Guides
Add a remote MCP server
to any AI client.
Every client puts the MCP setting somewhere different, and several of them read a config key that isn't the one you'd guess. These guides cover where the setting lives, the config that actually works, and the failure that catches most people — one page per client, each with the date it was last verified.
Pick your client
The two columns that actually differ between clients: how the connection is carried, and the config key the client reads for a remote server. Get the second one wrong and the server saves cleanly, then never appears.
| Client | How it connects | Config key for a remote server |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Custom app with OAuth, Developer Mode required | No config file — Create App in Advanced Settings |
| Claude Code | Streamable HTTP, browser OAuth via /mcp | mcpServers → type http + url |
| Cursor | Native Streamable HTTP, no proxy | mcpServers → url |
| Gemini | Custom app added by URL in Gemini Spark | No config file — URL pasted in the UI |
| Gemini CLI | Streamable HTTP via httpUrl, OAuth via /mcp auth | mcpServers → httpUrl (not url) |
| GLM (Z.ai) | Harness-level — MCP is not configured on the model | Whatever the harness uses (Claude Code, OpenCode, Cline) |
| Grok | Custom connector by URL, automatic tool discovery | No config file — New Connector on the connectors page |
| JetBrains IDEs | Remote HTTP on 2025.3+ (bearer headers; no IDE OAuth flow); mcp-remote proxy for OAuth-protected servers | mcpServers → url (Junie uses the same shape) |
| Kiro | URL-only entry, OAuth on first connect | mcpServers → url |
| LM Studio | Remote HTTP with OAuth, per-tool-call confirmation | mcpServers → url |
| OpenCode | Remote HTTP, automatic OAuth discovery | mcp → type remote + url |
| Qwen Code | Streamable HTTP via httpUrl, automatic OAuth discovery | mcpServers → httpUrl (not url) |
| Raycast | Remote HTTP, OAuth Type Dynamic | Install MCP Server form — no config file |
| VS Code | Native HTTP, OAuth with an Auth CodeLens | servers (not mcpServers) |
| Windsurf | HTTP server entry with OAuth; Devin Local authorizes via devin mcp login or on first use | Cascade — mcpServers → serverUrl (url also accepted); Devin Local — url |
| Zed | Native, tokens stored in the system keychain | context_servers → url |
How to Add a Custom MCP Server to ChatGPT
Custom MCP servers reach ChatGPT through Developer Mode, on a paid plan, on the web only. The setting has been documented in two different places, and there is a plan-level write gate that makes saves fail while lookups work.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to Claude Code
One command connects a remote MCP server to Claude Code. The two details that catch people are the scope flag that decides whether it works in every project, and the type field a hand-written config needs.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to Cursor
Where Cursor keeps its MCP settings after the 3.9 move to Customize, the config that connects a remote server over Streamable HTTP, and the two failures that account for most broken connections.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to the Gemini App
Custom MCP servers reach Gemini through Spark's custom apps, added on the web. The exact menu path, the subscription and region requirements that decide whether you'll see the option at all, and the account setting that makes an approved connection do nothing.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to Gemini CLI
Use httpUrl, not url — in Gemini CLI a plain url means SSE, the wrong transport, and the failure looks like a broken server. Plus the scope flag people forget and the June 2026 consumer retirement.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to GLM
You don't add an MCP server to GLM — you add it to the harness running GLM. Why that distinction is the whole answer, how to point Claude Code at Z.ai's endpoint, and the four settings that break it.
How to Add a Custom MCP Server to Grok
Grok adds custom MCP connectors by URL from its connectors page, with automatic tool discovery once active. Available on every plan including Free, with one organizational gate and a public-reachability requirement.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to JetBrains IDEs
MCP settings in IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm and the rest live under AI Assistant. Remote HTTP servers need a 2025.3+ build, AI Assistant has no browser OAuth flow of its own, and Junie is the part of the JetBrains family that does.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to Kiro
Kiro reads MCP servers from two config files, and a custom agent's config outranks both. The URL is the whole config, nothing in Kiro's plans gates MCP, and saving the file hot-reloads at the next idle boundary.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to LM Studio
Local models can use remote MCP servers — but only if the model supports tool calling, and many don't. Where the mcp.json editor hides, and why a smaller model can get worse after you connect one.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to OpenCode
OpenCode needs type set to remote — without it your entry is treated as a local subprocess and ignored. One config block, automatic OAuth, and two debug commands that usually name the problem for you.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to Qwen Code
Qwen Code inherits Gemini CLI's httpUrl-not-url quirk, where the wrong key silently selects legacy SSE. One settings entry, one auth command, and a clear way to tell model errors from server errors.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to Raycast
Raycast adds MCP servers through a single Install MCP Server command, with OAuth Type set to Dynamic. The name you choose becomes the @-mention handle, no Pro subscription is required, and HTTP is the transport iOS supports.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to VS Code
VS Code's root config key is servers, not mcpServers — paste the wrong one and it is silently ignored. Plus the Copilot org policy that hides MCP entirely, and why tools only appear in agent mode.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to Windsurf (Devin Desktop)
Where Devin Desktop keeps its MCP config after the Windsurf rename, which config key to use for a remote server, the legacy-Cascade versus Devin Local split, and the enterprise gate that ships MCP off by default.
How to Add a Remote MCP Server to Zed
One settings block, no headers, no keys — Zed has one of the cleanest MCP setups there is. The catch is that supplying any auth field makes it skip OAuth entirely, and — a known Zed issue as of July 2026 — tools from OAuth-authenticated servers may not appear in an external agent driven through ACP.
New to MCP entirely?
Start with the background piece — what a custom MCP server is, why the protocol lives in the client rather than the model, and what that means for which tools can connect to one.
Something worth connecting to
These guides work with any MCP server. Tempreon is the one that makes every client you connect remember who you are.