#Where each AI agent keeps its MCP config

Every agent runtime stores its MCP servers in its own file, under its own key, and a config copied from one into another usually fails without an error. This page lists the file and the key for each runtime Ambit reads, taken from the readers in src/engine/mcp-clients.ts and src/engine/claude-code.ts, so it stays as current as the code that uses it.

The paths are the ones Ambit reads on macOS and Linux, with ~ as your home directory. Windows keeps these files elsewhere, and Ambit does not read Windows paths yet; the runtime's own documentation has them.

#The table

VS Code's globalStorage directory is ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage on macOS and ~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage on Linux.

#Why the same server breaks when you copy it

Three differences account for most failed copies:

• The key. Most runtimes use mcpServers. OpenCode uses mcp, Zed uses context_servers, and Codex CLI uses TOML tables named mcp_servers. A block pasted under the wrong key is valid JSON that the runtime ignores.
• The file format. Codex CLI reads TOML, OpenCode accepts JSON with comments, and the rest read plain JSON. A trailing comma or a comment breaks a plain JSON file.
• Where a project's servers live. Claude Code keeps per-project servers inside ~/.claude.json, keyed by the project's path, so the same server can be on in one repository and absent in another.

#Claude Code

~/.claude.json holds both the global mcpServers and a projects map whose entries each carry their own mcpServers. Skills, agents and settings live under ~/.claude/. Ambit reads both and counts a server once, wherever it is declared. CLAUDE_CONFIG and CLAUDE_HOME point Ambit at a different file or directory.

#Claude Desktop

One JSON file with a top-level mcpServers object. The macOS path is under ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, and the Linux path under ~/.config/Claude/. CLAUDE_DESKTOP_CONFIG overrides it for Ambit.

#Cursor

~/.cursor/mcp.json, with mcpServers at the top. CURSOR_MCP_CONFIG overrides it for Ambit.

#Windsurf

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json, with mcpServers at the top. WINDSURF_MCP_CONFIG overrides it for Ambit.

#Gemini CLI

~/.gemini/settings.json. The servers are under mcpServers, beside Gemini CLI's other settings. GEMINI_MCP_CONFIG overrides it for Ambit.

#Codex CLI

~/.codex/config.toml, where each server is a table:

[mcp_servers.github]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"]

CODEX_MCP_CONFIG overrides it for Ambit.

#OpenCode

~/.config/opencode/opencode.json, or opencode.jsonc when that is the one present. Servers are under mcp, and each can carry enabled: false to stay declared and off. OpenCode is the format Ambit's own config switch writes, and OPENCODE_CONFIG points Ambit at a different file.

#Cline and Roo Code

Both are VS Code extensions and keep their servers in the extension's global storage, in a file named cline_mcp_settings.json with mcpServers at the top. CLINE_MCP_CONFIG and ROO_CODE_MCP_CONFIG override them for Ambit.

#Continue

~/.continue/config.json. Newer versions use mcpServers; older ones nest servers under experimental.modelContextProtocolServers. Ambit reads either. CONTINUE_MCP_CONFIG overrides it.

#Zed

Zed's settings.json, under context_servers. Linux keeps it in ~/.config/zed/, macOS in ~/Library/Application Support/Zed/. ZED_MCP_CONFIG overrides it for Ambit.

#Seeing every runtime's servers at once

Each file answers for one runtime. To see all of them together, with which servers are on, which are failing a check, and what stops working if one goes down:

brew install zz-plant/tap/ambit
ambit seed
ambit status

ambit seed reads every file above that exists, and ambit status reports on the result. Nothing leaves the machine. Or open the hosted demo and paste one config into the page, where it is read in the tab and never uploaded.

Related: what breaks if an MCP server goes down and auditing which MCP servers a coding agent has.