Model Context Protocol specialists
Specialist work falls apart when it never leaves the demo stage. Anything in production still needs auth, data handling, monitoring, and an interface people can use.
We document the prompts, tools, schemas, and day-to-day runbooks so your team can run the system after we hand it over.
If that sounds like your situation, Arcode is set up for teams adopting agentic AI tooling. Custom MCP servers that connect AI agents to your tools, data, and workflows.
What you get
- Custom MCP server development
- Tool-calling integrations
- Secure agent access patterns
- Cursor and Claude-ready tooling
- One studio accountable for the result
- Design and engineering on the same schedule
- Support available after launch
How engagement works
As your MCP developer, we run a shared backlog, design reviews, and engineering sprints, and you keep one point of contact throughout.
- 01
Discover
Goals, constraints, data sources, and success metrics, all settled before we touch architecture or prompts. Nothing here waits on a handover between separate teams.
- 02
Design
System design, AI/tool boundaries, interface direction, and interaction prototypes. On MCP development projects we favour practical architecture over trendy defaults.
- 03
Build
Modern stack, clean architecture, evaluated AI behavior, and iterative demos you can react to. The work for teams in Edinburgh stays tied to the outcome you asked for.
- 04
Launch
Ship, monitor, harden, and keep improving models, tools, and product after go-live. You see progress on the critical path every week.
How we build it, and why
The stack is chosen per project, not applied from a template. For MCP developer work these are the defaults, and the reason each one is on the list.
- MCP
- the Model Context Protocol, so your tools plug into Claude, Cursor, and other agent clients without a custom adapter for each
- TypeScript
- types across the whole stack, which catches the class of bug that only shows up in production
- Node.js
- one language across the stack, so context does not get lost at the boundary
- Claude
- long-context reasoning and reliable tool calling for agent work
- OpenAI
- a second model provider, so a single vendor's outage or price change is not your problem
What the first weeks look like
- Week 1
Spike the risky part
We build the thinnest possible version of custom mcp server development against your real data. If it is going to be a problem, it is better to know in week one than week six.
- Weeks 2-3
Harden the integration
Auth, rate limits, error paths, and the data contract. This is the work that separates a demo from something you can leave running.
- Weeks 4-6
Wire it into the product
The MCP development stops being a standalone service and becomes a feature people use, with the interface and permissions that implies.
- Ongoing
Evaluate and tune
Behaviour gets measured against cases you care about, and we tune from that rather than from impressions.
Weighing up your options
There are three realistic ways to get this built. Each is the right answer for someone.
A solo freelancer
Cheapest per hour and fine for a contained task. The risk on MCP development is breadth — one person covering design, backend, infrastructure, and launch usually means one of them is weak, and there is no cover when they are unavailable.
A local agency in Edinburgh
Same timezone and a face to meet, which genuinely matters for some teams. You are also paying Edinburgh product companies valuing clean engineering and AI. rates for the whole team including the layers that never touch your MCP development, and a local shortlist is a small shortlist.
Arcode
A small senior team. The people who scope the MCP development write the code, you get weekly demos instead of status decks, and the engagement ends when the thing is live and handed over.
Work we have shipped
Note Assist
AI product · Next.js · Speech
AI meeting assistant with live speech-to-text, ChatGPT chat, and Firebase auth for transcription workflows.
Freelance AI product built with Next.js, Firebase, AssemblyAI, and ChatGPT for live meeting transcription and realtime chat around the transcript.
- · Live speech-to-text transcription
- · Realtime chat over meeting notes
- · Firebase authentication
- · AI-assisted follow-up on transcripts
Next.js · Firebase · AssemblyAI · ChatGPT · TypeScript
VIP Hires
Full-stack · Payments · UX
Recruitment platform with Stripe payments, workflow management, and polished motion-driven UI.
Hiring product covering job posting payments, candidate workflows, forms, and analytics.
- · Stripe payment flows
- · Recruitment workflow stages
- · Validated multi-step forms
- · Analytics charts and notifications
Next.js · Redux Toolkit · Stripe · Framer Motion · Zod
Prism Goals
Frontend · Strapi CMS
Accountability platform with dashboards, weekly check-ins, admin tooling, and progress analytics.
Goal tracking product with Typeform check-ins, admin panel, and Strapi-backed content.
- · Goals and values dashboard
- · Weekly check-in integrations
- · Admin user management
- · Progress analytics
Next.js · TypeScript · Material UI · Strapi · Axios
Working with teams in Edinburgh
Edinburgh product companies valuing clean engineering and AI. We work with clients in Edinburgh remotely and keep overlapping hours in GMT/BST. We usually collaborate in English.
How we work with Edinburgh teams
Edinburgh runs on GMT/BST, giving us a full overlapping day. Written updates land before your morning, so the first thing you read is what moved since you logged off.
What Edinburgh clients usually need
Edinburgh briefs cluster around SaaS and fintech — Scotland's financial sector pulls a lot of product work with it — alongside university-adjacent research tools that need to become real software.
Contracts, data, and compliance
Financial-sector clients bring security questionnaires and DPAs early, so we handle those upfront and keep personal data in UK or EU regions by default. We invoice in GBP.
