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MCP Settings Configuration

This guide explains how to configure MCP servers in MCPHub using the mcp_settings.json file and related configurations.

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Configuration Files Overview

MCPHub uses several configuration files:
  • mcp_settings.json: Your personal configuration of active MCP servers and system config
  • servers.json: Metadata cataloging hundreds of available MCP servers
  • .env: Environment variables and secrets

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Basic MCP Settings Structure

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mcp_settings.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "server-name": {
      "command": "command-to-run",
      "args": ["arg1", "arg2"],
      "env": {
        "ENV_VAR": "value"
      }
    }
  }
}

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Example Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fetch": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-fetch"],
      "env": {
        "USER_AGENT": "MCPHub/1.0"
      }
    },
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@playwright/mcp@latest", "--headless"]
    },
    "slack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-slack"],
      "env": {
        "SLACK_BOT_TOKEN": "${SLACK_BOT_TOKEN}",
        "SLACK_TEAM_ID": "${SLACK_TEAM_ID}"
      }
    }
  }
}

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Server Configuration Options

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Required Fields

FieldTypeDescription
commandstringExecutable command or path
argsarrayCommand-line arguments

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Optional Fields

FieldTypeDefaultDescription
envobject{}Environment variables

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Common MCP Server Examples

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Web and API Servers

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Fetch Server

{
  "fetch": {
    "command": "uvx",
    "args": ["mcp-server-fetch"],
    "env": {
      "USER_AGENT": "MCPHub/1.0",
      "MAX_REDIRECTS": "10"
    }
  }
}

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Web Scraping with Playwright

{
  "playwright": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["@playwright/mcp@latest", "--headless"],
    "timeout": 60000,
    "env": {
      "PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH": "/tmp/browsers"
    }
  }
}

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File and System Servers

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Filesystem Server

{
  "filesystem": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/allowed/path"],
    "env": {
      "ALLOWED_OPERATIONS": "read,write,list"
    }
  }
}

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SQLite Server

{
  "sqlite": {
    "command": "uvx",
    "args": ["mcp-server-sqlite", "--db-path", "/path/to/database.db"],
    "env": {
      "SQLITE_READONLY": "false"
    }
  }
}

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Communication Servers

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Slack Server

{
  "slack": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-slack"],
    "env": {
      "SLACK_BOT_TOKEN": "${SLACK_BOT_TOKEN}",
      "SLACK_TEAM_ID": "${SLACK_TEAM_ID}",
      "SLACK_APP_TOKEN": "${SLACK_APP_TOKEN}"
    }
  }
}

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Email Server

{
  "email": {
    "command": "python",
    "args": ["-m", "mcp_server_email"],
    "env": {
      "SMTP_HOST": "smtp.gmail.com",
      "SMTP_PORT": "587",
      "EMAIL_USER": "${EMAIL_USER}",
      "EMAIL_PASSWORD": "${EMAIL_PASSWORD}"
    }
  }
}

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Development and API Servers

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GitHub Server

{
  "github": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
    "env": {
      "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
    }
  }
}

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Google Drive Server

{
  "gdrive": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@google/mcp-server-gdrive"],
    "env": {
      "GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID": "${GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID}",
      "GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET": "${GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET}",
      "GOOGLE_REFRESH_TOKEN": "${GOOGLE_REFRESH_TOKEN}"
    }
  }
}

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Map and Location Services

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Amap (高德地图) Server

{
  "amap": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "@amap/amap-maps-mcp-server"],
    "env": {
      "AMAP_MAPS_API_KEY": "${AMAP_API_KEY}",
      "AMAP_LANGUAGE": "zh-cn"
    }
  }
}

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OpenStreetMap Server

{
  "osm": {
    "command": "python",
    "args": ["-m", "mcp_server_osm"],
    "env": {
      "OSM_USER_AGENT": "MCPHub/1.0"
    }
  }
}

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Advanced Configuration

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Environment Variable Substitution

MCPHub supports environment variable substitution using ${VAR_NAME} syntax: 
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "api-server": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "api_server"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "${API_KEY}",
        "API_URL": "${API_BASE_URL}/v1"
      }
    }
  }
}

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Proxy Configuration (proxychains4)

MCPHub supports routing STDIO server network traffic through a proxy using proxychains4. This feature is available on Linux and macOS only (Windows is not supported).
To use this feature, you must have proxychains4 installed on your system:
  • Debian/Ubuntu: apt install proxychains4
  • macOS: brew install proxychains-ng
  • Arch Linux: pacman -S proxychains-ng

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Basic Proxy Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fetch-via-proxy": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-fetch"],
      "proxy": {
        "enabled": true,
        "type": "socks5",
        "host": "127.0.0.1",
        "port": 1080
      }
    }
  }
}

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Proxy Configuration Options

FieldTypeDefaultDescription
enabledbooleanfalseEnable/disable proxy routing
typestringsocks5Proxy protocol: socks4, socks5, or http
hoststring-Proxy server hostname or IP address
portnumber-Proxy server port
usernamestring-Proxy authentication username (optional)
passwordstring-Proxy authentication password (optional)
configPathstring-Path to custom proxychains4 config file

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Proxy with Authentication

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "secure-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@example/mcp-server"],
      "proxy": {
        "enabled": true,
        "type": "http",
        "host": "proxy.example.com",
        "port": 8080,
        "username": "${PROXY_USER}",
        "password": "${PROXY_PASSWORD}"
      }
    }
  }
}

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Using Custom proxychains4 Configuration

For advanced use cases, you can provide your own proxychains4 configuration file: 
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "custom-proxy-server": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "custom_mcp_server"],
      "proxy": {
        "enabled": true,
        "configPath": "/etc/proxychains4/custom.conf"
      }
    }
  }
}
When configPath is specified, all other proxy settings (type, host, port, etc.) are ignored, and the custom configuration file is used directly.

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Group Management

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Group Configuration

{
  "groups": {
    "production": {
      "name": "Production Tools",
      "description": "Stable production servers",
      "servers": ["fetch", "slack", "github"]
    },
    "experimental": {
      "name": "Experimental Features",
      "description": "Beta and experimental servers",
      "servers": ["experimental-ai", "beta-search"]
    }
  }
}

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Best Practices

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Security

  1. Use environment variables for sensitive data: 
    {
  "env": {
    "API_KEY": "${API_KEY}",
    "DATABASE_PASSWORD": "${DB_PASSWORD}"
  }
}
This comprehensive guide covers all aspects of configuring MCP servers in MCPHub for various use cases and environments.