Introduction to Model Context Protocol
Anthropic Academy's MCP course — 10 lessons and a quiz, with a separate advanced course covering the harder material.
Last verified August 21, 2026 · 1 source
One hour on MCP — the protocol that lets Claude reach systems outside itself.
There are two MCP courses, not one
| Course | Lessons | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Model Context Protocol | 10 + quiz | 1 h |
| Model Context Protocol: Advanced Topics | 11 + quiz | 1.5 h |
The advanced course is longer than the introduction, which tells you something: the interesting part of MCP is not the concept, it is the operational detail — transports, auth, and what happens when a server misbehaves.
The part neither course is really about
MCP describes what a tool can do. It does not decide what Claude may do — that is permissions, configured separately. An MCP server runs with whatever credentials you hand it, so before connecting a community server to anything that matters, read its source. Organisations should look at managed MCP, which is how you stop that being every individual developer’s decision.
If you are just choosing between options
Skills vs MCP and MCP vs Connectors answer that in a few minutes, without a course.
Sources
- 01Courses — Claude AcademyOfficialacademy.claude.com10 lessons, 1 quiz, 1 hour. A second course, Model Context Protocol - Advanced Topics, is 11 lessons, 1 quiz, 1.5 hours.
Page changelog
- AddedRecorded from the Academy course catalogue.