Client Auto-Installer

Configuring MCP servers manually by hunting down JSON configuration files on disk, copying absolute file paths, and formatting JSON strings is tedious and error-prone.

mcponce provides a built-in Client Auto-Installer that discovers your local AI client configuration files and configures your server in a single command.

1. Quick Installation from Server Script #

You can install any mcponce server directly using its own script:

node server.js install

Auto-configures both Claude Desktop and Cursor to run with --background mode.

node server.js install claude

node server.js install cursor

node server.js install cursor --project

Output:

✔ Configured "my-tools" in MCP client(s):

  claude: /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
    Command: node /Users/username/projects/agent/server.js --background

  cursor: /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Cursor/User/globalStorage/mcp.json
    Command: node /Users/username/projects/agent/server.js --background

2. Global CLI Installation (`mcponce install`) #

If using the global mcponce CLI, you can point to any local script file or registered server name:

BASH

# Install by script path
npx mcponce install ./server.ts claude

# Install from a registered central server
npx mcponce install my-agent cursor

TypeScript Auto-Detection

When targeting a .ts file (e.g. server.ts), the installer automatically configures npx tsx <path> --background so your server runs natively without requiring manual compilation.

3. Supported Clients & Configuration Paths #

The auto-installer automatically resolves paths according to your operating system:

Client	Platform	Standard Location
Claude Desktop	macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
	Windows	`%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
	Linux	`~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
Cursor (Global)	macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/User/globalStorage/mcp.json`
	Windows	`%APPDATA%\Cursor\User\globalStorage\mcp.json`
	Linux	`~/.config/Cursor/User/globalStorage/mcp.json`
Cursor (Project)	All	`<project-root>/.cursor/mcp.json` (via `--project`)
Antigravity	All	`~/.gemini/antigravity-ide/mcp_config.json`

4. Uninstalling Servers #

Remove a server from your client configuration with uninstall:

# Remove from all clients node server.js uninstall Remove from Claude Desktop only

node server.js uninstall claude

npx mcponce uninstall my-agent cursor

5. CLI Flags & Options #

Flag	Description
`--dry-run`	Preview what would be written without modifying any files on disk.
`--project`	Target the local workspace `.cursor/mcp.json` instead of global settings.
`--no-background`	Disables the default `--background` flag on the server command.
`--config-path <path>`	Override target file with a custom config path.

6. Programmatic API #

You can also install or inspect client configurations programmatically in test suites or deployment scripts:

TYPESCRIPT

import {
  installClientConfig,
  uninstallClientConfig,
  getClientConfigPath
} from 'mcponce';

// Get config path for Claude Desktop on current OS
const claudePath = getClientConfigPath('claude');

// Programmatically install
const results = installClientConfig({
  serverName: 'custom-db-agent',
  entrypoint: './dist/server.js',
  client: 'all',
  background: true,
  env: {
    NODE_ENV: 'production',
    DB_PORT: '5432'
  }
});

// Programmatically remove
uninstallClientConfig({
  serverName: 'custom-db-agent',
  client: 'claude'
});