What is add-mcp?

add-mcp is a command-line tool that streamlines MCP (Model Context Protocol) server installation across different coding agents and editors. Inspired by Vercel's add-skill tool, it solves a real pain point: each editor and coding agent stores MCP configurations differently, requiring developers to manually configure the same server multiple times.

How It Works

The tool operates with a single command syntax. To install an MCP server, users simply run:

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

or for npm-published servers:

npx add-mcp next-devtools-mcp@latest

The CLI automatically:

• Detects which coding agents are installed on your system
• Identifies which agents are configured in your project
• Writes correct configuration files for each tool
• Supports both project-level and global installations

Supported Environments

add-mcp v1 supports installation across:

• Claude Code and Claude Desktop
• Cursor
• VS Code
• Codex
• Gemini CLI
• Goose
• OpenCode
• Zed

Users can explicitly target specific agents with the -a flag or use -y to skip all interactive prompts.

Key Features

Flexible configuration options:

• Project-level or global installation (-g flag)
• Selective agent targeting (-a cursor -a claude-code)
• Non-interactive mode for automation (-y flag)

For MCP maintainers: add-mcp is designed as a shared ecosystem building block, reducing documentation burden and standardizing installation experiences across the growing MCP ecosystem.