Claude Desktop supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) natively—meaning you can connect Claude to external tools, files, databases, and services. This guide shows you how to set it up.
What You’ll Need
- Claude Desktop — Download from claude.ai/download
- A text editor — To edit the config file
- MCP servers — The tools you want Claude to access
MCP is available in Claude Desktop for macOS and Windows. The web version (claude.ai) doesn’t support MCP yet.
Step 1: Open Claude Desktop Settings
On macOS:
- Open Claude Desktop
- Click Claude in the menu bar
- Select Settings
- Go to the Developer tab
- Click Edit Config
On Windows:
- Open Claude Desktop
- Click the ☰ menu
- Select Settings → Developer
- Click Edit Config
This opens your claude_desktop_config.json file.
Step 2: Add Your First MCP Server
The config file defines which MCP servers Claude can access. Here’s the basic structure:
{
"mcpServers": {
"server-name": {
"command": "path/to/server",
"args": ["arg1", "arg2"],
"env": {
"API_KEY": "your-key"
}
}
}
}Let’s start with the filesystem server—it lets Claude read and write files on your computer:
{
"mcpServers": {
"filesystem": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
"/Users/you/Documents"
]
}
}
}Replace /Users/you/Documents with the folder you want Claude to access.
Step 3: Restart Claude
After saving the config:
- Quit Claude Desktop completely
- Reopen it
- Look for the 🔌 icon in the chat input—this shows connected MCP servers
Click the plug icon to see which tools are available.
Popular MCP Servers for Claude
Filesystem
Read and write local files.
"filesystem": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/path/to/folder"]
}GitHub
Manage repos, issues, PRs.
"github": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
"env": {
"GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token"
}
}PostgreSQL
Query and modify databases.
"postgres": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres"],
"env": {
"POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING": "postgresql://user:pass@localhost/db"
}
}Brave Search
Search the web.
"brave-search": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"],
"env": {
"BRAVE_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
}
}Slack
Read and send Slack messages.
"slack": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-slack"],
"env": {
"SLACK_BOT_TOKEN": "xoxb-your-token"
}
}Claude MCP for WordPress
Connect Claude directly to your WordPress sites using the MCP Adapter.
Setup
- Install the MCP Adapter plugin on your WordPress site
- Create an application password in WordPress (Users → Your Profile → Application Passwords)
- Add the server to Claude’s config:
"wordpress": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@anthropic/mcp-wp-client",
"https://yoursite.com/wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server"
],
"env": {
"WP_USER": "your-username",
"WP_APP_PASSWORD": "xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx"
}
}What Claude Can Do
Once connected, Claude can:
- Create posts: “Write and publish a blog post about [topic]”
- Edit content: “Update the About page with our new mission statement”
- Manage media: “Upload this image and set it as the featured image”
- Check status: “What plugins need updates?”
- Bulk operations: “Add meta descriptions to all posts missing them”
- WooCommerce: “Show me this week’s orders”
See the full list of 233 WordPress MCP abilities.
Multiple MCP Servers
You can connect Claude to multiple servers at once:
{
"mcpServers": {
"filesystem": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/you/projects"]
},
"github": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
"env": {
"GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_xxx"
}
},
"wordpress-blog": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-wp-client", "https://blog.example.com/wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server"],
"env": {
"WP_USER": "admin",
"WP_APP_PASSWORD": "xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx"
}
},
"wordpress-store": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-wp-client", "https://store.example.com/wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server"],
"env": {
"WP_USER": "admin",
"WP_APP_PASSWORD": "yyyy yyyy yyyy yyyy"
}
}
}
}Claude sees all available tools and uses the right ones based on your requests.
Troubleshooting
“Server not connecting”
- Make sure Node.js is installed (
node --version) - Check the server path/command is correct
- Verify environment variables are set
- Restart Claude Desktop completely (quit, not just close)
“Permission denied”
- For filesystem: check the folder path exists and is accessible
- For WordPress: verify the application password is correct
- For APIs: confirm your API keys are valid
“Tools not appearing”
- Click the 🔌 icon to see connected servers
- Check Claude Desktop logs: Help → Open Logs
- Try removing and re-adding the server config
WordPress-specific issues
- Ensure the MCP Adapter plugin is activated
- Check your site’s REST API is accessible:
yoursite.com/wp-json/ - Verify the application password user has appropriate permissions
Security Best Practices
- Limit file access: Only give Claude access to specific folders, not your entire drive
- Use application passwords: Never use your main WordPress password
- Scope permissions: Create WordPress users with only the capabilities needed
- Review before executing: Claude will ask for confirmation on destructive actions
- Rotate credentials: Periodically update API keys and passwords
Next Steps
Once you’ve got Claude connected to MCP servers:
- Start simple: Try file operations or basic WordPress queries
- Build complexity: Combine multiple tools in single workflows
- Create templates: Save common prompts for repeated tasks
- Add more servers: Expand Claude’s capabilities as needed