Best MCP Servers for Claude Desktop (2026)

Claude Desktop is Anthropic's desktop app for Claude — the chat window most people know, running on macOS and Windows. On its own it is a conversational assistant; with MCP servers attached it can read and write local files, query databases, control a browser and call external APIs on your machine. Local servers run as child processes on your computer, so the data they touch (files, credentials, query results) stays local unless a server itself sends it elsewhere.

This shortlist filters the public MCP Registry down to entries that clear an objective bar — 10+ GitHub stars, 100+ monthly package downloads, or a verified official tier — ranked by stars, maintenance recency and downloads, never by payment. Each entry below links to its full page with the ready-to-paste mcpServers JSON for Claude Desktop.

A data-ranked shortlist of the 12 strongest MCP servers for Claude Desktop — every entry links to its full page with copy-paste configs. List compiled 2026-10-28; rankings refresh as the underlying data updates.

How entries are picked: An entry is eligible only if it meets at least one of: 10+ GitHub stars, 100+ monthly npm/PyPI downloads, or a verified official/reference tier on its brand page; entries meeting none of the three are excluded, as are archived repositories. Eligible entries are ranked by a score built from: GitHub stars — multiplied by 10 when the entry has a verified official/reference tier, so official status counts as ten times the community traction rather than a flat bonus; maintenance recency (last push); and npm/PyPI downloads where available. Two tie-break rules keep the list honest: when the same repository is shared by several listings, its star count does not contribute to ranking (the shared figure would otherwise swamp independent projects), and when several implementations share a product name, only the highest-scoring one is listed — the others stay in the directory. Data comes from the public MCP Registry (description, install method), GitHub repository stats and package download counts — no editorial scoring, no paid inclusion, and sponsorship never affects these lists.

Connecting MCP servers to Claude Desktop

Local (stdio) servers are configured in claude_desktop_config.json — open it from Settings → Developer → Edit Config. The JSON block under each entry below is the ready-made mcpServers object: paste it inside the existing braces, save and restart the app. Remote servers use a second mechanism: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, then paste the server's URL. The two coexist, so a typical setup keeps heavy local tools (filesystem, databases) in the config file and hosted endpoints in Connectors. Servers that need API keys take them from an env block in the same JSON entry.

Full Claude Desktop install guide ↗How to install an MCP server ↗Editorial top 10 for Claude Desktop ↗

The shortlist at a glance

Full commands and configs are on each entry below and on the server's own page.

#	Server	What it does	Stars	Install	Transport
1	REA	Reverse engineer anything from your terminal or agent with one CLI and MCP server.	391,152	npx rea-agents	npm
2	GitHub	GitHub's official MCP Server	33,707	HTTP endpoint	Streamable HTTPremote only
3	Skyvern	AI-powered browser automation — navigate, click, fill forms, and extract data from any website.	23,223	HTTP endpoint	Streamable HTTPremote only
4	Apify Mcp Server	Extract data from any website with thousands of scrapers, crawlers, and automations on Apify Store ⚡	13,319	HTTP endpoint	Streamable HTTPremote only
5	Browser Use	Browser agents and stealth cloud browsers for AI: run web tasks, fill forms, extract data.	118,349	uvx browser-use	Python, Streamable HTTP
6	Scrapling MCP Server	Web scraping with stealth HTTP, real browsers, and Cloudflare bypass. CSS selectors supported.	88,324	uvx scrapling	Python, Docker
7	World Monitor	Real-time global intelligence across conflict, markets, energy, trade, shipping and cyber. 97 tools.	89,597	HTTP endpoint	Streamable HTTPremote only
8	Netdata	Real-time infrastructure monitoring with metrics, logs, alerts, and ML-based anomaly detection.	81,142	HTTP endpoint	Streamable HTTPremote only
9	Firecrawl	🔥 Official Firecrawl MCP Server - Adds powerful web scraping and search to Cursor, Claude and any other LLM…	7,627	npx firecrawl-mcp	stdio
10	Front-End Checklist	Review frontend code and live pages against 386 quality-gated web development rules.	74,570	HTTP endpoint	Streamable HTTPremote only
11	Context7	Up-to-date code docs for any prompt	63,214	npx @upstash/context7-mcp	npm, mcpb, Streamable HTTP
12	Chrome DevTools MCP	MCP server for Chrome DevTools	54,205	npx chrome-devtools-mcp	npm

REA

by morluto

Reverse engineer anything from your terminal or agent with one CLI and MCP server.

⭐ 391,152 starsLast push: 2026-10-26License: MITRepository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rea": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "rea-agents"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add rea -- npx -y rea-agents

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rea": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "rea-agents"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "rea": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "rea-agents"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rea": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "rea-agents"
      ]
    }
  }
}

GitHub

OfficialRemote only — needs a client that connects over HTTP/SSEby github

GitHub's official MCP Server

⭐ 33,707 starsLast push: 2026-10-15License: MITRepository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop connects remote servers via Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector (paste the URL).

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "github": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "serverUrl": "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

Skyvern

OfficialRemote only — needs a client that connects over HTTP/SSEby Skyvern-AI

AI-powered browser automation — navigate, click, fill forms, and extract data from any website.

⭐ 23,223 starsLast push: 2026-10-18License: AGPL-3.0Repository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skyvern": {
      "url": "https://api.skyvern.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "<YOUR_X_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop connects remote servers via Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector (paste the URL).

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http skyvern https://api.skyvern.com/mcp/ --header "x-api-key: <YOUR_X_API_KEY>"

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skyvern": {
      "url": "https://api.skyvern.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "<YOUR_X_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "skyvern": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.skyvern.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "<YOUR_X_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skyvern": {
      "serverUrl": "https://api.skyvern.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "<YOUR_X_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Keys / environment: x-api-key

Apify Mcp Server

OfficialRemote only — needs a client that connects over HTTP/SSEby apify

Extract data from any website with thousands of scrapers, crawlers, and automations on Apify Store ⚡

⭐ 13,319 starsLast push: 2026-10-26License: MITRepository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "<YOUR_AUTHORIZATION>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop connects remote servers via Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector (paste the URL).

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http apify-mcp-server https://mcp.apify.com/ --header "Authorization: <YOUR_AUTHORIZATION>"

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "<YOUR_AUTHORIZATION>"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "apify-mcp-server": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "<YOUR_AUTHORIZATION>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-mcp-server": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.apify.com/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "<YOUR_AUTHORIZATION>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Keys / environment: Authorization

Browser Use

Referenceby browser-use

Browser agents and stealth cloud browsers for AI: run web tasks, fill forms, extract data.

⭐ 118,349 starsLast push: 2026-10-17License: MIT8,061,974/mo downloadsRepository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "browser-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "browser-use"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add browser-mcp -- uvx browser-use

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "browser-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "browser-use"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "browser-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "browser-use"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "browser-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "browser-use"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Keys / environment: X-Browser-Use-API-Key

Scrapling MCP Server

by D4Vinci

Web scraping with stealth HTTP, real browsers, and Cloudflare bypass. CSS selectors supported.

⭐ 88,324 starsLast push: 2026-10-17License: BSD-3-Clause919,855/mo downloadsRepository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scrapling": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "scrapling"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add scrapling -- uvx scrapling

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scrapling": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "scrapling"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "scrapling": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "scrapling"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scrapling": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "scrapling"
      ]
    }
  }
}

World Monitor

Remote only — needs a client that connects over HTTP/SSEby worldmonitor

Real-time global intelligence across conflict, markets, energy, trade, shipping and cyber. 97 tools.

⭐ 89,597 starsLast push: 2026-10-26License: AGPL-3.0Repository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-210": {
      "url": "https://worldmonitor.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop connects remote servers via Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector (paste the URL).

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http mcp-210 https://worldmonitor.app/mcp

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-210": {
      "url": "https://worldmonitor.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "mcp-210": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://worldmonitor.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-210": {
      "serverUrl": "https://worldmonitor.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Netdata

Remote only — needs a client that connects over HTTP/SSEby netdata

Real-time infrastructure monitoring with metrics, logs, alerts, and ML-based anomaly detection.

⭐ 81,142 starsLast push: 2026-10-26License: GPL-3.0Repository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-358": {
      "url": "https://app.netdata.cloud/api/v1/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "<YOUR_AUTHORIZATION>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop connects remote servers via Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector (paste the URL).

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http mcp-server-358 https://app.netdata.cloud/api/v1/mcp --header "Authorization: <YOUR_AUTHORIZATION>"

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-358": {
      "url": "https://app.netdata.cloud/api/v1/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "<YOUR_AUTHORIZATION>"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "mcp-server-358": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://app.netdata.cloud/api/v1/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "<YOUR_AUTHORIZATION>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-358": {
      "serverUrl": "https://app.netdata.cloud/api/v1/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "<YOUR_AUTHORIZATION>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Keys / environment: Authorization

Firecrawl

Officialby firecrawl

🔥 Official Firecrawl MCP Server - Adds powerful web scraping and search to Cursor, Claude and any other LLM clients.

⭐ 7,627 starsLast push: 2026-10-17License: MITRepository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "firecrawl": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "firecrawl-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add firecrawl -- npx -y firecrawl-mcp

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "firecrawl": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "firecrawl-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "firecrawl": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "firecrawl-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "firecrawl": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "firecrawl-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

#10

Front-End Checklist

Remote only — needs a client that connects over HTTP/SSEby thedaviddias

Review frontend code and live pages against 386 quality-gated web development rules.

⭐ 74,570 starsLast push: 2026-10-06License: MITRepository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "front-end-checklist": {
      "url": "https://mcp.frontendchecklist.io"
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop connects remote servers via Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector (paste the URL).

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http front-end-checklist https://mcp.frontendchecklist.io

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "front-end-checklist": {
      "url": "https://mcp.frontendchecklist.io"
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "front-end-checklist": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.frontendchecklist.io"
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "front-end-checklist": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.frontendchecklist.io"
    }
  }
}

#11

Context7

by upstash

Up-to-date code docs for any prompt

⭐ 63,214 starsLast push: 2026-10-17License: MIT2,685,137/mo downloadsRepository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "context7": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/context7-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add context7 -- npx -y @upstash/context7-mcp

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "context7": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/context7-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "context7": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/context7-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "context7": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/context7-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

#12

Chrome DevTools MCP

by ChromeDevTools

MCP server for Chrome DevTools

⭐ 54,205 starsLast push: 2026-10-26License: Apache-2.0Repository ↗Full page & details →

Install with your client

Claude Desktopconfig JSON

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chrome-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "chrome-devtools-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude CodeCLI command

Claude Code

claude mcp add chrome-devtools -- npx -y chrome-devtools-mcp

Cursorconfig JSON

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chrome-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "chrome-devtools-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Codeconfig JSON

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "chrome-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "chrome-devtools-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windsurfconfig JSON

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chrome-devtools": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "chrome-devtools-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

How do I add an MCP server to Claude Desktop?

For a local server: open Settings → Developer → Edit Config, paste the entry's mcpServers JSON into claude_desktop_config.json and restart the app. For a remote server: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector and paste its URL. Every entry on this page shows the exact block or URL you need.

Where is claude_desktop_config.json located?

On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json. The Settings → Developer → Edit Config button opens the same file, which is the safer route because it cannot open the wrong profile.

Does Claude Desktop support remote MCP servers?

Yes, through Connectors: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector takes a remote server URL. Local stdio servers still use the config JSON, and the two mechanisms coexist — the entries on this page mark which ones are remote-only.

Why is my MCP server not showing in Claude Desktop?

The app only reads the config at startup, so restart it after editing. Then check the JSON parses (a trailing comma is enough to break it) and that the command exists on your PATH — using an absolute path to the executable fixes most launch failures. Claude Desktop's own logs under ~/Library/Logs/Claude (macOS) show server startup errors.

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