If you've set up MCP servers across Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and Cursor, you've hit this: each client wants the same servers in a different file, in a slightly different place, and you end up copy-pasting JSON three times and getting the paths wrong.
The MCP roadmap itself lists config portability as an open problem — "setting up an MCP server in one client means starting from scratch in another."
The three places nobody remembers
-
Claude Desktop:
claude_desktop_config.json(Settings -> Developer -> Edit Config) -
Claude Code:
.mcp.jsonin your project root (orclaude mcp add) -
Cursor:
.cursor/mcp.json(project) or~/.cursor/mcp.json(global)
Same mcpServers shape, three locations, and it's easy to fat-finger a path or forget to restart the client.
A tiny tool for it
I made a free browser tool: list your MCP servers once (name + command), and it gives you the correct config JSON and the exact file location for each client. Presets for common servers, edit anything, copy.
https://hann2626-soru.github.io/mcp-config-helper/
No signup, client-side, MIT. EN / 日本語.
One caution while you're at it: AI assistants love to suggest MCP server packages that don't exist. Before you npx/uvx something an AI told you to, it's worth checking it's real (pkg-guard does this automatically as a Claude Code hook).
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