Add MCP servers to Claude Desktop

Manage Claude Desktop’s MCP servers from one canonical config with mcpfold — the free, open-source CLI. Write your servers once and fold them out to Claude Desktop’s own mcpServers config, with secrets kept as references, not hardcoded values.

Set up Claude Desktop in 4 steps

Install mcpfold. Install the free, open-source mcpfold CLI — no account required.npm install -g mcpfold
Create your config. Create one canonical mcp.config.jsonc — the single source of truth mcpfold folds out to every client.mcpfold init
Add a server. Add an MCP server from the registry (secrets stay references, versions stay pinned), or run `mcpfold import` to pull in servers you already configured.mcpfold add <server> --from-registry
Fold it out to Claude Desktop. Write your servers into Claude Desktop's own config (/Users/you/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json) under its `mcpServers` key. Then restart Claude Desktop so it loads the new servers.mcpfold sync

What mcpfold writes for Claude Desktop

Config file

/Users/you/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows: C:\Users\you\AppData\Roaming\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Config key

mcpServers

Secrets

Secrets stay as `${env:…}` / `${op:…}` references; mcpfold's launcher resolves them at run time, so Claude Desktop's config file never contains a raw token.

Remote servers

Claude Desktop has no native remote transport, so remote servers are bridged with a pinned `mcp-remote` stdio launch (reversible on import).

After sync

Restart Claude Desktop to load new or changed servers.

Looking for servers to add? Browse the MCP server directory — every entry adds in one mcpfold add. Or see the install options.

mcpfold is an independent, open-source project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Claude Desktop. Names are used only to describe compatibility.