything in the Oscar docs.

### OpenCode

The process is similar for OpenCode. But instead of being a one-liner you first tell OpenCode you want to register an MCP server using the command below.

```bash
opencode mcp add
```

This will open an interactive prompt where you'll be asked to give your MCP server a name (e.g., `oscar-docs`) as well as provide the URL, which is \`<https://docs.ccv.brown.edu/oscar/~gitbook/mcp>\`. This is a `remote` server, and there is no authentication required.

### VS Code

The process of adding an MCP server to VS Code has two steps. First, you add the MCP server from your terminal with the line below.<br>

```bash
code --add-mcp '{"name":"oscar-docs","type":"http","url":"https://docs.ccv.brown.edu/oscar/~gitbook/mcp"}'
```

After that, you will need to open the Command Palette (e.g., `Cmd + Shift`), then list the MCP servers (i.e., `MCP List Servers`), and finally you'll select the `oscar-docs` MCP server and activate it.

### Other Assistants/Editors

There are many, *many* other AI assistants and editors, and if they support MCP servers, you can use this URL to point them at the Oscar docs MCP server.

```
https://docs.ccv.brown.edu/oscar/~gitbook/mcp
```


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.ccv.brown.edu/oscar/large-language-models/oscar-docs-mcp-server.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.