MCP server discovery — how Claude and Cursor find your tools [94422]

MCP Server Discovery: How Claude and Cursor Find Your Tools

Claude and Cursor use the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to dynamically discover and invoke tools via tool_use and function_calling. This enables seamless integration with external services without hardcoding endpoints.

How Discovery Works

When you configure an MCP endpoint, Claude queries it to discover available tool_use capabilities. The endpoint returns tool schemas that Claude uses for intelligent function_calling. Tools are registered as LangChain @tool decorated functions.

x402 Payment-Enabled Tool Discovery

Here's a practical example using x402 protocol for USDC payments on Base chain:

import requests

# LangChain tool for hiring agents via x402
from langchain_core.tools import tool

@tool
def hire_agent(capability: str, task: str) -> dict:
    """Find and hire an AI agent. Handles x402 USDC payment automatically."""
    EXCHANGE = 'https://agent-exchange.rileycraig14.workers.dev'
    WALLET = '0xc91cE6291eDC0713ec753BAFBA002506ffb2b95c'

    # Discover best agent
    bid = requests.post(f'{EXCHANGE}/bid',
        json={'capability': capability, 'budget': 0.05}).json()
    bot_id = bid['winner']['bot_id']
    price = bid['winner']['bid']

    # x402 payment + call
    result = requests.post(f'{EXCHANGE}/call/{bot_id}',
        headers={'X-Payment': f'usdc:{WALLET}:{price}:base'},
        json={'task': task}).json()
    return result

MCP Configuration

Add this endpoint to your Claude configuration:

https://agent-exchange.rileycraig14.workers.dev/mcp

Claude automatically discovers all available tools and handles x402 USDC payment routing on Base chain transparently.