MCP Servers for Codex

Codex reads its servers from ~/.codex/config.toml. Of the 31 603 we track, 10 529 answer right now without any credentials, 3 367 sign you in through the browser and 1 322 want an API key you paste into the config. The blocks below are ready to paste — each is built from the address we actually reached, in the format this client expects.

What 31 603 servers look like from Codex

Work as is answering now, no credentials asked 10 529 33.3%

Browser sign-in you authorise once, the client keeps the session 3 367 10.7%

Need a key you paste a key from the vendor into the config 1 322 4.2%

Run locally installed from a package, nothing to reach over the network 10 286 32.5%

Not responding listed as active, answer nothing 6 104 19.3%

Availability, last 24 hours share of the 21 317 remote servers answering, hour by hour

24 hours agonow

10 529

work with no key

answering now and open to anonymous clients

3 367

you authorise once, the client keeps the session

1 322

need an API key

you paste a key from the vendor into the config

10 286

run on your machine

installed from npm or PyPI, no uptime to measure

6 104

listed but dead

skip these — the registry still calls them active

How to add a server to Codex

one file for the whole machine

Open the config

One file for everything — there is no per-project variant to forget about.

open ~/.codex/config.toml

Add a section for the server

Each server is its own table. The name in brackets is what you will see when the tool is called.

[mcp_servers.example]
url = "https://example.com/mcp"

Restart the session

The file is read at start, so an already running session will not notice the change.

What it looks like

a real server, not a placeholder

~/.codex/config.toml Playwright MCP →

[mcp_servers.playwright-mcp]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@playwright/mcp"]

Servers to start with

all 31 603 in the catalogue →

Playwright MCP

by microsoft

Playwright Tools for MCP

5 247 752 installs/wk local only

Firebase MCP

by firebase

Gives AI development tools Firebase-specific capabilities and expertise.

2 171 835 installs/wk local only

Context7

by upstash

Up-to-date code docs for any prompt

536 148 installs/wk 2 tools answering

Browser Use

by browser-use

Control a real Chrome browser to complete any task: fill forms, extract data, book flights.

1 689 793 installs/wk local only

Storybook MCP Addon

by storybookjs

Help agents automatically write and test stories for your UI components.

1 463 451 installs/wk local only

Chrome DevTools MCP

by chromedevtools

MCP server for Chrome DevTools

1 000 705 installs/wk local only

Snyk

by snyk

Easily find and fix security issues in your applications leveraging Snyk platform capabilities.

501 714 installs/wk local only

Terradev

by theoddden

Cross-cloud GPU orchestration CLI.

4 391 installs/wk 245 tools answering

AWS MCP Server

by aws

AWS MCP Server lets AI securely access AWS using docs, API calls, and SOP workflows.

278 552 installs/wk local only

Hermoso

by hermoso-ai

Marketing on autopilot from your agent. 847 tools, usable alone. Publishing and ads cost no credits.

3 174 installs/wk 180 tools answering

Telnyx

by team-telnyx

Official TypeScript library for the Telnyx API

219 358 installs/wk local only

EdgarTools

by dgunning

Open-source SEC EDGAR toolkit — 11 tools, 7 prompts, every filing type. No API key required.

194 202 installs/wk local only

Browse all 31 603 servers the list is the same for every client — only the config differs

Things that trip people up with Codex

Written from how Codex reads its config, not from its release notes.

TOML, not JSON

This is the one client here that does not take JSON. Copying a block from a Cursor or VS Code example produces a parse error, not a working server — the shape is different, not just the punctuation.

One config, every project

There is no project-level file, so a server added here is present everywhere. Worth thinking about before connecting something that can write.

How is a server written in TOML?

Each server is its own table, named in square brackets, with its settings as plain keys underneath. No nesting of braces, no commas at the end of lines — the structure is flatter than the JSON equivalent, not just spelled differently.

The file was edited but nothing changed

Config is read when the session starts. An already running session keeps the old set of servers no matter what the file says now.

Which servers make sense in a terminal client?

The ones that return text rather than open a window: documentation lookup, repository context, databases, search. A server driving a real browser will work, but its output is meant to be seen.

How to check a server is alive before adding it?

Open its page here. We send a real handshake every 15 minutes and show what came back, including the case where the server is running but refuses anonymous clients.

Same servers, other clients

the servers are the same — the config format is not

Windsurf

Editor with the agent built in. Takes stdio, streamable HTTP and SSE, and can carry an OAuth login for each of the three.

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

Cline

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.

~/.cline/mcp.json

Gemini CLI

Google's command-line agent. Takes all three transports and carries a full OAuth flow for remote servers, including service-account impersonation.

~/.gemini/settings.json

JetBrains AI Assistant

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.

Settings | Tools | AI Assistant | Model Context Protocol

OpenCode

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.

opencode.json in the project, or ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json

Claude Code

Adds servers by command, so nothing to edit by hand. Handles both local processes and remote endpoints, including OAuth logins.

run in your terminal

Cursor

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.

.cursor/mcp.json

VS Code

Works through GitHub Copilot's agent mode. Like Cursor, the config is per workspace rather than global.

.vscode/mcp.json

Claude Desktop

One global config for everything, so a server added here is available in every conversation.

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