Introduction
As a lead, there are several tasks where I’ve managed to drastically reduce the time invested.
Analyzing monitors, optimizing alerts, investigating incidents, creating reports/notebooks, creating diagrams, finding and solving inconsistencies… many of these thanks to the use of a few key MCPs. Here I’ll tell you how.
Yes, beyond the controversy of whether to use MCPs or not. They are still a tool, there shouldn’t be a problem if you use them for specific cases and with knowledge, just like everything with AI. Well, just like you don’t use a chainsaw to file a splinter and on top of that without reading the instructions.
There are several MCPs I use often: Atlassian, Context7, Playwright… but here’s a list of others that, although I don’t use them as often, help me quite a bit in specific situations.
My MCPs for specific cases
Datadog MCP
With this one, I’ve been able to analyze errors in production, use it to analyze and improve alerts and monitors in our microservices, and even create error reports comparing data with Amplitude, which leads me to the next case.
Amplitude MCP
With Amplitude I’m like a fish out of water, I understand it but I haven’t mastered it. Thanks to the MCP, I’ve been able to create notebooks, analyze data, draw conclusions from sharp drops or spikes, and combined with Datadog’s it makes it easy to have a broader view.
Excalidraw MCP
Not everything is mermaid, sometimes you want to be able to add and remove things quickly and easily. It helps me generate architecture maps or specific features, and then combine them, use them in documentation, or simply to explain an idea. Besides, it allows you to generate the file or a link to view it. Careful though, don’t expose your architecture in a public link.
Miro MCP
Although you can create diagrams and even code with this one, where I’ve gotten the most out of it has been to compare information from huge diagrams in Miro (the kind that look like Dungeons and Dragons boards) with Confluence documentation or code and find discrepancies, thus anticipating blockers, problems, and ambiguity in decisions.
Conclusion and Links
All the ones mentioned are official from their respective companies, which gives an extra layer of security. Of course, the tokens are on your dime, so optimize their use.
Official Links to the mentioned MCPs: