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MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets Claude Code connect to external servers that expose tools and resources. When an MCP server is connected, its tools appear alongside Claude Code’s built-in tools and are available during every session. Use MCP servers to give Claude Code access to databases, internal APIs, external services, or any custom tool you build.

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Managing MCP servers

Open the MCP management interface with: 
/mcp
From this interface you can add, remove, enable, disable, and reconnect servers.

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Common subcommands

CommandDescription
/mcpOpen the MCP management UI
/mcp enable <name>Enable a specific server by name
/mcp disable <name>Disable a specific server by name
/mcp enable allEnable all configured servers
/mcp disable allDisable all configured servers
/mcp reconnect <name>Reconnect a server that has dropped

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Server types

Claude Code supports three transport types for MCP servers:
The server runs as a local child process. Claude Code spawns it and communicates over stdin/stdout. This is the most common type for local tools.
{
  "my-server": {
    "type": "stdio",
    "command": "node",
    "args": ["/path/to/server.js"],
    "env": {
      "DATABASE_URL": "postgres://localhost/mydb"
    }
  }
}
type is optional for stdio servers—omitting it defaults to stdio.
The server is a remote HTTP endpoint that uses Server-Sent Events. Use this for hosted or shared MCP servers.
{
  "remote-server": {
    "type": "sse",
    "url": "https://mcp.example.com/sse",
    "headers": {
      "Authorization": "Bearer <token>"
    }
  }
}
SSE servers support optional OAuth configuration for delegated authentication.
The server communicates over a persistent WebSocket connection. Suitable for low-latency or streaming tool responses.
{
  "ws-server": {
    "type": "ws",
    "url": "wss://mcp.example.com/ws",
    "headers": {
      "Authorization": "Bearer <token>"
    }
  }
}

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Configuration format

MCP server configuration is a JSON object where each key is the server name and the value is the server config. Configuration can live at two scopes:
  • Project scope — .claude/settings.json in your project directory (affects only that project)
  • User scope — ~/.claude/settings.json (available in all projects)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/home/user/projects"]
    },
    "github": {
      "type": "sse",
      "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/sse"
    }
  }
}

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Official MCP registry

Claude Code can browse and install servers from the official MCP registry. The registry is fetched at startup and updated automatically. To explore the registry, open the MCP management UI with /mcp and navigate to the Add server section.

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MCP authentication

Some MCP servers require their own authentication flow. Use the /mcp interface and select a server to initiate its auth flow. Claude Code stores the resulting credentials separately per server. For servers that support OAuth, the authorization flow opens in your browser, similar to the main Claude Code OAuth flow.

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Listing MCP resources

MCP servers can expose resources in addition to tools. Resources are files, documents, or data that Claude Code can read and include in context. To see available resources from connected servers, use: 
/mcp
Navigate to a connected server and select Resources.

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Scoped MCP servers

MCP servers are scoped to control where they are available:
ScopeWhere it applies
userAll projects for the current user (~/.claude/)
projectThe current project only (.claude/)
localCurrent session only (not persisted)
Project-scoped servers are committed with the project and shared with all contributors who have the same server available.

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Bundled plugins that use MCP

Some built-in Claude Code plugins expose their functionality as MCP servers internally. The GitHub and Slack integrations are examples—they register MCP servers automatically when the plugin is enabled. You do not need to configure these servers manually. See Plugins for more information on enabling bundled plugins.

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Troubleshooting

  1. Verify the command or url is correct and reachable from your machine.
  2. Check that all required environment variables are set in the env block of the server config.
  3. Run /mcp reconnect <name> to retry the connection.
  4. Run /doctor to check the overall health of your Claude Code setup.
  1. Confirm the server is listed as connected in /mcp.
  2. Check that the server is not disabled. Use /mcp enable <name> to re-enable it.
  3. Restart Claude Code if you recently added or modified the server configuration.
  1. Open /mcp and select the server.
  2. Use the auth option to re-run the authentication flow.
  3. Verify that headers containing tokens are still valid and not expired.

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