MCP servers¶

Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers live in .mcp.json at the apothem install root (~/.claude/.mcp.json for the Claude Code adapter). The file is the canonical scaffold for the MCP-server artifact class declared in CLAUDE.md §7.7.

Empty-attest baseline¶

The shipped .mcp.json carries an empty mcpServers map; the file is present so the artifact class is discoverable and so first-server installation lands in a known location.

Adding a server¶

Add a key under mcpServers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/some/path"]
    }
  }
}

The host LLM CLI loads this file on session start; restart the host to pick up new servers.

Naming convention¶

MCP tools surface to the assistant as mcp__<server>__<tool> per the host CLI's standard MCP-tool naming convention.