CONFIGURE EXTERNAL MCP CLIENTS

Connect VS Code, Claude Desktop, and Cursor to MCP servers

External MCP clients are applications that connect to MCP servers to access tools and capabilities. This guide covers configuring popular clients to work with VibeUE and other MCP servers.

Note: Each client has its own configuration format and file location. Follow the appropriate section for your client.

🔧 VS Code

Configuration Location

Open VS Code settings and add MCP server configuration to your settings.json:


macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json


Windows: %APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json


Linux: ~/.config/Code/User/settings.json

Example Configuration

{
  "[mcp]": {
    "servers": {
      "vibeue-api": {
        "command": "http",
        "url": "https://api.vibeue.com",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer your-api-key"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Using MCP Extension

For a better UI experience, install the MCP extension for VS Code:

Search for "MCP" in the VS Code Extensions marketplace
Install the official MCP extension
Configure your servers through the extension UI
Access MCP tools from the sidebar

🤖 Claude Desktop

Configuration Location

Edit the Claude Desktop configuration file:


macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json


Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

HTTP Server Example

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vibeue": {
      "command": "http",
      "url": "https://api.vibeue.com",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Stdio Server Example (Node.js)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-custom-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/server.js"],
      "env": {
        "NODE_ENV": "production",
        "API_KEY": "your-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

⚠️ Important: After modifying the config file, restart Claude Desktop for changes to take effect. Close and reopen the application completely.

💻 Claude Code

CLI Configuration

Claude Code uses the claude mcp add CLI command to register MCP servers. Run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add --scope user --transport stdio VibeUE-Claude -- npx -y mcp-remote http://127.0.0.1:8088/mcp --transport http-only --allow-http --header "Authorization:Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Command Breakdown

Flag	Description
--scope user	Registers the MCP server globally for the current user (available in all projects)
--transport stdio	Uses stdio transport to communicate with the mcp-remote bridge
VibeUE-Claude	The name you'll see in Claude Code for this MCP server
mcp-remote	NPX package that bridges stdio to an HTTP MCP endpoint
--allow-http	Allows connecting to HTTP (non-HTTPS) endpoints like localhost
--header	Passes your API key as a Bearer token for authentication

💡 Tip: Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual VibeUE API key. You can manage your scope with --scope project instead if you only want VibeUE available in a single project.

⚠️ Important: Make sure the VibeUE MCP server is running on http://127.0.0.1:8088 before connecting. After adding the server, restart Claude Code for the tools to appear.

✏️ Cursor

Configuration Location

Cursor uses the same configuration format as VS Code:


macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/User/settings.json


Windows: %APPDATA%\Cursor\User\settings.json


Linux: ~/.config/Cursor/User/settings.json

Example Configuration

{
  "[mcp]": {
    "servers": {
      "vibeue": {
        "command": "http",
        "url": "https://api.vibeue.com",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer your-api-key"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

💡 Tip: Cursor inherits VS Code's configuration format, making it easy to migrate settings between the two editors.

⚙️ Configuration Fields Reference

Field	Type	Description
command	String	"http" for HTTP servers, or executable name (node, python, etc.) for Stdio servers
url	String	(HTTP only) Full URL including protocol and port (http://localhost:3000)
args	Array	(Stdio only) Command-line arguments to pass to the executable
env	Object	(Stdio only) Environment variables for the server process
headers	Object	(HTTP only) Custom HTTP headers (Authorization, custom keys, etc.)

✅ Verification Checklist

□

Configuration file is in the correct location for your client

□

JSON syntax is valid (use a JSON validator if unsure)

□

MCP server is running and accessible at the specified URL/command

□

API keys and authentication headers are correct

□

Application has been completely restarted after config changes

□

MCP tools appear in the client's tool list or sidebar

🐛 Troubleshooting: If MCP servers don't appear after configuration, check the client's logs. Most applications store logs in their config directory with names like app-log.txt or console.log.

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