MCP & A2A Workshop

Advanced MCP and Agent-to-Agent Workshop
IIoT University — December 16-17, 2025

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Workshop Overview

A hands-on 2-day 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.

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Quick Start

Prerequisites

1. Clone & Configure

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/iiot-university/MCP_A2A_Workshop.git
cd MCP_A2A_Workshop

# Copy environment template
cp .env.example .env

# Edit .env with your Virtual Factory credentials
# Required variables:
#   MQTT_BROKER, MQTT_PORT, MQTT_USERNAME, MQTT_PASSWORD
#   MYSQL_HOST, MYSQL_PORT, MYSQL_USERNAME, MYSQL_PASSWORD

2. Day 1 Setup — MCP Servers

# Setup each MCP server (creates venv, installs dependencies)
cd day1/mqtt_server && python3 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate && pip install -r requirements.txt && deactivate && cd ../..
cd day1/mysql_server && python3 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate && pip install -r requirements.txt && deactivate && cd ../..
cd day1/mes_server && python3 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate && pip install -r requirements.txt && deactivate && cd ../..

Then configure Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json) — see Day 1 section below.

3. Day 2 Setup — Docker & HTTP Servers

# Install Docker and N8N (see day2/setup/README.md for full guide)
docker run -d --name n8n --restart=always -p 5678:5678 -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n n8nio/n8n

# Make startup scripts executable (one time)
chmod +x start_servers.sh stop_servers.sh

# Start all Day 2 HTTP servers
./start_servers.sh

4. Verify Everything Works

# Check Day 2 HTTP servers
curl http://localhost:8001/health          # Production Agent
curl http://localhost:8002/health          # MES HTTP Server

# Check N8N
open http://localhost:5678

# Check MCP servers (in Claude Desktop)
# Ask: "What topics are available in the UNS?"
# Ask: "What is the current OEE for Press 103?"

5. Stop Everything

# Stop HTTP servers
./stop_servers.sh

# Stop N8N (optional)
docker stop n8n

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Port Assignments

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Project Structure

MCP_A2A_Workshop/
├── .env                    # Credentials (gitignored)
├── .env.example            # Template for credentials
├── start_servers.sh        # Start all HTTP servers
├── stop_servers.sh         # Stop all servers
├── README.md               # This file
│
├── day1/                   # Day 1: Advanced MCP
│   ├── mqtt_server/        # Session 2: MQTT/UNS access
│   ├── mysql_server/       # Session 3: MySQL access
│   ├── mes_server/         # Session 4: Domain MES server
│   └── use_cases/          # Session 4: Use case documentation
│
├── day2/                   # Day 2: Agent2Agent
│   ├── setup/              # Docker/N8N setup guide
│   ├── production_agent/   # Session 2: A2A Production Agent
│   └── n8n_integration/    # Session 3: N8N workflows
│
└── logs/                   # Server logs (auto-created)

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Day 1: Advanced MCP — Multi-Server Architectures

Build Python MCP servers that give Claude Desktop access to industrial data.

Sessions

What You’ll Build

1. MQTT MCP Server — Read/write to Unified Namespace
2. MySQL MCP Server — Query relational MES data
3. MES Domain Server — Manufacturing-focused tools for Press 103

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mqtt-uns": {
      "command": "/path/to/day1/mqtt_server/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/day1/mqtt_server/src/mqtt_mcp_server.py"]
    },
    "mysql-mes": {
      "command": "/path/to/day1/mysql_server/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/day1/mysql_server/src/mysql_mcp_server.py"]
    },
    "mes-press103": {
      "command": "/path/to/day1/mes_server/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/day1/mes_server/src/mes_mcp_server.py"]
    }
  }
}

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Day 2: Agent2Agent — Collaborative Intelligence

Expose MCP capabilities via HTTP and orchestrate with N8N workflows.

Sessions

What You’ll Build

1. Production Agent — A2A server exposing Press 103 data (port 8001)
2. MES HTTP Server — REST endpoints for N8N integration (port 8002)
3. N8N Workflows — Orchestrated multi-step agent workflows

N8N Workflows Included

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Virtual Factory Data Sources

All examples use the ProveIt! Conference virtual factory environments.

MQTT Broker (UNS)

MySQL Database

Press 103 Context

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Action Items

Video Content

• [ ] A2A Agent Integration Video — Document what was pulled from Day 2 Session 2-3 for standalone tutorial

Day 3: Containerization & Production (January 2026)

• [ ] Schedule session for first week of January
• [ ] Containerize MCP servers with Docker
• [ ] Containerize A2A agents
• [ ] Deploy to production infrastructure
• [ ] CI/CD pipeline setup

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Resources

• GitHub: github.com/iiot-university/MCP_A2A_Workshop
• MCP Documentation: modelcontextprotocol.io
• A2A Protocol: google.github.io/A2A
• N8N Documentation: docs.n8n.io

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License

MIT License — See LICENSE file for details.

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Instructor

Walker Reynolds
IIoT University
iiot.university