native-mcp register

Manage native-mcp entries inside Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Cursor configs from the command line. Same binary, no extra tool required (no jq, no claude CLI for the JSON-based clients).

What it does

• Detects which of the three supported clients are installed locally.
• Reads/writes their config files (or invokes claude mcp add for Claude Code).
• Names each entry native-<server> by default.
• Preserves any other keys in the JSON configs (theme, other servers, etc.).

For other clients (Continue, Cline, Zed, Sourcegraph Cody, …), see Use with any MCP client.

Interactive mode

native-mcp register

1. Lists detected clients.
2. Asks once whether to register every zero-config server in every detected client.
3. Done.

The zero-config servers are: time, calculator, json, crypto, encode, text, system, dns, scheduler.

Servers that take required runtime args (filesystem, fetch, sqlite, shell, git, archive, clipboard) are not offered in interactive mode — use the scripted form so you can pass their args.

Scripted mode

# One client, specific servers
native-mcp register claude-code time calculator json

# All detected clients
native-mcp register --all time

# A server with runtime args (everything after `--` is forwarded to the server)
native-mcp register claude-code filesystem -- /tmp /home/you/projects
native-mcp register claude-code shell      -- --allow ls,grep,find,cat
native-mcp register claude-code sqlite     -- /var/data/app.db
native-mcp register claude-code git        -- /home/you/projects/myrepo

# Custom entry name (useful when you want two configurations of the same server)
native-mcp register --name native-shell-build claude-code shell -- --allow make,cargo,go
native-mcp register --name native-time-paris  claude-code time  -- --default-tz Europe/Paris

Positional argument layout

native-mcp register [flags] [client] [server...] [-- server-args...]

• The first positional is interpreted as a client name (claude-code, claude-desktop, cursor) if it matches; otherwise everything is treated as server names.
• Anything after -- is forwarded verbatim as runtime args to the server.

Inspect what's registered

native-mcp register --list
native-mcp register --list --json

Only entries that start with native- are shown — your other MCP servers are not touched or reported.

Remove

# Remove every native-* entry from every detected client
native-mcp register --remove

# Just one client
native-mcp register --remove claude-code

# Specific servers from a client
native-mcp register --remove claude-code time calculator

Targeting a specific binary

By default the entries are written with the path of the currently-running native-mcp binary (via os.Executable()). Override with --binary:

native-mcp register --binary /usr/local/bin/native-mcp claude-code time

Permissions / security

• The command never reads or sends any secrets.
• For Claude Desktop and Cursor, the JSON config is rewritten in place (4-space indent, trailing newline). Existing keys are preserved.
• For Claude Code, the underlying claude mcp add command is invoked — it returns an error if the entry already exists, in which case you can --remove it first.

Why a dedicated subcommand

Earlier versions of the installer would register entries automatically. We pulled that out: an installer should install, registration is a separate concern, and this approach gives you precise control without needing jq or hand-editing JSON.