MCP Setup on Linux: Config Paths for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and More

Setting up MCP on Linux works the same way as on a Mac: install a client, add servers to its config file, restart, and check the server connected. What differs is where each file lives. Most Linux clients keep config under your home folder, such as ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json for Claude Desktop or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for Cursor.

The big change in 2026 is that Claude Desktop now has an official Linux build, in beta for Ubuntu and Debian. This guide lists the config path for every major client on Linux, then covers the runtime and permission issues that cause most Linux failures.

Checked against: Anthropic's Claude Desktop on Linux (beta) docs, the MCP local server guide, Claude Code setup docs and each client's own MCP docs linked below, on 2 November 2026. eSEOspace did not test these clients on Linux.

Config paths on Linux, by client

Zed keeps MCP servers under context_servers in its settings file; open it with zed: open settings file rather than guessing the path. Each client has its own guide in this series, such as our Cursor mcp.json guide and Gemini CLI setup.

Install Claude Desktop on Linux

Anthropic's Linux page says the desktop app is in beta and requires "Ubuntu 22.04 or later, or Debian 12 or later" on x86_64 or arm64. It installs from Anthropic's apt repository. The steps, in short:

sudo apt install curl gnupg
sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/claude-desktop-archive-keyring.asc https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-desktop/key.asc
gpg --show-keys /usr/share/keyrings/claude-desktop-archive-keyring.asc
echo "deb [arch=amd64,arm64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/claude-desktop-archive-keyring.asc] https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-desktop/apt/stable stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/claude-desktop.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install claude-desktop

Anthropic says the fingerprint gpg prints should be 31DDDE24DDFAB679F42D7BD2BAA929FF1A7ECACE. Check it before you continue. Commands checked against Anthropic's docs on 2 November 2026.

For distributions that are not Debian-based, such as Fedora or Arch, Anthropic says to "run the CLI instead."

Add an MCP server to Claude Desktop on Linux

1. Open Settings > Developer > Edit Config, or edit ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json directly.
2. Add a server. This is the MCP quickstart's Filesystem example with Linux paths:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
        "/home/username/Documents"
      ]
    }
  }
}

1. Quit Claude completely and relaunch.
2. Follow the logs if it does not appear:

tail -n 20 -f ~/.config/Claude/logs/mcp*.log

Anthropic's extensions article says secrets in desktop extensions are stored in "your distro's keychain manager" on Linux. Our config file location guide covers the same file on other systems.

Claude Code on Linux

Claude Code's setup docs list Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 10+ and Alpine Linux 3.19+. Install it with:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Anthropic also documents apt, dnf and apk packages. On Alpine and other musl-based systems, the docs say you need bash, curl, libgcc, libstdc++ and ripgrep, and must set USE_BUILTIN_RIPGREP=0. Then add servers with claude mcp add, covered in our claude mcp add guide.

Runtimes: Node, npx and uvx

Most local MCP servers start with npx (Node.js) or uvx (Python via uv). The MCP quickstart recommends the Node.js LTS release. Two Linux-specific points:

• Desktop apps may not see your shell PATH. If you installed Node with a version manager in ~/.bashrc, a desktop app launched from the menu may not find npx. Put the full path from which npx in the command field.
• Distribution Node packages can be old. Many servers need a recent Node. VS Code's Playwright example, for instance, needs Node.js 18 or newer.

LM Studio's release notes make the general point: servers that rely on npx or uvx need "those tools installed and available in your system's PATH."

Sandboxing on Linux

Linux gets one feature Windows does not. VS Code's docs say "on macOS and Linux, per-server sandboxing restricts file system and network access for stdio MCP servers," and "this mechanism isn't available on Windows." Use it for servers you are still evaluating. Our MCP sandboxing guide explains other ways to isolate local servers, such as containers.

WSL is not the same as Linux

If you run Linux inside Windows (WSL), the desktop app question changes. Anthropic's Linux page says WSL 2 users should "install the Windows desktop app and run sessions inside your distribution." Claude Code's add-from-claude-desktop import works on macOS and WSL. See our WSL setup errors guide for common problems.

Next step

Pick the client your team will standardize on with the MCP client support matrix, then generate configs with the MCP config generator.

Frequently asked questions