MCP Reference Servers
About
The official collection of Model Context Protocol reference servers, maintained by Anthropic and the community. Includes Filesystem, Git, Memory, Fetch and more — the canonical starting point for learning and building MCP servers.
Our Verdict
MCP Reference Servers brings official capabilities to the MCP ecosystem. Its GitHub popularity reflects community trust, and the standardized protocol ensures broad compatibility across AI clients.
Pricing
Use Cases
- Integrating official capabilities into AI agent workflows
- Building custom AI-powered tools with MCP Reference Servers
- Enhancing AI agent functionality with standardized MCP access
Pros
- MCP Reference Servers provides standardized MCP protocol access
- Open source with 89,102 GitHub stars
- Active development and community support
Cons
- Requires MCP-compatible client (Claude, Cursor, etc.)
- Setup complexity varies by client
- Some features may depend on client capabilities
Installation
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem <dir>Frequently Asked Questions
What do the official MCP reference servers include?
It is the official collection maintained by Anthropic and the MCP community. One repository bundles ready-to-use servers for filesystem, Git, memory, time, fetch and more, making it the best starting point for learning MCP.
How do I add a reference server to Claude Code or Cursor?
Each server ships as its own npm package and starts with one npx line, e.g. npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem <dir>. Register it with claude mcp add in Claude Code, or paste it into the MCP settings in Cursor.
Are the reference servers free? Do they need an API key?
Completely free and open source under the MIT license. Core servers like filesystem, Git and memory run locally, need no API key, and send no data to third parties.