clients

Client Configuration

Configuration for connecting AI clients to the MCP infrastructure.

MCP Config File Locations

Where each client stores its MCP server configuration.

Client	Windows	macOS
VS Code / Copilot	%APPDATA%\Code\User\mcp.json	~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json
VS Code Insiders	%APPDATA%\Code - Insiders\User\mcp.json	~/Library/Application Support/Code - Insiders/User/mcp.json
Claude Desktop	%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json	~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Claude Code	~/.claude/.mcp.json + ~/.claude/settings.local.json	same
OpenCode	~/.config/opencode/opencode.json or project opencode.json	same
Cline (VS Code)	%APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\saoudrizwan.claude-dev\settings\cline_mcp_settings.json	~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/...
Cline (Standalone)	~/.cline/data/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json	same
Kilo Code	%APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\kilocode.kilo-code\settings\mcp_settings.json	~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/...
Goose	~/.config/goose/config.yaml	same

Connection Patterns

There are two ways clients connect to MCP servers:

1. Via gateway (centralized)

All MCPs behind a single endpoint with auth, RBAC, and metrics. Either agentgateway or mcpx can serve as the gateway.

Endpoint: http://localhost:3847/mcp (or https://localhost:3443/mcp for TLS)

Clients use mcp-remote to bridge stdio to HTTP:

{
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["--prefer-online", "-y", "mcp-remote", "http://localhost:3847/mcp", "--header", "x-client-id: your-client-name"]
}

Note: Claude Desktop on Windows requires npx.cmd instead of npx.

2. Direct SSE (per-MCP)

Clients connect directly to individual MCP SSE endpoints. Used for MCPs that expose their own SSE server (e.g., qdrant-mcp on :7020).

{
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["--prefer-online", "-y", "mcp-remote", "http://localhost:7020/servers/qdrant-work/sse"]
}

OpenCode supports SSE natively without mcp-remote:

{
  "type": "remote",
  "url": "http://localhost:7020/servers/qdrant-work/sse",
  "enabled": true
}

Client Identification

When using agentgateway, include an x-client-id header for tracking:

Client	Header Value
VS Code Copilot	x-client-id: vscode-copilot
Claude Desktop	x-client-id: claude-desktop
OpenCode	x-client-id: opencode
Cline	x-client-id: cline
Kilo Code	x-client-id: kilocode
Goose	x-client-id: goose

Symlinks

Symlink client config files into this directory for version control. Use ln -s (macOS/Linux) or mklink (Windows, elevated).

Source (actual config)	Target (this repo)
{APPDATA}/Code/User/mcp.json	copilot/vscode-user.json
{APPDATA}/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json	claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{APPDATA}/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json	cline/mcp_settings.json
{APPDATA}/Code/User/globalStorage/kilocode.kilo-code/settings/mcp_settings.json	kilocode/mcp_settings.json
~/.config/goose/config.yaml	goose/config.yaml

{APPDATA} = %APPDATA% on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support on macOS.

User Instructions, Agents, and Skills

Shared across Claude Code, OpenCode, and GitHub Copilot via symlinks from a centralized ai repository:

Source (canonical)	Target	Used by
~/ai/AGENTS.md	~/.claude/CLAUDE.md	Claude Code
~/ai/agents/	~/.claude/agents/	Claude Code
~/ai/skills/	~/.claude/skills/	Claude Code, OpenCode
~/ai/skills/	~/.copilot/skills/	GitHub Copilot
~/ai/agents/opencode/	~/.config/opencode/agent/	OpenCode

This allows:

• Single source of truth for instructions, agents, and skills across all sessions
• Version controlled configuration via the ai repository
• Shared patterns for memory, todo management, sequential thinking, and skill promotion