Connect Claude Code to tools via MCP

Claude Code can connect to hundreds of external tools and data sources through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source standard for AI-tool integrations. MCP servers give Claude Code access to your tools, databases, and APIs.

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What you can do with MCP

With MCP servers connected, you can ask Claude Code to:

• Implement features from issue trackers: “Add the feature described in JIRA issue ENG-4521 and create a PR on GitHub.”
• Analyze monitoring data: “Check Sentry and Statsig to check the usage of the feature described in ENG-4521.”
• Query databases: “Find emails of 10 random users who used feature ENG-4521, based on our Postgres database.”
• Integrate designs: “Update our standard email template based on the new Figma designs that were posted in Slack”
• Automate workflows: “Create Gmail drafts inviting these 10 users to a feedback session about the new feature.”

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Popular MCP servers

Here are some commonly used MCP servers you can connect to Claude Code:

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Installing MCP servers

MCP servers can be configured in three different ways depending on your needs:

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Option 1: Add a local stdio server

Stdio servers run as local processes on your machine. They’re ideal for tools that need direct system access or custom scripts.

# Basic syntax
claude mcp add <name> <command> [args...]

# Real example: Add Airtable server
claude mcp add airtable --env AIRTABLE_API_KEY=YOUR_KEY \
  -- npx -y airtable-mcp-server

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Option 2: Add a remote SSE server

SSE (Server-Sent Events) servers provide real-time streaming connections. Many cloud services use this for live updates.

# Basic syntax
claude mcp add --transport sse <name> <url>

# Real example: Connect to Linear
claude mcp add --transport sse linear https://mcp.linear.app/sse

# Example with authentication header
claude mcp add --transport sse private-api https://api.company.com/mcp \
  --header "X-API-Key: your-key-here"

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Option 3: Add a remote HTTP server

HTTP servers use standard request/response patterns. Most REST APIs and web services use this transport.

# Basic syntax
claude mcp add --transport http <name> <url>

# Real example: Connect to Notion
claude mcp add --transport http notion https://mcp.notion.com/mcp

# Example with Bearer token
claude mcp add --transport http secure-api https://api.example.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer your-token"

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Managing your servers

Once configured, you can manage your MCP servers with these commands:

# List all configured servers
claude mcp list

# Get details for a specific server
claude mcp get github

# Remove a server
claude mcp remove github

# (within Claude Code) Check server status
/mcp

# This creates command="cmd" which Windows can execute
claude mcp add my-server -- cmd /c npx -y @some/package

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MCP installation scopes

MCP servers can be configured at three different scope levels, each serving distinct purposes for managing server accessibility and sharing. Understanding these scopes helps you determine the best way to configure servers for your specific needs.

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Local scope

Local-scoped servers represent the default configuration level and are stored in your project-specific user settings. These servers remain private to you and are only accessible when working within the current project directory. This scope is ideal for personal development servers, experimental configurations, or servers containing sensitive credentials that shouldn’t be shared.

# Add a local-scoped server (default)
claude mcp add my-private-server /path/to/server

# Explicitly specify local scope
claude mcp add my-private-server --scope local /path/to/server

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Project scope

Project-scoped servers enable team collaboration by storing configurations in a .mcp.json file at your project’s root directory. This file is designed to be checked into version control, ensuring all team members have access to the same MCP tools and services. When you add a project-scoped server, Claude Code automatically creates or updates this file with the appropriate configuration structure.

# Add a project-scoped server
claude mcp add shared-server --scope project /path/to/server

The resulting .mcp.json file follows a standardized format:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shared-server": {
      "command": "/path/to/server",
      "args": [],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

For security reasons, Claude Code prompts for approval before using project-scoped servers from .mcp.json files. If you need to reset these approval choices, use the claude mcp reset-project-choices command.

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User scope

User-scoped servers provide cross-project accessibility, making them available across all projects on your machine while remaining private to your user account. This scope works well for personal utility servers, development tools, or services you frequently use across different projects.

# Add a user server
claude mcp add my-user-server --scope user /path/to/server

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Choosing the right scope

Select your scope based on:

• Local scope: Personal servers, experimental configurations, or sensitive credentials specific to one project
• Project scope: Team-shared servers, project-specific tools, or services required for collaboration
• User scope: Personal utilities needed across multiple projects, development tools, or frequently-used services

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Scope hierarchy and precedence

MCP server configurations follow a clear precedence hierarchy. When servers with the same name exist at multiple scopes, the system resolves conflicts by prioritizing local-scoped servers first, followed by project-scoped servers, and finally user-scoped servers. This design ensures that personal configurations can override shared ones when needed.

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Environment variable expansion in .mcp.json

Claude Code supports environment variable expansion in .mcp.json files, allowing teams to share configurations while maintaining flexibility for machine-specific paths and sensitive values like API keys.

Supported syntax:

• ${VAR} - Expands to the value of environment variable VAR
• ${VAR:-default} - Expands to VAR if set, otherwise uses default

Expansion locations: Environment variables can be expanded in:

• command - The server executable path
• args - Command-line arguments
• env - Environment variables passed to the server
• url - For SSE/HTTP server types
• headers - For SSE/HTTP server authentication

Example with variable expansion:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "api-server": {
      "type": "sse",
      "url": "${API_BASE_URL:-https://api.example.com}/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

If a required environment variable is not set and has no default value, Claude Code will fail to parse the config.

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Practical examples

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Example: Monitor errors with Sentry

# 1. Add the Sentry MCP server
claude mcp add --transport http sentry https://mcp.sentry.dev/mcp

# 2. Use /mcp to authenticate with your Sentry account
> /mcp

# 3. Debug production issues
> "What are the most common errors in the last 24 hours?"
> "Show me the stack trace for error ID abc123"
> "Which deployment introduced these new errors?"

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Authenticate with remote MCP servers

Many cloud-based MCP servers require authentication. Claude Code supports OAuth 2.0 for secure connections.

claude mcp add --transport http sentry https://mcp.sentry.dev/mcp

> /mcp

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Add MCP servers from JSON configuration

If you have a JSON configuration for an MCP server, you can add it directly:

# Basic syntax
claude mcp add-json <name> '<json>'

# Example: Adding a stdio server with JSON configuration
claude mcp add-json weather-api '{"type":"stdio","command":"/path/to/weather-cli","args":["--api-key","abc123"],"env":{"CACHE_DIR":"/tmp"}}'

claude mcp get weather-api

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Import MCP servers from Claude Desktop

If you’ve already configured MCP servers in Claude Desktop, you can import them:

# Basic syntax 
claude mcp add-from-claude-desktop 

claude mcp list 

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Use Claude Code as an MCP server

You can use Claude Code itself as an MCP server that other applications can connect to:

# Start Claude as a stdio MCP server
claude mcp serve

You can use this in Claude Desktop by adding this configuration to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-code": {
      "command": "claude",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

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Use MCP resources

MCP servers can expose resources that you can reference using @ mentions, similar to how you reference files.

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Reference MCP resources

> Can you analyze @github:issue://123 and suggest a fix?

> Please review the API documentation at @docs:file://api/authentication

> Compare @postgres:schema://users with @docs:file://database/user-model

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Use MCP prompts as slash commands

MCP servers can expose prompts that become available as slash commands in Claude Code.

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Execute MCP prompts

> /mcp__github__list_prs

> /mcp__github__pr_review 456

> /mcp__jira__create_issue "Bug in login flow" high