Build a Full-Stack App with AI Agents: The Complete Skills + MCP Stack

The Architecture

Here's the full stack at a glance:

6 skills provide the expertise. 4 MCP servers provide the access.

Together, they cover every step from writing code to shipping a live application.

Here's the key insight:

Neither skills nor MCP servers alone can do this. Skills make Claude write better code — but they can't connect to your database. MCP servers connect to your systems — but they don't teach Claude how to use them well. The magic is in the combination.

What You’ll Build

We're building a Next.js SaaS dashboard with:

• React frontend using modern patterns and intentional design
• Supabase backend with PostgreSQL, Row Level Security, and auth
• Sentry error monitoring connected from day one
• GitHub integration for version control
• Vercel deployment with preview URLs

The app itself isn't the point — it's the WORKFLOW. Once you see how these layers connect, you can apply the same stack to any project.

Layer 1: Frontend (Skills)

Install these three skills:

npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills/react-best-practices
npx skills add anthropics/skills/frontend-design
npx skills add vercel-labs/next-skills/next-best-practices

react-best-practices (148,900 installs) is the foundation. frontend-design (82,700 installs) solves the "AI slop" problem. next-best-practices (15,900 installs) handles Next.js-specific patterns.

When you ask Claude to build a dashboard page, all three skills activate simultaneously — producing output that's architecturally sound, performant, AND visually distinctive.

Layer 2: Database (Skill + MCP)

This layer demonstrates the core skills + MCP pattern perfectly.

Install the skill:

npx skills add supabase/agent-skills/supabase-postgres-best-practices

Connect the MCP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "supabase": {
      "url": "https://mcp.supabase.com"
    }
  }
}

Together: Claude writes optimized, secure SQL AND executes it against your real database. The skill prevents the MCP server from being used poorly. The MCP server gives the skill something real to work with.

Layer 3: Authentication (Skill)

Install the skill:

npx skills add better-auth/skills/better-auth-best-practices

Authentication is a coding patterns problem, not a data access problem. The better-auth-best-practices skill (13,400 installs) teaches Claude OAuth provider setup, session management, protected routes in Next.js, token handling, and role-based access control.

Layer 4: Error Monitoring (MCP)

Connect the MCP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sentry": {
      "url": "https://mcp.sentry.dev"
    }
  }
}

Error monitoring is fundamentally a data access problem. With the Sentry MCP server, Claude can pull recent errors, read full stack traces, check performance metrics, correlate errors with deployments, and suggest fixes based on actual error context.

Layer 5: Version Control (MCP)

Connect the MCP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "<your-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Version control is the connective tissue of the stack. With the GitHub MCP server (27,000 GitHub stars), Claude can commit code, create pull requests, read issues, review PRs, and check CI/CD status.

Layer 6: Deployment (Skill + MCP)

Install the skill:

npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills/vercel-deploy

Connect the MCP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vercel": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "vercel-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "VERCEL_TOKEN": "<your-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

The skill teaches Claude deployment configuration. The MCP server gives Claude access to your Vercel account. Together: from code to live URL in one conversation.

The Full Install Script

Here's everything in one place:

Skills (via skills.sh CLI)

# Layer 1: Frontend
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills/react-best-practices
npx skills add anthropics/skills/frontend-design
npx skills add vercel-labs/next-skills/next-best-practices

# Layer 2: Database
npx skills add supabase/agent-skills/supabase-postgres-best-practices

# Layer 3: Authentication
npx skills add better-auth/skills/better-auth-best-practices

# Layer 6: Deployment
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills/vercel-deploy

Total setup time: about 10 minutes.

How It All Works Together

Here's a complete walkthrough of building a feature using the full stack:

Session: "Build a team dashboard page"

Step 1 — Design and Frontend: Claude activates frontend skills and creates a Server Component page with Client Component widgets.

Step 2 — Database Schema: Claude designs a table with proper indexes and RLS policies, then executes the migration via Supabase MCP.

Step 3 — Data Integration: Claude pulls real-time data from GitHub MCP, Sentry MCP, and Supabase MCP into the dashboard widgets.

Step 4 — Auth Protection: Claude wraps the page in authentication using better-auth-best-practices.

Step 5 — Commit and Deploy: Claude commits to a feature branch via GitHub MCP and triggers a preview deployment via Vercel MCP.

Step 6 — Post-Deploy Monitoring: Claude checks Sentry MCP for new errors after deployment.

That's six steps across six layers, all in one conversation.

Three Alternative Stacks

The Supabase + Vercel stack is the most popular. But the same principles apply to any infrastructure.

The Cloudflare Stack

The AWS Stack

The Indie Hacker Stack (Minimal)

Best for: Solo developers shipping fast. Four components, no overhead.

FAQ