Writing Model Content Protocol (MCP) Servers in Clojure (by Vedang Manerikar)

The London Clojurians are happy to present:

~~~~ reClojure 2025 ~~~

Title: Writing Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers in Clojure
Speaker: Vedang Manerikar

This talk showcases mcp-cljc-sdk, a Clojure SDK I've written for building MCP servers. Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an emerging standard that allows AI agents to interact with external systems through specialized servers. I'll demonstrate how MCP creates powerful, composable workflows that gradually automate complex tasks using real-world examples of MCP servers I have written.

We'll explore why Clojure is particularly well-suited for implementing MCP servers, comparing it with other approaches and highlighting Clojure's strengths through side-by-side code comparisons.

By the end of this talk, you'll understand how to create your own MCP servers, contribute to the growing ecosystem, and leverage these tools to build powerful AI-enhanced applications that integrate with your existing workflows.

Speaker Bio:

I'm Vedang Manerikar 👋, founder of Unravel.tech and former Head of Backend Engineering at Helpshift. I've been a Clojure developer for the last 15 years, and I absolutely love the language.

At Unravel.tech, we focus on building Agentic Systems and unlocking GenAI and LLM magic for our clients. Here's what we've worked on recently:

💻 Automated migrations of large (MASSIVE) code-bases. The kind that make devs lose sleep.
🔍 RAG systems to turn messy legacy data into searchable gold mines.
🤖 Agent-backed "Smart" Chatbots that identify intent and guide users through workflows without the usual headaches.
I personally think Clojure devs are extremely well-prepared for the LLM world, because we are used to working in an un-typed REPL all through the day. Whether you love or hate LLMs and GenAI, if you want to talk about it, come find me!

I am a software developer at the Norwegian Food Safety Authority where I build systems with Clojure and Datomic. I have 20 years of experience, and have been working full-time with Clojure for the last 10 of those. My career has focused on web tech, and love doing what it takes to ship working software to users: from setting up infrastructure to data modeling and frontend work.


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