mcp-setup-tool

Set up MCP servers correctly in one command — and a --check scanner that tells you when your existing config has rotted. For Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Cursor. Zero dependencies.

npx mcp-setup-tool            # interactive installer (6 core servers, ready to go)
npx mcp-setup-tool --check    # scan your current config for dead/missing/broken servers

MCP configs are easy to get subtly wrong and easy to let rot. A server gets archived upstream, a package moves, a hand-edit leaves an entry malformed — and your client just silently ignores it. This tool installs the zero-config core for you and, crucially, audits any MCP config for all 24 known servers so you catch the rot before it bites.

--check — the part you'll keep coming back to

This is the differentiator. Point it at any MCP config (or let it find yours) and it reports, with a concrete fix for each:

• Archived / dead servers — entries pointing at a server that's been archived upstream (e.g. @modelcontextprotocol/server-github, …-puppeteer, …-postgres) and the live replacement to switch to.
• Missing recommended core — the zero-config, no-API-key servers (filesystem, fetch, memory, git, sequential-thinking) almost everyone benefits from but many setups lack.
• Malformed entries — entries your client is silently ignoring (missing both command and url, args that isn't an array, a bad remote type, or a file that isn't valid JSON at all).

It knows the archived/replacement status of all 24 servers, free — not just the ones it can install.

$ npx mcp-setup-tool --check ~/.cursor/mcp.json

=== mcp-setup-tool — health check ===
Scanning: /home/you/.cursor/mcp.json

ARCHIVED / DEAD servers (1) — these still install but are unmaintained:
  x "github" -> references @modelcontextprotocol/server-github
      official GitHub reference server: Archived upstream. GitHub now ships an official hosted remote server.
      Fix: Switch to the hosted remote: { "type": "http", "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/" } ...
      -> Verified config for "GitHub" is in the Pro pack: https://tuckertech7.gumroad.com/l/MCPSetupTool

MALFORMED entries (1) — your client probably can't load these:
  x "myserver": missing both "command" (stdio) and "url" (remote) — an MCP entry needs one of them.
      Fix: Compare against the correct MCP shape (stdio needs "command"; remote needs "url").

MISSING recommended servers (3) — zero-config, no API key, useful to almost everyone:
  - Fetch — Fetch a URL and return its contents as clean markdown for the model.
  - Memory — Persistent knowledge-graph memory the model can read/write across sessions.
  - Sequential Thinking — A scratchpad tool for step-by-step structured reasoning.
      Add: re-run the installer (npx mcp-setup-tool) and pick them — all free.

Summary: 2 issue(s) to fix, 3 recommended server(s) you could add.

Quickstart

# Install the free core servers interactively:
npx mcp-setup-tool

# Audit a config (auto-finds Claude Code / Desktop / Cursor, or pass a path):
npx mcp-setup-tool --check
npx mcp-setup-tool --check ~/.mcp.json

1. Pick your client — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or Cursor.
2. Pick servers by number (or all). Free servers install; premium ones point you to the verified config.
3. The installer merges your picks into the right file for your client (and backs up any existing file first — it never clobbers what you had).
4. Edit placeholders (directory/repo paths) where prompted, then restart your client.

Flags

npx mcp-setup-tool --list      # list all 24 servers (free + pro) and exit
npx mcp-setup-tool --dry-run   # preview the merged config without writing
npx mcp-setup-tool --check     # scan your CURRENT config for rot

The installer writes the right shape per client: Claude uses {"type":"http","url":...} for remote servers, Cursor uses just {"url":...}. Get it wrong by hand and the server silently won't connect.

Free vs Pro

The free tool is genuinely useful on its own — the full installer engine, the full --check scanner across all 24 servers, and ready-to-install configs for the 6 zero-config core servers. The Pro pack adds the verified configs for the 18 servers where a wrong config silently fails (API keys, OAuth, remote URLs).

| | Free (this package) | Pro — $29 → | |---|---|---| | Installer engine (merge, backup, per-client shape) | ✅ | ✅ | | --check scanner — archived/malformed/missing, all 24 servers | ✅ full | ✅ full | | --list of all 24 servers | ✅ | ✅ | | Ready-to-install configs | ✅ 6 core servers | ✅ all 24 | | 18 verified premium configs (GitHub, Postgres, Supabase, Stripe, Notion, Linear, Slack, Sentry, Playwright, Brave, Exa, Vercel, Cloudflare ×2, Google Drive, Gmail, SQLite, Puppeteer) | — | ✅ | | Live-replacement map wired into the installer | — | ✅ | | 12 months of re-verified updates | — | ✅ |

Free core servers: Filesystem · Fetch · Memory · Time · Git · Sequential Thinking

The --check scanner is fully free and stays that way — it's the magnet. When it flags a premium server in your config, it hands you the fix and points at the verified config in the Pro pack: https://tuckertech7.gumroad.com/l/MCPSetupTool

Supported clients

| Client | File the installer writes | |---|---| | Claude Code | .mcp.json in the current project directory (check it into git for your team) | | Claude Desktop | claude_desktop_config.json — macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\ | | Cursor | ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global); for one repo, .cursor/mcp.json in the repo root |

All three use the same mcpServers schema; the only difference is the remote-server shape, which the installer handles for you.

Zero dependencies

mcp-setup-tool is pure Node (built-ins only, Node 16+). No transitive dependency tree, nothing to audit, nothing that breaks on the next ecosystem churn. Read install.js top to bottom in a couple of minutes.

The runtime servers it configures need their own runtimes:

• npx-based servers → Node.js 18+
• uvx-based servers (Fetch, Time, Git) → uv (pip install uv)

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome — especially:

• A server got archived / moved / replaced and the metadata is stale.
• A --check false positive or false negative.
• A client config path that's wrong on your platform.

The source of truth is configs/servers.json (each server has a tier, status, and the archived/replacement metadata --check reads). Keep changes zero-dependency. Run node install.js --list, --check <file>, and --dry-run before opening a PR.

License

MIT © 2026 Crescera Systems. See LICENSE.

These are configuration snippets and an installer — the MCP servers themselves are owned and maintained by their respective projects/vendors under their own licenses. This tool saves you the wiring; it doesn't redistribute their software.