Setup guides
How to add a server in each app, and what to check before you do.
What is an MCP server?An MCP server is a small program that gives an AI assistant something it cannot do on its own: read your files, query a database, drive a browser, file a Jira ticket. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the shared plug that lets any assistant use any of these servers.Adding MCP servers to Claude CodeClaude Code manages MCP servers with one command, claude mcp add. You never have to open a JSON file unless you want to share servers with your team. Here is the short version, then the details that catch people out.Adding MCP servers to CursorCursor reads MCP servers from a file called mcp.json. You can edit it from Cursor Settings or open it directly. Both end up in the same place.Where Cursor keeps mcp.jsonThere are two mcp.json files. One lives in your home folder and applies everywhere; the other lives inside a project.Adding MCP servers to Claude DesktopClaude Desktop reads local MCP servers from claude_desktop_config.json. Remote servers can also be added as connectors in Settings without touching the file.Using MCP servers in ChatGPTChatGPT does not run programs on your computer, so it can only use MCP servers that someone hosts at a URL. If a server only gives you an npx or uvx command, use Claude, Cursor or another desktop client for it instead.Checking an MCP server before you install itA local MCP server is a program running as you, with your files, your network and whatever tokens you give it. An assistant decides when to call it. That is worth a few minutes of checking.Remote or local: two ways to run an MCP serverEvery server on MCP Shelf runs one of two ways, and some run both. The choice decides who holds your data and what you have to install.