Client Setup

Different MCP clients support different transport types. Choose the tab for your client below.

Claude Desktop
Claude Code
Cursor / VSCode
Claude Web

Claude Desktop supports stdio (local process) and remote URL transports.Config file location:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Local (stdio) — runs your server as a local process:

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-api": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["./dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "AUTH_STRATEGY": "bearer",
        "BEARER_TOKEN": "your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Remote (URL) — connects to a deployed server over HTTP:

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-api": {
      "url": "https://your-server.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code uses stdio transport only.Config file location: ~/.claude/settings.json

settings.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-api": {
      "command": "bun",
      "args": ["run", "./src/index.ts"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor and VSCode support stdio and SSE transports.Config file location:

Cursor: mcp.json in your project root
VSCode: .vscode/mcp.json

mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-api": {
      "url": "https://your-server.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Web connects to MCP servers via Custom Connectors. The connector uses OAuth for authentication and connects over HTTP/SSE.Adding a connector:

Pro/Max plans: Go to Customize > Connectors, click ”+”, then “Add custom connector”.
Team/Enterprise: An owner adds the connector under Organization settings > Connectors. Members can then connect to it.

Connector configuration:

{
  "url": "https://your-mcp-server.com/mcp",
  "auth": {
    "type": "oauth",
    "clientId": "your-client-id",
    "clientSecret": "your-client-secret"
  }
}

Network requirements:

Your server must be publicly accessible from the internet. Localhost URLs are not supported.
Claude connects from Anthropic’s cloud infrastructure, not from your local machine.
If your server has a firewall, allowlist Anthropic’s IP addresses.

Only connect to servers you trust. Review the permissions requested during OAuth authorization and disable any tools you don’t need.

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Core Concepts

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Configuration