What is Mcp Local Spec

mcp-local-spec is a specification designed to standardize the listing and configuration of MCP Servers on local machines, facilitating their discovery and integration with various tools.

Use cases

Use cases include registering and configuring MCP Servers for development tools like IntelliJ IDEA, Anthropic Claude, and OpenAI ChatGPT, enhancing their capabilities by allowing them to utilize local MCP Servers.

How to use

To use mcp-local-spec, create a Markdown file for each MCP Server in the ~/.mcp directory (or %USER_HOME% on Windows). This file should contain details about the MCP Server, which will be utilized by clients to register and interact with the server.

Key features

Key features include a standardized format for server descriptions, support for multiple MCP Clients, and the ability to regularly refresh server information for discovery purposes.

Where to use

mcp-local-spec can be used in software development environments, particularly where integration with LLMs (Large Language Models) is required, such as in IDEs and AI applications.

Discorevy local MCP Servers. Specification.

Version: 1.0.1

Goals

This specification aims to allow the standard way to list and configure MCP Servers on a local machine.

Many tools already use MCP Servers to augment the LLMs. Currently, there is no standard approach to quickly registering an MCP Server.

Here are the most popular MCP Clients:

• IntelliJ IDEA
• Anthropic Claude
• OpenAI ChatGPT
• Cursor
• Windsurf
• Warp
• PR to add you

Supported in the following tools

• PR if you support the spec

Specification

Create a file per each MCP server in the ~/.mcp folder (%USER_HOME% on Windows).

The file is a Markdown file that explains an LLM (such as Claude or CharGPT) about your MCP Server details. The client uses LLM to transform your explanation into an actionable MCP Server.

The client is required to regularly refresh the information from the disc to discover new MCP Servers.

This protocol does not resolve any security implications for MCP servers. That is still the responsibility of MCP Clients.

For example:

~/.mcp/my-mcp-server-tool-id.md

Create the following text inside:

---
version: 1.0.1
---

# MCP Server: Production

Here, I describe what my MCP Server is doing and why the LLM would decide to include my server in a specific request, which is queried.

## Basic Information
- **Name**: Production Jonnyzzz MCP Server
- **ID**: prod-mcp-01
- **Version**: 3.2.1
- **URL**: https://mcp-prod.jonnyzzz.com:8443
- **API Version**: v2

## Authentication
- **Type**: oauth2
- **Client ID**: client_123
- **Token Endpoint**: https://auth.example.com/token

## Capabilities
- compute
- storage
- networking

## Regions
### us-east
- us-east-1a
- us-east-1b

### eu-west
- eu-west-1a
- eu-west-1b

## Health Check
- **Endpoint**: /health
- **Interval**: 60 seconds

## Metadata
- **Environment**: production
- **Owner**: platform-team
- **Priority**: high

How to use the Spec?

An MCP client uses the LLM (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT) to extract the necessary information from each of the available MCP server’s markdown files, which are discovered in the files under the ~/.mcp folder.
It is up to the LLM and the client to decide if to use a specific LLM, ask for credentials, and so on.
The client should refresh the files from the disk regularly.