How to Set Up MCP Servers in Claude on Windows and Mac

The Model Context Protocol (MCP), developed by Anthropic, is an open standard that allows AI models to communicate with external data sources. MCP has a lot of potential as it can go beyond the chatbot interface and perform actions across platforms and services.

So, in this tutorial, I have explained the steps to set up MCP Servers in Claude on Windows and macOS devices. In addition, I have shared two examples showcasing how Model Context Protocol servers work in this guide.

Install Node.js and Claude Desktop App

• First and foremost, download Node.js and install it on your Windows PC or Mac.
• It’s a straightforward process. Download the setup file and install the program.
• After that, open Terminal and run the below command to check the installation.

node --version

If you get a version number as output, you are good to go. Next, install the Claude desktop app from their website and sign in with your account. You don’t need a paid account to use MCP in Claude.

Configure Claude AI to Use MCP Servers

• Launch the Claude desktop app and click on the hamburger menu.
• Next, click on File -> Settings in the Claude app.
• Next, move to the ” Developer” tab and click on “Edit Config”.
• This will take you to the folder where the JSON file is present.

• Now, open the “claude_desktop_config.json” file using your choice of code editor. I am using Notepad++ to edit the file.

• For this guide, I am demonstrating the simple Filesystem MCP Server, which can read and write files on your local computer using Claude.
• Click on this link and scroll down to the NPX section. Now, copy the code.

• Switch to the JSON file, delete everything in it, and paste the code in its entirety.
• Now, paste the directory path that you want to manage with Claude. For example, I have only added a single path of the “test” folder, which is located on my Desktop.
• Make sure to replace back slashes with forward slashes (/) in the folder path. Now, save the JSON file.

• Next, open the Task Manager on Windows or Activity Monitor on macOS and end all tasks for the Claude app.

Now, open the Claude Desktop app, and you should see hammer and connector icons. This indicates that your MCP server is ready in Claude.

Run MCP Servers in Claude on Windows and Mac

Once the MCP Server is up and running, you can start using it in Claude. The best part is that you can reference your folders and files in the prompt using natural and descriptive language. Claude understands the prompt perfectly and performs actions on your local computer using MCP.

• I asked Claude to show me what is inside the directory, and it correctly located the “test” folder and listed the text file.
• Next, I asked Claude to show the content of the file, and again, it extracted the content from the text file successfully.

• After that, I prompted Claude to add some new text to the file, and it was done without any errors.

• To play more with MCP servers, I set up the Twitter MCP Server on my PC using X’s API and asked Claude to post a tweet on X, and again, Claude did it, thanks to MCP.

• You can take a look at the tweet below.

• Lastly, I asked Claude to show me what Sam Altman is hyping on X, and it analyzed Altman’s timeline and gave me a great overview.

So, from managing your local files and folders to connecting to external services, MCP can do it all. I am genuinely excited about the Model Context Protocol as it can automate many tedious workflows. For example, if you have a bulk of files on your computer, you can connect the MCP server and use Claude’s intelligent AI model to analyze, categorize, and organize them into different folders.

There is also an Excel MCP Server that can analyze spreadsheets, create graphs, make modifications to tables, and more. I expect Microsoft will likely bring first-party MCP support to Copilot AI in the coming days, which could revolutionize personal computing as we know it.