Claude MCP Config Switcher

A simple command-line tool for macOS to quickly switch between different mcpServers configurations for the Claude desktop application.

Goal

The Claude desktop app stores its configuration, including the mcpServers endpoints, in a JSON file. This tool allows you to define multiple named configuration profiles (e.g., 'default', 'staging', 'dev') and easily switch the active mcpServers block in the Claude configuration file without manually editing it each time. It also automatically restarts Claude to apply the changes.

Requirements

• macOS: The script relies on macOS-specific paths (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/) and commands (killall, open). It will not work on Windows or Linux.
• jq: The script uses jq to parse and manipulate JSON files. Install it if you haven't already:

  brew install jq
  

Installation

Quick Install (Recommended)

(macOS Only) Run the following command in your terminal:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BLTGV/claude-mcp-config-switcher/main/setup.sh | sh -s -- --install

This will download the script and run its installer directly.

Manual Installation

1. Save the setup.sh script to your machine (e.g., download it from the repository).
2. Make it executable: chmod +x setup.sh
3. Run the script's installer from the directory where you saved it:

   ./setup.sh --install
   

   This will copy the script to /usr/local/bin/claude-mcp-switch (using sudo if needed) and make it available in your PATH.

You only need to run the installation once. Subsequently, you can use the claude-mcp-switch command directly.

How it Works

• Configuration Directory: Named configurations are stored as .json files in ~/.config/claude/.
• Target File: The script modifies the official Claude config file at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json.
• mcpServers Key: The script only reads and writes the mcpServers key and its value. Any other keys in your source .json files are ignored, and any other keys in the target Claude config file are preserved.
• Tracking (loaded file): The script keeps track of the name of the currently active configuration in ~/.config/claude/loaded.
• Backup (last.json): Before applying a new configuration, the script saves the current mcpServers block from the target file into ~/.config/claude/last.json, allowing easy rollback.
• First Run: If ~/.config/claude/default.json doesn't exist when you first run the script (after installation), it will try to copy the mcpServers block from your existing Claude configuration into default.json.

Usage

1. Create Configuration Files

Manually create .json files in the ~/.config/claude/ directory. Each file should represent a configuration profile and must contain at least the mcpServers key.

Example: ~/.config/claude/work_profile.json (Configures filesystem and GitHub tools)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
        "/Users/your_username/Documents/Work", // Allow access to Work folder
        "/Users/your_username/Projects"        // Allow access to Projects folder
      ],
      "disabled": false
    },
    "github": {
      "command": "npx", // Assuming installed via npm/npx
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github" // Use correct package name if different
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "YOUR_GITHUB_PAT_HERE" // Remember to replace this!
      },
      "disabled": false
    }
  },
  "someOtherKey": "This might control other Claude settings"
}

Example: ~/.config/claude/personal_profile.json (Configures only filesystem for personal folders)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
        "/Users/your_username/Desktop",      // Allow access to Desktop
        "/Users/your_username/Downloads",    // Allow access to Downloads
        "/Users/your_username/Pictures"      // Allow access to Pictures
      ],
      "disabled": false
    }
    // GitHub server is omitted (or could be explicitly disabled)
  }
}

2. Switch Configurations

Use the claude-mcp-switch command followed by the name of the configuration file (without the .json extension).

• Switch to staging:

  claude-mcp-switch staging
  

• Switch to default:

  claude-mcp-switch default
  

  or simply:

  claude-mcp-switch
  

  (Defaults to default if no name is provided)

The script will update the Claude config file and restart the Claude application.

3. List Available Configurations

See which configurations are available and which one is currently loaded:

claude-mcp-switch -l
# or
claude-mcp-switch --list

Output might look like:

Available configurations:
  default
  staging
  dev (invalid: missing mcpServers key)

Currently loaded: staging

4. Revert to Previous Configuration

Switch back to the configuration that was active before the current one:

claude-mcp-switch last

Uninstall

To uninstall, simply remove the script and the configuration directory:

sudo rm /usr/local/bin/claude-mcp-switch
rm -rf ~/.config/claude/