Connect an MCP server to Claude

Three Claude surfaces, three setups. Which one you need depends on the server: remote servers take a URL, local servers take a launch command. Every brand page here tells you which kind you're dealing with.

Remote servers — claude.ai and Claude Desktop

Remote servers live at a URL like mcp.linear.app/mcp and are run by the vendor. Nothing to install:

1. Open Settings → Connectors
2. Click Add custom connector
3. Paste the server URL
4. Complete the sign-in prompt the vendor shows you
5. In a chat, enable the connector from the search-and-tools menu

Requires a paid plan. On team and enterprise workspaces an admin may need to allow custom connectors first.

Servers you can add this way right now: fal.ai, Atlassian, Datadog, Buffer, Google Drive, Confluence.

Local servers — Claude Desktop

Local servers ship as npm or PyPI packages and run as a subprocess on your machine. They're declared in claude_desktop_config.json, which you open via Settings → Developer → Edit Config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "example": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vendor/mcp-server"],
      "env": { "VENDOR_API_KEY": "sk-…" }
    }
  }
}

Python servers use uvx instead of npx. The exact package name, the arguments and which environment variables it needs come from that server's README — linked from every verdict page here. Quit and reopen Claude Desktop after saving; the tools icon appears at the bottom right of the input box.

Claude Code MCP

Claude Code configures MCP from the terminal — one claude mcp add command in all its variants:

# remote (hosted) server
claude mcp add --transport http linear https://mcp.linear.app/mcp

# local (stdio) server — everything after -- is the launch command
claude mcp add example -- npx -y @vendor/mcp-server

# local server with an API key
claude mcp add example --env VENDOR_API_KEY=sk-… -- npx -y @vendor/mcp-server

# manage what's connected
claude mcp list
claude mcp get example
claude mcp remove example

Inside a session, /mcp shows each server's connection status and is where you complete the OAuth sign-in for remote servers that need one.

Scopes: local, project, user

Every server lands in one of three scopes. The default, local, is private to you in the current project. --scope user makes it available in every project on your machine — right for personal utilities. --scope project writes it to a .mcp.json at the repo root, which is the one you commit: everyone who checks out the project gets the same servers, and secrets stay in each person's own environment variables.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "example": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@vendor/mcp-server"],
      "env": { "VENDOR_API_KEY": "${VENDOR_API_KEY}" }
    }
  }
}

When it doesn't work

To see why a local server is failing, run its command directly in a terminal — the error it prints there is the one Claude is swallowing.

A word on trust

An MCP server runs with the credentials you give it and sees the data those credentials unlock. For official servers that's the same trust you already extend to the vendor. For community servers it isn't — it's unaudited third-party code. Prefer official servers where they exist, and give community ones scoped, revocable keys. See which brands have official servers →

Questions