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How to add an MCP server to Claude Desktop

Last verified against the official documentation linked below.

Claude Desktop starts local MCP servers from a JSON config file, and connects to remote (internet-hosted) servers through custom connectors. This guide follows the official Model Context Protocol walkthrough, using the reference Filesystem server as the example.

Before you start

Steps

  1. Open Claude Desktop's settings

    Click the Claude menu in your system's menu bar (not the settings inside the chat window) and choose Settings…

    Source: modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/develop/connect-local-servers

  2. Open the config file

    Go to the Developer tab and click Edit Config. This creates claude_desktop_config.json if it doesn't exist. On macOS it lives at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json; on Windows at %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json.

    Source: modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/develop/connect-local-servers

  3. Add the server under mcpServers

    Each entry has a name, the command that starts the server and its arguments. For the Filesystem server, the extra arguments are the folders it may access. Use absolute paths and replace username with your own.

    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
        "/Users/username/Desktop",
        "/Users/username/Downloads"
      ]
    }
  }
}

    Source: modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/develop/connect-local-servers

  4. Quit and restart Claude Desktop

    Save the file, then quit Claude Desktop completely and open it again so it loads the config and starts the server.

    Source: modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/develop/connect-local-servers

  5. Find the server's tools

    Click 'Add files, connectors, and more /' at the bottom left of the message box, hover over Connectors, choose Manage connectors and select your server to see its tools.

    Source: modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/develop/connect-local-servers

  6. For a remote server, add a custom connector instead

    Open Settings, choose Connectors, click Add and then 'Add custom connector'. Paste the server's https:// URL, click Add and complete the sign-in it asks for. You can then switch individual tools on or off in the connector's settings.

    Source: modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/develop/connect-remote-servers

Check it worked

Safety notes

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More guides

Sources: modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/develop/connect-local-servers · modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/develop/connect-remote-servers. Menus and file paths change between versions: if a step doesn't match what you see, follow the official page linked for that step.