MCP Clients

Every MCP-compatible client with setup guides and configuration docs.

Cursor

AI-first code editor with built-in MCP support for tool use in chat and agent mode.

~/.cursor/mcp.json

Claude Desktop

Anthropic's desktop app with native MCP integration for connecting Claude to local tools.

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

VS Code

GitHub Copilot in VS Code supports MCP servers via .vscode/mcp.json (workspace) or the user-profile mcp.json. Top-level JSON key is `servers`.

.vscode/mcp.json

Claude Code

Anthropic's CLI coding agent. Add MCP servers via `claude mcp add --scope project|user|local`. Project-scoped servers write to .mcp.json at the project root; user/local-scoped servers write to ~/.claude.json.

.mcp.json

Windsurf

Codeium's AI IDE with Cascade agent supporting MCP server connections.

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

Codex

OpenAI's coding agent (CLI, IDE, Cloud) with MCP server support — all surfaces share ~/.codex/config.toml.

~/.codex/config.toml

Gemini CLI

Google's CLI for Gemini models with MCP server integration.

~/.gemini/settings.json

ChatGPT

OpenAI's ChatGPT supports remote MCP servers via the Connectors feature.

Settings > Connectors

Zed

High-performance code editor with native MCP support in the assistant panel.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

opencode

Open-source terminal coding agent from the SST team. MCP servers go in the `mcp` block of opencode.json — `"type": "local"` with a command array for stdio servers, `"type": "remote"` with a URL for hosted ones. A project-root opencode.json overrides the global config.

~/.config/opencode/opencode.json

Cline

Open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code with a built-in MCP marketplace for one-click installs. In VS Code, servers live in cline_mcp_settings.json — easiest to open via the Cline panel: MCP Servers icon → Configure MCP Servers. The standalone Cline CLI reads ~/.cline/mcp.json instead. Both use the standard mcpServers shape plus Cline's `disabled` and `autoApprove` fields.

~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json

Goose

Block's open-source AI agent where every extension IS an MCP server. Add servers interactively with `goose configure` → Add Extension (Command-line for stdio, Remote for Streamable HTTP), or edit the extensions block in config.yaml directly.

~/.config/goose/config.yaml