/configure:mcp

Check and configure Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers for this project.

MCP Philosophy:

Servers are managed

project-by-project

(in

.mcp.json

), not user-scoped (in

~/.claude/settings.json

), to keep context clean and dependencies explicit.

For server configurations, environment variable reference, and report templates, see

REFERENCE.md

.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when...

Use another approach when...

Setting up MCP servers for a project

Configuring user-level settings (edit

~/.claude/settings.json

directly)

Checking MCP server status and validating configuration

Just viewing

.mcp.json

contents (use Read tool)

Adding specific servers (context7, playwright, sequential-thinking, etc.)

Installing npm/bun packages for non-MCP purposes (use package manager)

Ensuring team-shareable MCP setups

Personal-only MCP configuration (use

~/.claude/settings.json

)

Installing core productivity servers

Debugging specific server runtime issues (check server logs, restart Claude Code)

Context

Config exists: !

find . -maxdepth 1 -name \'.mcp.json\'

Installed servers: !

jq -r '.mcpServers' .mcp.json

Git tracking: !

grep '.mcp.json' .gitignore

Standards file: !

find . -maxdepth 1 -name \'.project-standards.yaml\'

Has playwright config: !

find . -maxdepth 1 -name 'playwright.config.*' -print -quit

Has TS/JS files: !

find . -maxdepth 2 ( -name '.ts' -o -name '.py' -o -name '.go' -o -name '.rs' ) -print -quit

Dotfiles registry: !

find . -maxdepth 1 -name \'~/.local/share/chezmoi/.chezmoidata.toml\'

Parameters

Parse these from

$ARGUMENTS

:

--check-only

Report current status, do not offer installation

--fix

Install servers without prompting for confirmation

--core

Install all core servers (

context7

,

sequential-thinking

)

--server

Install specific server by name (repeatable)

If no flags provided, run interactive mode (detect → report → offer to install).

Core Servers

These servers should be installed in

all projects

:

Server

Purpose

Env Vars

context7

Documentation context from Upstash

None

sequential-thinking

Enhanced reasoning and planning

None

Execution

Execute this MCP configuration workflow:

Step 1: Detect current state

Check the context values above. Determine:

Does

.mcp.json

exist? If yes, parse it and list all configured servers.

For each server, check its command type (

npx

,

bunx

,

uvx

,

go run

) and required env vars.

Flag any servers with missing required environment variables.

If

--check-only

, skip to Step 4 (report only).

Step 2: Identify servers to install

Based on the flags:

--core

Select

context7

and

sequential-thinking

.

--server

Select the named server(s). Validate against the available servers in

REFERENCE.md

.

No flags (interactive)

Show the user what's installed vs available. Use AskUserQuestion to ask which servers to add. Suggest servers based on project context (e.g., suggest

playwright

if

playwright.config.*

exists, suggest

cclsp

if large TS/Python/Rust codebase).

If all requested servers are already installed, report "All servers already configured" and stop.

Step 3: Install selected servers

For each selected server:

Get the server configuration from

REFERENCE.md

.

If

.mcp.json

doesn't exist, create it with

{"mcpServers": {}}

.

Merge the server config into the existing

mcpServers

object. Preserve existing servers.

Write the updated

.mcp.json

with proper JSON formatting.

If

cclsp

is selected, also set up

cclsp.json

(see

REFERENCE.md

for language detection and setup details).

Handle git tracking:

Check if

.mcp.json

is in

.gitignore

.

If not tracked and not ignored, recommend adding to

.gitignore

for personal projects or tracking for team projects.

Step 4: Report results

Print a summary using the report format from

REFERENCE.md

:

List all configured servers with their status

Flag missing environment variables with where to set them

Show git tracking status

If servers were added, show next steps (restart Claude Code, set env vars)

Step 5: Update standards tracking

If

.project-standards.yaml

exists, update the MCP section with current server list and timestamp.

Runtime Server Management

After configuring

.mcp.json

, use these

/mcp

commands in Claude Code to manage servers without editing files:

Command

Description

/mcp

List all configured servers and connection status

/mcp enable

Enable a server for the current session

/mcp disable

Disable a server for the current session (session-scoped)

Note

Enable/disable are session-scoped only. Permanent changes require editing

.mcp.json

.

Agentic Optimizations

Context

Command

Quick status check

jq -c '.mcpServers | keys' .mcp.json 2>/dev/null

Validate JSON syntax

jq empty .mcp.json 2>&1

List environment variables needed

jq -r '.mcpServers[] | .env // {} | keys[]' .mcp.json 2>/dev/null | sort -u

Check if server installed

jq -e '.mcpServers.context7' .mcp.json >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo "installed" || echo "missing"

Core servers install (automated)

/configure:mcp --core --fix

Specific server install (automated)

/configure:mcp --server context7 --fix

Check-only mode (CI/reporting)

/configure:mcp --check-only

Flags

Flag

Description

--check-only

Report status without offering to install servers

--fix

Install specified or suggested servers without prompting

--core

Install all core servers (context7, sequential-thinking)

--server

Install specific server (can be repeated)

Error Handling

Invalid

.mcp.json

Offer to backup and replace with valid template

Server already installed

Skip with informational message

Missing env var

Warn but continue (server may work with defaults)

Unknown server

Report error with available server names