Best MCP Servers for Claude Code and Cursor

These are 14 MCP servers that make coding agents like Claude Code and Cursor more useful. Each one is official or maintained by the vendor, and each row shows exactly how to connect it. Checked Oct 29, 2026.

Quick Setup

Claude Code, remote server: claude mcp add --transport http linear https://mcp.linear.app/mcp

Claude Code, local server: claude mcp add playwright npx @playwright/mcp@latest

Cursor: add servers to .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for all projects:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "context7": { "url": "https://mcp.context7.com/mcp" },
    "playwright": { "command": "npx", "args": ["@playwright/mcp@latest"] }
  }
}

Remote servers that use OAuth open a browser to sign in the first time you use them.

Code, Docs and Debugging

Name	What It Gives Your Agent	Connect	Auth
GitHub MCP Server Swarmnest Listing	Read and manage repos, issues, pull requests and Actions	Remote: `https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/`, or the Docker image	OAuth or a GitHub personal access token
Context7 Swarmnest Listing	Up-to-date, version-specific library docs, so the agent stops guessing at APIs	Remote: `https://mcp.context7.com/mcp`	Free API key recommended for higher rate limits
Sentry MCP Swarmnest Listing	Errors, stack traces and issues from Sentry, to fix bugs with real data	Remote: `https://mcp.sentry.dev/mcp`	OAuth
Cloudflare MCP Servers Swarmnest Listing	Cloudflare docs, Workers bindings, logs and more, as separate servers	Remote, e.g. `https://docs.mcp.cloudflare.com/mcp`	OAuth for account servers

Browser and Testing

Name	What It Gives Your Agent	Connect	Auth
Playwright MCP Swarmnest Listing	A real browser driven through accessibility snapshots, to test and click through pages	Local: `npx @playwright/mcp@latest`	None
Chrome DevTools MCP Swarmnest Listing	Inspect a live Chrome page: console, network, performance traces	Local: `npx -y chrome-devtools-mcp@latest`	None

Project Tools and Design

Name	What It Gives Your Agent	Connect	Auth
Linear MCP Swarmnest Listing	Read, create and update Linear issues and projects	Remote: `https://mcp.linear.app/mcp`	OAuth
Notion MCP Swarmnest Listing	Search and edit Notion pages and databases, such as specs and docs	Remote: `https://mcp.notion.com/mcp`	OAuth
Figma MCP Swarmnest Listing	Design context from Figma frames, to turn designs into code	Remote: `https://mcp.figma.com/mcp`, or the desktop app server	OAuth (Figma account)

Databases and Payments

Name	What It Gives Your Agent	Connect	Auth
Supabase MCP Swarmnest Listing	Manage Supabase projects, tables, migrations and SQL	Remote: `https://mcp.supabase.com/mcp`	OAuth. Use read-only mode and a dev project.
Stripe MCP Swarmnest Listing	Stripe API actions and a search of the Stripe docs	Remote: `https://mcp.stripe.com`	OAuth or a restricted API key

Web Search and Research

Name	What It Gives Your Agent	Connect	Auth
Exa MCP Swarmnest Listing	Web and code search built for LLMs	Remote: `https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp`	Exa API key
Firecrawl MCP Swarmnest Listing	Scrape, crawl and search the web into clean Markdown	Local: `npx -y firecrawl-mcp`	Firecrawl API key
Swarmnest MCP Server	Search 3,800+ hand-checked agent tools, MCP servers and Agent Skills from inside your agent	Remote: `https://swarmnest.ai/mcp`	None, read-only and free

Tips

Keep the list short. Each server adds tools to the agent's context. Turn off servers you are not using.
Use least privilege. Prefer OAuth, restricted keys and read-only modes, and point database servers at development data.
Prefer official servers. Vendor-run remote servers get fixes first and handle sign-in for you.

Find more in the MCP Servers directory, or add the Swarmnest MCP server and ask your agent to search it. Moving off Smithery? See Smithery Alternatives.

FAQ

What are the best MCP servers for Claude Code?

For most developers: GitHub for repos and pull requests, Context7 for current library docs, Playwright MCP or Chrome DevTools MCP for a browser, and Sentry for real error data. Then add the servers for the tools your team already uses, such as Linear, Notion, Figma, Supabase or Stripe.

How do I add an MCP server to Claude Code?

For a remote server, run claude mcp add --transport http followed by a name and the server URL, for example claude mcp add --transport http linear https://mcp.linear.app/mcp. For a local server, put the command after the name, for example claude mcp add playwright npx @playwright/mcp@latest.

How do I add an MCP server to Cursor?

Add it to .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project, under mcpServers. Remote servers use a url field and local servers use command and args.

How many MCP servers should I install?

Only the ones you use. Every server adds tool descriptions to the context window, and too many tools make the agent slower and more likely to pick the wrong one. Most people do well with three to six.

Are MCP servers safe?

Prefer official servers from the vendor, like the ones on this page. Use OAuth or least-privilege keys, read-only modes where offered, and development projects rather than production data. Treat content a server returns, such as web pages or issues, as untrusted input.

Where did Smithery-hosted servers go?

Smithery's hosted proxy and CLI stop working on October 31, 2026. Connect to each vendor's official URL instead. See our Smithery Alternatives guide for steps.

Sources (Checked Oct 29, 2026)

Updated Oct 29, 2026. Prices and limits come from each provider's site on that day and can change. Sponsorship never affects which tools appear in a guide or their order. Questions or corrections: [email protected].

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Smithery's hosted MCP proxy, CLI and API stop on Oct 31, 2026. How to migrate, plus 12 registries and hosts compared.