Managing MCP Servers

Comprehensive guidance for managing MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers in Claude Code.

Overview

MCP servers extend Claude Code's capabilities by providing additional tools, resources, and prompts. They can be configured at three scopes:

• project (.mcp.json in project root) - PREFERRED: Project-specific servers (committed to version control)
• local (~/.config/claude/mcp.json) - Local machine configuration
• user (~/.claude/mcp.json) - Available globally across all projects

Default Recommendation

🎯 Always add MCP servers to project scope (--scope project) unless you have a specific reason to use local or user scope.

Benefits of project scope:

• ✅ Team consistency - everyone uses the same tools
• ✅ Self-documenting - .mcp.json shows what tools the project needs
• ✅ Easy onboarding - new team members get tools automatically
• ✅ Version controlled - changes are tracked in git
• ✅ Reproducible - same setup across all environments

Only use user scope for truly personal productivity tools unrelated to development (e.g., personal task managers). Development tools, documentation servers, testing frameworks, etc. should all be in project scope.

Transport Types

MCP servers support three transport mechanisms:

1. stdio - Standard input/output (most common, e.g., npx commands)
2. sse - Server-Sent Events over HTTP
3. http - HTTP-based communication

Commands

List Servers

claude mcp list

Shows all configured MCP servers with health status:

• ✓ Connected
• ⚠ Needs authentication
• ✗ Failed to connect

Add Server

stdio Transport (Default)

# Basic stdio server
claude mcp add <name> <command> [args...]

# With environment variables
claude mcp add <name> --env KEY1=value1 --env KEY2=value2 -- <command> [args...]

# Specify scope explicitly
claude mcp add --scope user <name> <command> [args...]
claude mcp add --scope local <name> <command> [args...]
claude mcp add --scope project <name> <command> [args...]

Examples:

# Playwright MCP server (project scope - DEFAULT)
claude mcp add --scope project playwright npx @playwright/mcp@latest

# Airtable with API key (project scope with env var)
claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope project airtable \
  --env AIRTABLE_API_KEY="${AIRTABLE_API_KEY}" -- npx -y airtable-mcp-server

# Context7 with API key (project scope - team uses same docs)
claude mcp add --scope project context7 \
  --env UPSTASH_API_KEY="${UPSTASH_API_KEY}" -- npx -y @upstash/context7-mcp

Important: Use -- separator before the command when using --env or other flags to prevent argument parsing conflicts.

SSE Transport

# Basic SSE server
claude mcp add --transport sse <name> <url>

# With custom headers
claude mcp add --transport sse <name> --header "X-Api-Key: abc123" <url>

# With multiple headers
claude mcp add --transport sse <name> \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer token" \
  --header "X-Custom: value" \
  <url>

Examples:

# Asana MCP server
claude mcp add --transport sse asana https://mcp.asana.com/sse

# Atlassian with authentication
claude mcp add --transport sse atlassian \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  https://mcp.atlassian.com/v1/sse

# Custom SSE server with headers
claude mcp add --transport sse --scope project myserver \
  --header "X-Api-Key: secret123" \
  https://example.com/mcp/sse

HTTP Transport

# Basic HTTP server
claude mcp add --transport http <name> <url>

# With custom headers
claude mcp add --transport http <name> --header "X-Api-Key: abc123" <url>

Examples:

# Sentry MCP server
claude mcp add --transport http sentry https://mcp.sentry.dev/mcp

# Custom HTTP server with authentication
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user analytics \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  https://analytics.example.com/mcp

Add Server from JSON

For complex configurations, you can add servers using JSON:

claude mcp add-json <name> '<json-config>'

Examples:

# stdio server JSON
claude mcp add-json myserver '{
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "@my/mcp-server"],
  "env": {
    "API_KEY": "secret",
    "DEBUG": "true"
  }
}'

# SSE server JSON
claude mcp add-json myserver '{
  "url": "https://example.com/sse",
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer token",
    "X-Custom": "value"
  }
}'

# With scope
claude mcp add-json --scope project myserver '{"command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-server"]}'

Remove Server

# Remove from any scope (auto-detects)
claude mcp remove <name>

# Remove from specific scope
claude mcp remove --scope user <name>
claude mcp remove --scope local <name>
claude mcp remove --scope project <name>

Get Server Details

claude mcp get <name>

Shows detailed configuration for a specific MCP server.

Import from Claude Desktop

# Import all servers from Claude Desktop config
claude mcp add-from-claude-desktop

# Import to specific scope
claude mcp add-from-claude-desktop --scope user

Note: Only works on Mac and WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).

Reset Project Choices

claude mcp reset-project-choices

Resets all approved and rejected project-scoped (.mcp.json) servers within the current project. Useful when you want to re-evaluate which project servers to enable.

Start MCP Server

# Start Claude Code MCP server
claude mcp serve

# With debug output
claude mcp serve --debug

# With verbose logging
claude mcp serve --verbose

Scope Selection Guide

DEFAULT: Always prefer project scope unless there's a specific reason not to.

When to use project scope (.mcp.json) - PREFERRED

• DEFAULT CHOICE: Most MCP servers should be configured here
• Project-specific integrations and tools
• Servers required by the project team
• Shared configuration committed to version control
• Ensures consistency across team members
• Self-documenting - team can see what tools the project uses
• Makes onboarding easier for new developers

When to use local scope (~/.config/claude/mcp.json)

• Machine-specific configurations (paths, local services)
• Servers with machine-specific credentials that shouldn't be shared
• Local development servers running on your machine
• Testing MCP servers before adding to project

When to use user scope (~/.claude/mcp.json)

• ONLY for truly personal tools that you use across ALL projects
• Personal productivity tools unrelated to any specific project
• Your personal integrations (e.g., your personal task manager)
• AVOID using for development tools - these should be in project scope

Best Practices

Security

1. Never commit secrets to .mcp.json - Use environment variables instead:

   claude mcp add --scope project myserver \
     --env API_KEY="${MY_API_KEY}" -- npx mcp-server
   

2. Use headers for authentication with remote servers:

   claude mcp add --transport sse myserver \
     --header "Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}" \
     https://api.example.com/sse
   

3. Store sensitive servers in user/local scope rather than project scope

Organization

1. Use meaningful names - github-prod instead of gh1
2. Document project servers - Add comments to .mcp.json explaining what each server does
3. Keep scopes clean - Regularly run claude mcp list and remove unused servers

Debugging

1. Check health first: claude mcp list shows connection status
2. Test with debug mode: claude mcp serve --debug
3. Verify configuration: claude mcp get <name>

Common Patterns

Development vs Production

# Development (project scope - DEFAULT for team)
claude mcp add --scope project myapp-dev \
  --env API_URL=http://localhost:3000 -- npx myapp-mcp

# Production (project scope - team uses same production tools)
claude mcp add --scope project myapp-prod \
  --env API_URL=https://api.myapp.com -- npx myapp-mcp

# Personal testing (local scope - before adding to project)
claude mcp add --scope local myapp-test \
  --env API_URL=http://localhost:4000 -- npx myapp-mcp

Team-Shared Servers

Add to .mcp.json (project scope) without secrets:

# In project, commit this to git
claude mcp add --scope project team-tool \
  --env TOOL_API_KEY=SET_THIS_IN_YOUR_ENV -- npx team-tool-mcp

Then team members set their own credentials:

export TOOL_API_KEY=their_personal_key

Multi-Environment Setup

# Local development (project scope - team default)
claude mcp add --scope project db-local \
  --env DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/dev -- npx db-mcp

# Staging (project scope - team shares staging)
claude mcp add --scope project db-staging \
  --env DATABASE_URL="${STAGING_DB_URL}" -- npx db-mcp

# Production (project scope - team uses with env vars for credentials)
claude mcp add --scope project db-prod \
  --env DATABASE_URL="${PROD_DB_URL}" -- npx db-mcp

Troubleshooting

Server won't connect

1. Check if command exists: which npx or test the URL
2. Verify environment variables are set: echo $API_KEY
3. Test transport independently:
   • stdio: Run the command manually
   • SSE/HTTP: curl -N <url> to test connection

Headers not working

Headers only work with --transport sse or --transport http, not stdio:

# ✗ Wrong - headers don't apply to stdio
claude mcp add myserver --header "X-Key: val" npx server

# ✓ Correct - use env vars for stdio
claude mcp add myserver --env API_KEY=val -- npx server

# ✓ Correct - headers work with sse/http
claude mcp add --transport sse myserver --header "X-Key: val" https://url

Scope confusion

If unsure which scope contains a server:

# List all servers
claude mcp list

# Get specific server details
claude mcp get <name>

# Remove without specifying scope (auto-detects)
claude mcp remove <name>

Examples by Use Case

Note: All examples default to project scope (--scope project) to promote team consistency. Only use user or local scope when there's a specific need.

Adding a public MCP server

# Playwright for browser automation (project scope - team tool)
claude mcp add --scope project playwright npx @playwright/mcp@latest

# Context7 for documentation (project scope - team tool)
claude mcp add --scope project context7 npx -y @upstash/context7-mcp

# Personal productivity tool (user scope exception)
claude mcp add --scope user my-personal-notes npx my-notes-mcp

Adding a private authenticated server

# SSE with API key header (project scope - team members set their own key)
claude mcp add --transport sse --scope project mycompany \
  --header "X-Api-Key: ${MY_API_KEY}" \
  https://mcp.mycompany.com/sse

# stdio with environment variable (project scope - use env vars for secrets)
claude mcp add --scope project myapp \
  --env API_TOKEN="${MYAPP_TOKEN}" -- npx @myapp/mcp-server

# Local testing (local scope - before adding to project)
claude mcp add --scope local myapp-test \
  --env API_TOKEN="test_token" -- npx @myapp/mcp-server

Adding project-specific server

# Project database tools (team should set their own DB_URL)
claude mcp add --scope project db-tools \
  --env DATABASE_URL="${DATABASE_URL}" -- npx prisma-mcp

# Project-specific API (committed to .mcp.json)
claude mcp add --scope project project-api \
  --transport sse \
  https://api.thisproject.com/mcp/sse

Quick Reference

Command	Purpose
claude mcp list	Show all servers and health
claude mcp add	Add new server
claude mcp remove	Remove server
claude mcp get	Show server details
claude mcp add-json	Add server from JSON
claude mcp serve	Start Claude Code MCP server
claude mcp reset-project-choices	Reset project server approvals

Scope	Location	Use For
project ⭐	.mcp.json	DEFAULT: Project team servers (preferred)
local	~/.config/claude/mcp.json	Machine-specific config, testing
user	~/.claude/mcp.json	Personal tools only (avoid for dev tools)

Transport	Flag	Use For
stdio	Default or --transport stdio	Local commands (npx, node, python)
sse	--transport sse	Server-Sent Events servers
http	--transport http	HTTP API servers