Set up your first Claude Code MCP in 5 minutes

You've installed Claude Code. You've heard about MCPs. Now let's connect one — the filesystem MCP — so Claude can read and write files on your computer without you copy-pasting everything.

What you'll build

By the end of this guide, Claude Code will be able to read files in a specific folder on your machine — no copy-paste required. We'll use the filesystem MCP as a stepping stone, but the pattern is identical for every MCP.

Step 1: Open the Claude Code config

Claude Code stores MCP connections in a single config file. On macOS:

open ~/.config/claude-code/mcp.json

If the file doesn't exist yet, create it:

mkdir -p ~/.config/claude-code && touch ~/.config/claude-code/mcp.json

Step 2: Add the filesystem MCP

Paste this into mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
        "/Users/YOU/Documents/my-project"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace /Users/YOU/Documents/my-project with the path to a folder you want Claude to access. Only list paths you're comfortable with an AI reading. You can add multiple paths separated by commas.

Step 3: Restart Claude Code

Quit Claude Code completely (not just close the window — fully quit). Then reopen it. The MCP server loads on startup.

Step 4: Verify it's connected

In a new Claude Code session, type:

/mcp

You should see filesystem listed as connected. If it's not, check mcp.json for syntax errors — a missing comma is the #1 culprit.

Step 5: Try it out

Ask Claude something only the filesystem MCP can answer:

List the files in my project folder and tell me what each one does.

Claude will now read the folder you configured and respond with actual file names. No copy-paste.

What's next?

Now that one MCP works, adding more is the same three-step recipe: add entry → restart → verify. Try:

• GitHub MCP for repo access
• Notion MCP for your notes
• Playwright MCP for browser control

We have individual guides for each — or just ask Claude to help you set one up (meta, but it works).

TL;DR: One config file, one entry per MCP, restart, done. The hardest part is finding the right path to paste.