Be Like Boris
The three MCPs Boris Cherny — creator of Claude Code — keeps connected every day in 2026: Slack for search and posts, BigQuery for analytics queries, and Sentry for error logs. The smallest setup that covers messaging, data, and production debugging without inflating context.
Use case: When you want a deliberately small, proven MCP config: messaging via Slack, analytics via BigQuery, errors via Sentry. Add more only when a specific weekly workflow demands it.
“Boris keeps his setup surprisingly vanilla and doesn't heavily customize Claude Code itself. His leverage comes from orchestrating multiple parallel instances and three MCPs: Slack, BigQuery, and Sentry. — "How the Creator of Claude Code Actually Uses Claude Code," Push to Prod, March 2026”
What's in the stack
MCP servers and CLI tools that make up this stack, and how each one runs.
| Tool | Primary use | Kind | Stars | GitHub |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slack's official MCP plugin connects an agent to a Slack workspace via the remote server at mcp.slack.com. | MCP | 50 | repo | |
| Google's official MCP Toolbox for Databases is an open-source MCP server (15,013 stars) that connects an agent to BigQuery — plus Postgres, MySQL, MS SQL, Spanner, AlloyDB, and more — with prebuilt tools. | MCP | 15,013 | repo | |
| Sentry MCP connects an agent to Sentry error monitoring, letting it look up issues, read stack traces, inspect release details, and work through debugging workflows without leaving the coding environment.. | MCP | 677 | repo |
Install the MCP servers
Pick the client you use. Each tab installs all 3 servers.
claude mcp add --transport http io-github-slackapi-slack-mcp-plugin https://mcp.slack.com/mcp
claude mcp add io-github-googleapis-mcp-toolbox -- npx -y @toolbox-sdk/server --prebuilt=bigquery
claude mcp add io-github-getsentry-sentry-mcp -- npx -y @sentry/mcp-serverAdd to your CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md
Paste this into your project's CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md so the agent knows when and how to use each tool in the stack.
## Tools
- **Slack MCP** — Use to search prior messages and threads before asking the user a question they probably already answered. When posting, draft the message first; do not send without explicit confirmation.
- **BigQuery MCP** (Google MCP Toolbox) — Run analytics queries here. Always run a `LIMIT 100` exploration query before any aggregation. Never run a query without a date filter on event-scale tables.
- **Sentry MCP** — When the user mentions an error, an alert, or unexpected behavior in production, look it up in Sentry first. Read the stack trace and release metadata before guessing at root cause.
- **Working style** — Stay vanilla. Three MCPs is enough. Get leverage from running multiple Claude Code instances in parallel rather than from adding more servers.Why each tool is in this stack
A short rationale per tool, plus its individual install.
Slack's first-party MCP plugin (50 stars, slackapi/slack-mcp-plugin). Connects to the remote server at mcp.slack.com for search across messages and channels, sending messages, reading threads, and managing canvases. Workspace admin must approve MCP integration once.
claude mcp add --transport http io-github-slackapi-slack-mcp-plugin https://mcp.slack.com/mcpby googleapis · ★ 15,013 · MCP
Google's official MCP Toolbox for Databases (15,013 stars). Prebuilt BigQuery tools — list datasets, run SQL, explore schemas — with no boilerplate. Boris uses BigQuery MCP for analytics queries against company data.
claude mcp add io-github-googleapis-mcp-toolbox -- npx -y @toolbox-sdk/server --prebuilt=bigqueryby getsentry · ★ 677 · MCP
Sentry's official MCP (677 stars). Look up issues, read stack traces, inspect release data. Boris named Sentry MCP as one of his three daily integrations alongside Slack and BigQuery.
claude mcp add io-github-getsentry-sentry-mcp -- npx -y @sentry/mcp-server
Last reviewed · Curated by stax.sh