MCP Curator

A powerful CLI tool for curating and managing MCP (Model Context Protocol) server configurations across global and project scopes. Seamlessly save, load, and manage multiple MCP configurations with intelligent template adaptation.

Features

• 📦 Save and load multiple MCP configurations (global and project-level)
• 🔄 Switch between different setups quickly
• 🎯 Preset configurations (minimal, standard, full, development)
• 💾 Backup and restore configurations
• 🛠️ Interactive server management
• 🏗️ Project-level configuration templates
• 🌍 Cross-platform support (macOS, Windows, Linux)

Installation

# Install globally from npm
npm install -g @moikas/mcp-curator

# Or clone and install locally
git clone https://github.com/moikas-code/mcp-curator.git
cd mcp-curator
npm install
npm link

# Initialize
mcp-curator init

Quick Start

# Save your current Claude configuration
mcp-curator save my-config

# Apply a preset
mcp-curator preset development

# List saved configurations
mcp-curator list

# Load a saved configuration
mcp-curator load my-config

# Show current configuration
mcp-curator show

Commands

mcp-curator init

Initialize the tool and detect Claude configuration location.

mcp-curator save <name>

Save the current Claude MCP configuration.

• Options:
  • -d, --description <desc>: Add a description

mcp-curator load <name>

Load and apply a saved configuration.

• Options:
  • -b, --backup: Backup current config before loading

mcp-curator list

List all saved configurations.

• Options:
  • -a, --all: Show all templates including built-in presets

mcp-curator show

Display current Claude MCP configuration.

• Options:
  • -j, --json: Output as JSON
  • -m, --merged: Show merged configuration (global + project)

mcp-curator preset <type>

Apply a preset configuration to global Claude Desktop:

• minimal: Basic filesystem access
• standard: Filesystem, memory, and sequential thinking
• full: All official MCP servers
• development: Development setup with code-audit and knowledge base

mcp-curator apply-project-template <name>

Apply a project template to global configuration.

• Options:
  • -b, --backup: Backup current global config before applying

mcp-curator backup

Backup current configuration.

• Options:
  • -n, --name <name>: Specify backup name

mcp-curator delete <name>

Delete a saved configuration.

• Options:
  • -f, --force: Skip confirmation

mcp-curator add-server

Interactive server configuration (coming soon).

Project-Level Commands

mcp-curator project init

Initialize project MCP configuration in .mcp.json.

• Options:
  • -e, --example: Create with example server
  • -f, --force: Overwrite existing configuration

mcp-curator project show

Display current project MCP configuration.

• Options:
  • -j, --json: Output as JSON

mcp-curator project add <name>

Add a server to project configuration.

• Options:
  • -c, --command <cmd>: Server command
  • -a, --args <args>: Command arguments (comma-separated)
  • -e, --env <vars>: Environment variables (KEY=value, comma-separated)
  • -u, --url <url>: SSE server URL
  • -h, --headers <headers>: HTTP headers (key:value, comma-separated)
  • -l, --local: Add to local config (.mcp.local.json) instead of shared
  • -f, --force: Overwrite existing server

mcp-curator project remove <name>

Remove a server from project configuration.

• Options:
  • -l, --local: Remove from local config only
  • -s, --shared: Remove from shared config only
• Note: If server exists in both configs and no option is specified, it will be removed from both

mcp-curator project save <name>

Save current project configuration as a template.

• Options:
  • -d, --description <desc>: Add a description for this template
  • -f, --force: Overwrite existing template

mcp-curator project load <name>

Load a saved project template.

• Options:
  • -b, --backup: Backup current project config before loading

mcp-curator project list

List saved project templates.

mcp-curator project delete <name>

Delete a saved project template.

• Options:
  • -f, --force: Skip confirmation

mcp-curator project preset <type>

Apply a global preset to project configuration.

• Options:
  • -b, --backup: Backup current project config before applying

Project-Level Configuration

Claude Code supports project-level MCP configurations via .mcp.json files. These configurations are scoped to your project and can be committed to version control for team collaboration. Project configurations merge with global configurations, with project servers taking precedence.

Local Configuration (.mcp.local.json)

In addition to shared project configuration, you can create a .mcp.local.json file for personal MCP servers that shouldn't be committed to version control. This is useful for:

• Personal development servers
• Local database connections
• API keys and sensitive configurations
• Experimental servers

The .mcp.local.json file:

• Is automatically added to .gitignore
• Takes precedence over .mcp.json for conflicting server names
• Is merged with shared configuration when Claude Code loads
• Uses the same format as .mcp.json

Template Management

Save and load project configurations as reusable templates:

• mcp-curator project save <name> - Save current project config as template
• mcp-curator project load <name> - Load a saved template
• mcp-curator project list - List all saved templates
• mcp-curator project delete <name> - Delete a template

Example Workflows

Global Configuration Management

# 1. Initialize the tool
mcp-curator init

# 2. Save your current setup
mcp-curator save work-setup -d "My work environment"

# 3. Try a development preset
mcp-curator preset development

# 4. Save the development setup
mcp-curator save dev-setup -d "Development with all tools"

# 5. Switch between configurations
mcp-curator load work-setup
# Restart Claude Code
mcp-curator load dev-setup
# Restart Claude Code

# 6. List all your configurations
mcp-curator list

Project-Level Configuration

# 1. Apply a global preset to project (NEW!)
mcp-curator project preset standard -b

# 2. Add project-specific servers
mcp-curator project add db-server -c "npx" -a "my-db-mcp" -e "DB_URL=localhost"

# 3. Add personal/local servers (git-ignored)
mcp-curator project add my-local-api --local -c "node" -a "./api-server.js" -e "API_KEY=${MY_API_KEY}"

# 4. Save as template for similar projects
mcp-curator project save backend-template -d "Backend project with DB access"

# 5. In a new project, load the template
mcp-curator project load backend-template

# 6. View merged configuration (global + project + local)
mcp-curator show -m

# 7. List available project templates
mcp-curator project list

Unified Template System

# 1. See everything available
mcp-curator list --all

# 2. Apply project template to global configuration (NEW!)
mcp-curator apply-project-template backend-template -b

# 3. Use any preset at project level (NEW!)
mcp-curator project preset development

# 4. Cross-scope template sharing
mcp-curator project save shared-template -d "Works for both global and project"
mcp-curator apply-project-template shared-template

Configuration Storage

Global Configurations

Saved configurations are stored in:

• macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/mcp-curator-nodejs/
• Windows: %APPDATA%\mcp-curator-nodejs\
• Linux: ~/.config/mcp-curator-nodejs/

Project Configurations

Project-level configurations are stored in .mcp.json files at the project root. These files:

• Are scoped to the specific project
• Can be committed to version control for team collaboration
• Are merged with global configurations (project takes precedence)
• Support environment variable expansion (e.g., ${API_KEY})
• Are recognized automatically by Claude Code

Project Templates

Project templates are stored alongside global configurations and can be reused across multiple projects.

Configuration Hierarchy

When Claude Code loads MCP servers, it follows this precedence:

1. Local scope (project-specific user settings)
2. Project scope (.mcp.json - team shared)
3. User scope (global configuration)

Within project scope, .mcp.local.json takes precedence over .mcp.json for any conflicting server names.

Adding Custom Servers

Edit your Claude configuration manually and save it:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-custom-server": {
      "command": "/path/to/server",
      "args": ["--arg1", "--arg2"],
      "env": {
        "MY_ENV": "value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then save it as a configuration:

mcp-curator save custom-setup

Claude Code Integration

MCP Curator is fully compatible with Claude Code's built-in MCP system:

1. Project-level configs (.mcp.json) created by MCP Curator are automatically recognized by Claude Code
2. Use alongside claude mcp commands - MCP Curator complements the built-in CLI
3. Security prompts - Claude Code will prompt for approval when using project-scoped servers
4. Template system - Quickly apply consistent configurations across projects

Tips

1. Always restart Claude Code after loading a configuration
2. Backup before experimenting with claude-mcp load -b <name>
3. Use descriptive names for your configurations
4. Document your setups with descriptions

Troubleshooting

Configuration not found

Run claude-mcp init to detect your Claude installation.

Changes not applying

Make sure to fully restart Claude Code after loading a configuration.

Permission errors

The tool needs write access to your Claude configuration directory.

License

MIT