Why use MCP servers over skills

This week, Federico and John complete their tour of holiday projects with a look at the tools both of them built with the help of Claude Code, Codex, and other tools.

On AppStories+, John pushes Claude Code by building a Safari web extension that integrates with Notion.

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Links and Show Notes

Holiday Coding Projects Continued

Federico’s Projects:

• HTML tools collection (12+ tools) inspired by Simon Willison’s approach
• MacStories Markdown Preview tool
• MarkdownFixer (Python in browser via Pyodide)
• Custom MCP servers for: Feedbin, Readwise Reader, YouTube Transcript, and Raindrop
• Home automation tools: NAS Control, Roon Visualizer, Custom TV Remote (LG webOS + Philips Hue Sync Box)
• Notion tools: DailyNote Append, DailyNote Viewer, Notion Clippings web app, YouTube Watch Queue
• Liquid Glass CSS design guide for web apps
• Using Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex comparison
• Remote coding workflow with Termius and Pushover notifications

John’s Projects:

• MacStories Common (shared code library)
• Podcast production tools (loudness matching, transcription improvements)
• Obsidian plugins for sending to Matter and Readwise Reader
• Article Highlights tool
• Notion OAuth integration
• Reviving Blink app (Objective C to Swift/SwiftUI conversion)

• Other Tools and Services Mentioned

  • GitHub
  • Cloudflare Workers
  • Tailscale
  • Secure Shellfish
  • FFmpeg
  • Wispr Flow

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