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MCP Reference Servers

Reference MCP servers for filesystems, git, databases and more

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Overview

The clearest way to understand the Model Context Protocol is to read servers that implement it correctly, and this is that collection. Useful both as working connectors and as the template to copy when writing your own.

What can you do with MCP Reference Servers?

  • Expose files and git reposThe Filesystem server takes an allowed-directory argument and the Git server takes --repository, so a client gets scoped file operations plus repository read, search and history tools.
  • Start a server without installingTypeScript servers run straight from npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-memory and Python ones from uvx mcp-server-git, added to a client's mcpServers block in a few lines (Windows entries wrap npx in cmd /c).
  • Add memory and web fetchingThe Memory server keeps a knowledge graph that persists across sessions, Fetch converts web pages into text sized for an LLM, and Time handles timezone conversion.
  • Test your own MCP clientThe Everything server is the repo's reference and test server, exposing prompts, resources and tools together so a client implementation can be checked against all three.
  • Look elsewhere for production serversOnly the seven servers the MCP steering group maintains live here, and the README calls them educational examples rather than production-ready solutions; published servers are listed on the MCP Registry, and the old GitHub, Slack, PostgreSQL and SQLite ones moved to servers-archived.

Documentation

Reproduced from the modelcontextprotocol/servers README, published under MIT. Read the original ↗

Model Context Protocol servers

This repository is a collection of reference implementations for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), as well as references to community-built servers and additional resources.

[!IMPORTANT] If you are looking for a list of MCP servers, you can browse published servers on the MCP Registry. The repository served by this README is dedicated to housing just the small number of reference servers maintained by the MCP steering group.

[!WARNING] The servers in this repository are intended as reference implementations to demonstrate MCP features and SDK usage. They are meant to serve as educational examples for developers building their own MCP servers, not as production-ready solutions. Developers should evaluate their own security requirements and implement appropriate safeguards based on their specific threat model and use case.

The servers in this repository showcase the versatility and extensibility of MCP, demonstrating how it can be used to give Large Language Models (LLMs) secure, controlled access to tools and data sources. Typically, each MCP server is implemented with an MCP SDK:

🌟 Reference Servers

These servers aim to demonstrate MCP features and the official SDKs.

  • Everything - Reference / test server with prompts, resources, and tools.
  • Fetch - Web content fetching and conversion for efficient LLM usage.
  • Filesystem - Secure file operations with configurable access controls.
  • Git - Tools to read, search, and manipulate Git repositories.
  • Memory - Knowledge graph-based persistent memory system.
  • Sequential Thinking - Dynamic and reflective problem-solving through thought sequences.
  • Time - Time and timezone conversion capabilities.

Archived

The following reference servers are now archived and can be found at servers-archived.

  • AWS KB Retrieval - Retrieval from AWS Knowledge Base using Bedrock Agent Runtime.
  • Brave Search - Web and local search using Brave’s Search API. Has been replaced by the official server.
  • EverArt - AI image generation using various models.
  • GitHub - Repository management, file operations, and GitHub API integration.
  • GitLab - GitLab API, enabling project management.
  • Google Drive - File access and search capabilities for Google Drive.
  • Google Maps - Location services, directions, and place details.
  • PostgreSQL - Read-only database access with schema inspection.
  • Puppeteer - Browser automation and web scraping.
  • Redis - Interact with Redis key-value stores.
  • Sentry - Retrieving and analyzing issues from Sentry.io.
  • Slack - Channel management and messaging capabilities. Now maintained by Zencoder
  • SQLite - Database interaction and business intelligence capabilities.

🚀 Getting Started

Using MCP Servers in this Repository

TypeScript-based servers in this repository can be used directly with npx.

For example, this will start the Memory server:

npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-memory

Python-based servers in this repository can be used directly with uvx or pip. uvx is recommended for ease of use and setup.

For example, this will start the Git server:

# With uvx
uvx mcp-server-git

# With pip
pip install mcp-server-git
python -m mcp_server_git

Follow these instructions to install uv / uvx and these to install pip.

Using an MCP Client

However, running a server on its own isn’t very useful, and should instead be configured into an MCP client. For example, here’s the Claude Desktop configuration to use the above server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "memory": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory"]
    }
  }
}

On Windows, wrap npx with cmd /c:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "memory": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory"]
    }
  }
}

Additional examples of using the Claude Desktop as an MCP client might look like:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/path/to/allowed/files"]
    },
    "git": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-git", "--repository", "path/to/git/repo"]
    },
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "<YOUR_TOKEN>"
      }
    },
    "postgres": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres", "postgresql://localhost/mydb"]
    }
  }
}

On Windows, apply the same wrapper to each npx-based entry above by changing "command" to "cmd" and prepending "/c", "npx" to the existing args. Leave uvx entries unchanged.

🛠️ Creating Your Own Server

Interested in creating your own MCP server? Visit the official documentation at modelcontextprotocol.io for comprehensive guides, best practices, and technical details on implementing MCP servers.

📚 Learn More

See ADDITIONAL.md for a curated list of frameworks and resources that simplify building MCP servers and clients.

🤝 Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for information about contributing to this repository.

📦 Releasing

See RELEASING.md for how packages are published (OIDC trusted publishing from CI — no registry tokens) and how to retry a failed publish.

🔒 Security

See SECURITY.md for reporting security vulnerabilities.

📜 License

This project is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 for new contributions, with existing code under MIT - see the LICENSE file for details.

💬 Community

⭐ Support

If you find MCP servers useful, please consider starring the repository and contributing new servers or improvements!


Managed by Anthropic, but built together with the community. The Model Context Protocol is open source and we encourage everyone to contribute their own servers and improvements!