Content
# Advanced MCP and Agent to Agent Workshop
**IIoT University | December 16-17, 2025**
A hands-on workshop for engineers, integrators, and digital transformation professionals in industrial automation. Learn to build multi-server MCP architectures and implement the Agent2Agent protocol for collaborative AI systems.
---
## Workshop Overview
| Day | Topic | Focus |
|-----|-------|-------|
| Day 1 | Advanced MCP | Multi-server architectures connecting AI to industrial data |
| Day 2 | Agent2Agent | Collaborative intelligence with coordinating AI agents |
---
## Quick Start
### 1. Clone the Repository
```bash
git clone https://github.com/iiot-university/MCP_A2A_Workshop.git
cd MCP_A2A_Workshop
```
### 2. Configure Environment
```bash
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your credentials
```
### 3. Follow the Day 1 or Day 2 Guide
Each session has its own README with step-by-step instructions.
---
## Project Structure
```
MCP_A2A_Workshop/
├── .env # Credentials (gitignored - create from .env.example)
├── .env.example # Template with placeholder values
├── README.md # This file
│
├── day1/ # Advanced MCP - Multi-Server Architectures
│ ├── mqtt_server/ # Session 2: MQTT MCP Server
│ │ ├── README.md # Step-by-step guide
│ │ ├── requirements.txt
│ │ └── src/
│ │ └── mqtt_mcp_server.py
│ │
│ ├── mysql_server/ # Session 3: MySQL MCP Server
│ │ ├── README.md # Step-by-step guide
│ │ ├── requirements.txt
│ │ └── src/
│ │ └── mysql_mcp_server.py
│ │
│ └── use_cases/ # Session 4: Industrial Use Cases
│ └── README.md # Dashboard prompts and examples
│
└── day2/ # Agent2Agent - Collaborative Intelligence
└── (coming Day 2)
```
---
## Day 1 Sessions
### Session 1: Introduction & Workshop Overview (9:00 - 9:45)
Instructor-led introduction covering:
- Learning objectives for both days
- Infrastructure overview (cloud and local)
- Virtual Factory data sources
- What is MCP and why manufacturers should care
### Session 2: Building Your First MCP Server — MQTT & UNS (10:00 - 10:45) ✅
**Guide:** [day1/mqtt_server/README.md](day1/mqtt_server/README.md)
**Status:** Complete
Build a Python MCP server that connects to the Flexible Packager Unified Namespace via MQTT. Query and publish to the UNS using natural language through Claude Desktop.
**Tools Implemented:**
- `list_uns_topics` - Discover available topics
- `get_topic_value` - Read specific topic values
- `search_topics` - Search topics by pattern
- `publish_message` - Publish messages to topics
### Session 3: Multi-Server Architecture — Adding MySQL (11:00 - 11:45)
**Guide:** [day1/mysql_server/README.md](day1/mysql_server/README.md)
**Status:** Not started
Add a second MCP server for relational database access. Configure Claude Desktop for multiple servers and demonstrate cross-server queries.
### Session 4: Practical Industrial Use Cases (12:00 - 12:45)
**Guide:** [day1/use_cases/README.md](day1/use_cases/README.md)
Apply multi-server MCP to real scenarios. Build React dashboards from natural language prompts that pull data from both MQTT and MySQL sources.
---
## Infrastructure
### Cloud Resources
| Resource | Endpoint | Purpose |
|----------|----------|---------|
| HiveMQ Broker | balancer.virtualfactory.online:1883 | MQTT / Unified Namespace |
| MySQL Database | proveit.virtualfactory.online:3306 | MES and batch data |
| Ignition | ignition.virtualfactory.online:8088 | SCADA (internal use) |
### Virtual Factory Data
Data comes from the Flexible Packager virtual factory built for ProveIt! Conference 2025. The UNS follows ISA-95 hierarchy and publishes to the HiveMQ broker.
### Database Schemas
| Schema | Purpose |
|--------|---------|
| mes_lite | Core MES data -- work orders, production runs, equipment |
| mes_custom | Custom extensions and user-defined fields |
| proveitdb | ProveIt! demo data -- batches, quality checks, recipes |
---
## Local Development
### Prerequisites
- Python 3.10+
- Claude Desktop
- Cursor IDE (recommended)
- Git
### Tools We Use
| Tool | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| Claude Desktop | MCP client for natural language interaction |
| Cursor | IDE with AI-assisted coding |
| Python | MCP server implementation |
| paho-mqtt | MQTT client library |
| mysql-connector-python | MySQL client library |
---
## Environment Variables
All credentials are stored in the root `.env` file. This file is gitignored and never committed.
```bash
# MQTT Broker Configuration
MQTT_BROKER=balancer.virtualfactory.online
MQTT_PORT=1883
MQTT_USERNAME=your_username
MQTT_PASSWORD=your_password
# MySQL Database Configuration
MYSQL_HOST=proveit.virtualfactory.online
MYSQL_PORT=3306
MYSQL_USERNAME=your_username
MYSQL_PASSWORD=your_password
MYSQL_SCHEMAS=mes_lite,mes_custom,proveitdb
```
---
## For Cursor / AI Agents
When building code for this workshop:
1. **Read the session README first** -- Each session directory contains a README with specifications for what to build
2. **Use the root .env for credentials** -- Load environment variables from the project root, not from session directories
3. **Follow MCP patterns** -- Servers use stdio transport, expose tools for actions and resources for data
4. **Ground examples in the Virtual Factory** -- Use real topic paths and table names from the infrastructure described above
5. **Keep code simple and readable** -- This is teaching code, prioritize clarity over optimization
---
## GitHub Repository
**Public:** https://github.com/iiot-university/MCP_A2A_Workshop
Code is published at the end of each day for students to clone and reference.
---
## Resources
- [MCP Documentation](https://modelcontextprotocol.io)
- [Anthropic MCP GitHub](https://github.com/anthropics/anthropic-cookbook/tree/main/misc/model_context_protocol)
- [Paho MQTT Python](https://eclipse.dev/paho/files/paho.mqtt.python/html/)
- [HiveMQ MQTT Essentials](https://www.hivemq.com/mqtt-essentials/)
- [ISA-95 Standard](https://www.isa.org/isa95)
---
## License
MIT License - See LICENSE file for details.
