MCP & Plugins Intermediate

Connect an MCP Server

Add an MCP server inline to extend Claude with external tools (filesystem, database, browser)

Command

$ "color:#7C5CFC">claude -p "List files in /tmp" \
    "color:#d97757">--mcp-config '{"mcpServers":{"filesystem":{"command":"">npx","args":["-y","@anthropic-ai/mcp-server-filesystem","/tmp"]}}}'

Response

{
  "result": "Files in /tmp:\n- test.txt\n- logs/",
  "total_cost_usd": 0.02
}

Parsing Code

059669">">// Or use a config file:
059669">">// claude -p "Query DB059669">" --mcp-config ./mcp-config.json
059669">">//
059669">">// mcp-config.json:
059669">">// { "mcpServers059669">": { "db059669">": { "command059669">": "python059669">", "args059669">": ["-m059669">", "mcp_server_postgres059669">"], "env059669">": { "DATABASE_URL059669">": "..." } } } }

Gotchas

! Server starts as a child process and stops when the session ends

! Use --mcp-config path/to/file.json for reusable configurations

Command

Response

Parsing Code

Gotchas

Related Recipes