MCP Comparison
MCP (Model Context Protocol) configs define external tool servers. Every provider supports MCP, but they differ in config file location, format, and supported transports.
Format and Install Method
Section titled “Format and Install Method”How each provider stores and installs mcp configs.
| Provider | Format | Install Method | Symlink |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | JSON | JSON merge | No |
| Gemini CLI | JSON | JSON merge | No |
| Cursor | JSON | JSON merge | No |
| Windsurf | JSON | JSON merge | No |
| Codex | TOML | JSON merge | No |
| Copilot CLI | JSON | JSON merge | No |
| Zed | JSON | JSON merge | No |
| Cline | JSON | JSON merge | No |
| Roo Code | JSON | JSON merge | No |
| OpenCode | JSON with comments | JSON merge | No |
| Kiro | JSON | JSON merge | No |
| Amp | JSON | JSON merge | No |
| Factory Droid | JSON | JSON merge | No |
| Crush | JSON | JSON merge | No |
Discovery Paths
Section titled “Discovery Paths”Where each provider looks for mcp configs files. Paths with ~/ are relative to the user’s home directory; others are relative to the project root.
| Provider | Discovery Paths | Global Install Path |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | .claude.json, .mcp.json | — |
| Gemini CLI | .gemini/settings.json | — |
| Cursor | .cursor/mcp.json | — |
| Windsurf | — | — |
| Codex | — | — |
| Copilot CLI | .copilot/mcp-config.json | — |
| Zed | — | — |
| Cline | ~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json | — |
| Roo Code | .roo/mcp.json | — |
| OpenCode | opencode.json, opencode.jsonc | — |
| Kiro | .kiro/settings/mcp.json | — |
| Amp | .amp/settings.json | — |
| Factory Droid | .factory/mcp.json | — |
| Crush | crush.json | — |
Config Location
Section titled “Config Location”| Provider | Config File |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | .mcp.json |
| Gemini CLI | .gemini/settings.json |
| Cursor | .cursor/mcp.json |
| Windsurf | .windsurf/mcp_config.json |
| Codex | .codex/config.toml |
| Copilot CLI | .copilot/mcp-config.json |
| Zed | ~/.config/zed/settings.json |
| Cline | cline_mcp_settings.json |
| Roo Code | .roo/mcp.json |
| OpenCode | opencode.json |
| Kiro | .kiro/settings/mcp.json |
| Amp | .amp/settings.json |
| Factory Droid | .factory/mcp.json |
| Crush | crush.json |
Transport Support
Section titled “Transport Support”Which MCP transports each provider supports for communicating with tool servers.
| Transport | Claude Code | Gemini CLI | Cursor | Windsurf | Codex | Copilot CLI | Zed | Cline | Roo Code | OpenCode | Kiro | Amp | Factory Droid | Crush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
http | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
sse | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
stdio | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
streamable-http | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | — | — | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — |
Not supported by: Pi.
See Also
Section titled “See Also”Generated from syllago 0.10.3 on 2026-04-27.