Quickstart

Install your first MCP server with add-mcp in under a minute.

add-mcp runs with npx (or bunx) — there’s nothing to install first. Node.js 18 or newer is required.

Install a remote MCP server

Pass a server URL and add-mcp does the rest:

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

The CLI detects the agents configured in your project (.cursor/, .vscode/, .mcp.json, …), preselects them, and lets you confirm or adjust the selection. It then writes the server into each agent’s own config file and format.

Install an npm package (stdio server)

Local stdio servers work the same way — pass the package name:

npx add-mcp @modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres

The server is registered to run via npx in each agent’s config.

Find a server by keyword

Don’t know the URL? Search the registry from the terminal:

npx add-mcp find neon

Pick a result, and add-mcp installs it with the right transport (it prefers streamable HTTP remotes and falls back to packages) — including prompting for any required environment variables or headers.

Common variations

# Install globally (user-level config) instead of the project
npx add-mcp https://mcp.example.com/mcp -g

# Target specific agents
npx add-mcp https://mcp.example.com/mcp -a cursor -a claude-code

# Non-interactive (CI-friendly): no prompts
npx add-mcp https://mcp.example.com/mcp -y

# With an auth header
npx add-mcp https://mcp.example.com/mcp --header 'Authorization: Bearer ${TOKEN}'

# With env vars for a stdio server
npx add-mcp @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem --env "API_KEY=secret"

Project vs. global scope

When every selected agent supports both scopes, interactive mode asks which one you want. -g always forces global, and -y stays deterministic.

Next steps

• CLI reference — all commands: add, find, list, remove, sync.
• Supported agents — the full agent table with config paths.
• SDK — install MCP servers from your own tool.