Talk in English - US at PHP Tek 2026
View Slides: https://ctankersley.com/talks/building-mcp-servers-tek2026/#/
Short URL: https://joind.in/talk/6730a
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Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that enables AI applications like Claude to securely connect to your data sources and tools. Instead of copying content into chat windows or building custom integrations for every AI tool, MCP servers act as bridges that can expose your databases, APIs, and business logic through a standardized interface that any MCP-compatible client can use.
In this talk, you'll learn how to build MCP servers in PHP to connect AI assistants to your existing applications. We'll cover the MCP specification, explore real-world use cases like connecting to MySQL databases or Laravel applications, and walk through building a working server that exposes your tools and data sources. You'll leave with practical knowledge to integrate AI capabilities into your PHP stack while maintaining control over your data and business logic.
Comments
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Lots of good technical details about setting up and using MCP servers, great talk Chris!
Very informative with a lot of interesting and easy-to-follow examples. I especially appreciated the demonstration of both the client AND server approaches, as opposed to focusing only on one.
One thing that could strengthen the corporate interest in this presentation is underscoring the fact that, at least right now, if you want to integrate yoursite.com with most LLM tools, you need an MCP (even if the marketing site doesn't call it that under the hood). This turns MCP from "that cool toy the AI specialist at our company plays with" to "this is how we get our product in Claude Desktop/Google Gemini/etc. as an officially supported app"
Great talk! Super practical tips for a constantly changing technology
Good overview of what an MCP server is, why you might want to build one, and what PHP packages you should use depending on your tech stack.