MCP clients & setup guides

How to add an MCP server to Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, VS Code, Windsurf, Codex, Cline and ChatGPT — plus the best servers documented for each client.

Cursor

Cursor reads MCP servers from mcp.json. Use a project file for team sharing or a global file for tools you want everywhere.

486 serversSetup guide + top picks

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop launches local MCP servers from a single JSON config file. Open it from Settings → Developer → Edit Config.

451 serversSetup guide + top picks

Claude Code

Claude Code manages MCP servers with the claude mcp CLI. Prefer the CLI over hand-editing JSON for local stdio servers.

429 serversSetup guide + top picks

Codex

OpenAI Codex (CLI, IDE extension, and ChatGPT desktop) shares MCP config in TOML — not JSON. The CLI can also add servers for you.

294 serversSetup guide + top picks

VS Code

VS Code (GitHub Copilot) configures MCP in mcp.json. Workspace files share configs with your team; user profile configs apply everywhere.

287 serversSetup guide + top picks

Windsurf

Windsurf’s Cascade agent loads MCP servers from mcp_config.json. Open the file from Cascade’s Actions menu so you always edit the path your build uses.

175 serversSetup guide + top picks

Cline

Cline (VS Code / JetBrains extension and Cline CLI) stores MCP servers under mcpServers in its settings JSON, or adds them via cline mcp.

131 serversSetup guide + top picks

ChatGPT

ChatGPT on the web connects to remote MCP servers as plugins. It does not run local stdio processes — you need a public HTTPS endpoint (or OpenAI’s Secure MCP Tunnel).

110 serversSetup guide + top picks

Prefer browsing by app? Integrations · Categories · All 845 servers.