Add MCP servers to your favorite coding agents with a single command.

Supports Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, VSCode and 9 more.

Install an MCP server by remote URL or package name:

npx add-mcp url | package name [options]

Example installing the Context7 remote MCP server:

npx add-mcp https://mcp.context7.com/mcp

You can add env variables and arguments (stdio) and headers (remote) to the server config using the --env, --args and --header options.

Find and install MCP servers from the add-mcp curated registry and/or the official Anthropic MCP registry:

npx add-mcp find vercel

When running find/search for the first time, the CLI prompts you to choose which registries to enable (add-mcp curated registry and/or official Anthropic registry). You can also add custom registries to the configuration file.

MCP servers can be installed to any of these agents:

Aliases: cline-vscode → cline, gemini → gemini-cli, github-copilot → vscode

The CLI automatically detects agents based on your environment:

Default (project mode):

• Detects project-level config files (.cursor/, .vscode/, .mcp.json, etc.)
• Selects detected agents (have project config in the current directory) by default
• Shows detected agents plus all other supported agents for selection

With -g (global mode):

• Detects all globally-installed agents (including Claude Desktop, Codex, Zed)
• Selects detected agents by default
• Shows detected agents plus all other supported agents for selection

No agents detected:

• Interactive mode: Defaults to the last selection and shows all agents for selection
• With --yes: Installs to all project-capable agents (project mode) or all global-capable agents (global mode)

Besides the implicit add command, add-mcp also supports the following commands:

# Remote MCP server (streamable HTTP)
npx add-mcp https://mcp.example.com/mcp

# Remote MCP server (SSE transport)
npx add-mcp https://mcp.example.com/sse --transport sse

# Remote MCP server with auth header
npx add-mcp https://mcp.example.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

# npm package (runs via npx)
npx add-mcp @modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres

# Non-interactive installation to all detected agents in the project directory
npx add-mcp https://mcp.example.com/mcp -y

# Non-interactive installation to the global Claude Code config
npx add-mcp https://mcp.example.com/mcp -g -a claude-code -y

# Full command with arguments
npx add-mcp "npx -y @org/mcp-server --flag value"

# Node.js script
npx add-mcp "node /path/to/server.js --port 3000"

# Local stdio server with environment variables (repeatable)
npx add-mcp @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem --env "API_KEY=secret" --env "DATABASE_URL=postgres://localhost/app"

# Install for Cursor and Claude Code
npx add-mcp https://mcp.example.com/mcp -a cursor -a claude-code

# Install with custom server name
npx add-mcp @modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres --name postgres

# Install to all supported agents
npx add-mcp mcp-server-github --all

# Install to all agents, globally, without prompts
npx add-mcp mcp-server-github --all -g -y

# Add generated config files to .gitignore
npx add-mcp https://mcp.example.com/mcp -a cursor -y --gitignore

add-mcp supports all three transport types: HTTP, SSE, and stdio. Some agents require type option to be set to specify the transport type. You can use the --type or --transport option to specify the transport type:

Local servers (npm packages, commands) always use stdio transport.

Note that most agents like Cursor and opencode do not require the type information to be set.

# Search for servers by keyword and choose one interactively
npx add-mcp find vercel

# Browse servers without a keyword
npx add-mcp find

# Use search alias (same as find)
npx add-mcp search notion

# Install a found server globally to a specific agent without prompts
npx add-mcp find neon -a claude-code -g -y

# Install to all agents and add generated project configs to .gitignore
npx add-mcp find github --all --gitignore

Transport for find/search is inferred from registry metadata. The CLI prefers HTTP remotes when available and only falls back to SSE when HTTP is not available for the selected install context.

When a server offers both remote and stdio package options, interactive mode lets you choose one (remote is the default). With -y, it auto-selects remote.

If a selected remote server defines URL variables or header inputs:

• required values must be provided
• optional values can be skipped with Enter
• with -y, placeholders are inserted (for example <your-header-value-here>)

The first time you run find or search, the CLI prompts you to choose which registries to enable. Your selection is saved to ~/.config/add-mcp/config.json (respects XDG_CONFIG_HOME) and reused on every subsequent search.

If you run with -y before this one-time registry setup is completed, the CLI exits with guidance to rerun without --yes.

The source of truth for the add-mcp curated registry is registry.json in this repository. You can contribute to the registry by opening a pull request to add or update a server.

Registry selections are stored in ~/.config/add-mcp/config.json under the findRegistries key. You can edit this file directly to add, remove, or reorder registries:

{
  "version": 1,
  "findRegistries": [
    {
      "url": "https://mcp.agent-tooling.dev/api/v1/servers",
      "label": "add-mcp curated registry"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0.1/servers",
      "label": "Official Anthropic registry"
    }
  ]
}

To reset and re-trigger the interactive selection prompt, remove the findRegistries key (or delete the file entirely).

Any server that implements the registry API can be added as a custom entry. The CLI sends a GET request to the configured url with the following query parameters:

The endpoint must return JSON in this shape:

{
  "servers": [
    {
      "server": {
        "name": "example-server",
        "description": "An example MCP server",
        "version": "1.0.0",
        "remotes": [
          {
            "type": "streamable-http",
            "url": "https://mcp.example.com/mcp"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

To add your own registry, append an entry to findRegistries in ~/.config/add-mcp/config.json:

{
  "url": "https://my-registry.example.com/api/v1/servers",
  "label": "My custom registry"
}

Some agents & editors like Claude Code require a restart to load the new MCP server. Otherwise, like Cursor, require you to navigate to the MCP settings page and toggle the new server as enabled.