Which apps read MCP servers, where each keeps its config, and — the part no list tells you — how many of our 33 956 tracked servers actually work with each one. Support is what we can verify; app descriptions we leave to their authors.
run in your terminalcli
yes
yes
yes
31 57012 577 need no key
CursorAnysphere
.cursor/mcp.jsonjson
yes
yes
yes
31 57012 577 need no key
VS CodeMicrosoft
.vscode/mcp.jsonjson
yes
yes
yes
31 57012 577 need no key
CodexOpenAI
~/.codex/config.tomltoml
yes
yes
yes
31 57012 577 need no key
Claude DesktopAnthropic
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonjson
yes
yes
yes
31 57012 577 need no key
OpenCodeSST
opencode.json in the project, or ~/.config/opencode/opencode.jsonjson
yes
yes
yes
31 57012 577 need no key
Gemini CLIGoogle
~/.gemini/settings.jsonjson
yes
yes
yes
31 57012 577 need no key
JetBrains AI AssistantJetBrains
Settings | Tools | AI Assistant | Model Context Protocolui
yes
yes
no
28 03712 577 need no key
ClineCline Bot
~/.cline/mcp.jsonjson
yes
yes
no
28 03712 577 need no key
WindsurfCognition
~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonjson
yes
yes
yes
31 57012 577 need no key
Adds servers by command, so nothing to edit by hand. Handles both local processes and remote endpoints, including OAuth logins.
Config sits in the project folder, so servers can differ per repository — useful when one project needs database access and another must not have it.
Works through GitHub Copilot's agent mode. Like Cursor, the config is per workspace rather than global.
The only client here that uses TOML rather than JSON, so a config copied from elsewhere will not work as is.
One global config for everything, so a server added here is available in every conversation.
Open-source terminal agent. Local and remote servers sit in the same mcp object, told apart by a type field, and tokens are kept outside the config.
Google's command-line agent. Takes all three transports and carries a full OAuth flow for remote servers, including service-account impersonation.
Built into the JetBrains IDEs. Configured through the settings dialog rather than a file, and it can import a config you already wrote for another client.
Autonomous agent living inside VS Code. Handles local processes and remote endpoints over streamable HTTP or SSE, but authorisation is on you — through headers or environment variables.
Editor with the agent built in. Takes stdio, streamable HTTP and SSE, and can carry an OAuth login for each of the three.