mcp-setup

name	mcp-setup
description	Model Context Protocol (MCP) server setup and integration for Claude and AI agents. Use when user asks to "setup MCP", "configure MCP server", "add MCP tools", "connect to MCP", "create MCP server", or integrate external tools via MCP protocol.

MCP Setup

Configure Model Context Protocol servers for Claude and AI agent integrations.

Claude Desktop Configuration

Config Location

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

Basic Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/path/to/allowed/dir"]
    },
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_xxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Popular MCP Servers

Filesystem

{
  "filesystem": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/me/projects"]
  }
}

GitHub

{
  "github": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
    "env": {
      "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_xxxx"
    }
  }
}

PostgreSQL

{
  "postgres": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres", "postgresql://user:pass@localhost/db"]
  }
}

SQLite

{
  "sqlite": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sqlite", "--db-path", "/path/to/db.sqlite"]
  }
}

Brave Search

{
  "brave-search": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"],
    "env": {
      "BRAVE_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
    }
  }
}

Slack

{
  "slack": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-slack"],
    "env": {
      "SLACK_BOT_TOKEN": "xoxb-xxxx",
      "SLACK_TEAM_ID": "T12345"
    }
  }
}

Custom MCP Server (Python)

Basic Structure

#!/usr/bin/env python3
from mcp.server import Server
from mcp.types import Tool, TextContent

server = Server("my-server")

@server.list_tools()
async def list_tools():
    return [
        Tool(
            name="my_tool",
            description="Does something useful",
            inputSchema={
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "query": {"type": "string", "description": "Input query"}
                },
                "required": ["query"]
            }
        )
    ]

@server.call_tool()
async def call_tool(name: str, arguments: dict):
    if name == "my_tool":
        result = process(arguments["query"])
        return [TextContent(type="text", text=result)]

if __name__ == "__main__":
    import asyncio
    asyncio.run(server.run())

Config for Custom Server

{
  "my-custom-server": {
    "command": "python",
    "args": ["/path/to/my_server.py"]
  }
}

Custom MCP Server (TypeScript)

Setup

npm init -y
npm install @modelcontextprotocol/sdk

Basic Server

import { Server } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/index.js";
import { StdioServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js";

const server = new Server({
  name: "my-server",
  version: "1.0.0"
}, {
  capabilities: { tools: {} }
});

server.setRequestHandler("tools/list", async () => ({
  tools: [{
    name: "my_tool",
    description: "Does something",
    inputSchema: {
      type: "object",
      properties: { query: { type: "string" } },
      required: ["query"]
    }
  }]
}));

server.setRequestHandler("tools/call", async (request) => {
  if (request.params.name === "my_tool") {
    return { content: [{ type: "text", text: "Result" }] };
  }
});

new StdioServerTransport().connect(server);

Debugging

Test Server Manually

# Run server directly
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /tmp

# Check logs (Claude Desktop)
tail -f ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log

Common Issues

1. Server not starting: Check command path and permissions
2. Auth errors: Verify env variables are set
3. Timeout: Server may be slow to initialize
4. Path issues: Use absolute paths

Reference

Full server list and advanced configuration: references/servers.md