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How to Connect to a Remote MCP Server in Claude Code?

Connect Claude Code to a remote MCP server by adding an SSE entry to your config file. Steps, config fields, and auth explained.

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How to Connect to a Remote MCP Server in Claude Code?

Add a remote MCP server to Claude Code by editing your settings.json configuration file and specifying the server's URL under mcpServers with type: "sse". Unlike local servers that launch as subprocesses over stdio, remote servers communicate over HTTP using Server-Sent Events — so the only thing Claude Code needs is the endpoint URL and any required auth headers.

Context

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the standardized protocol Claude Code uses to connect to external tools, databases, and APIs. There are two transport types:

  • stdio — Claude Code spawns a local process and talks to it over standard input/output. Common for tools installed on your machine.
  • SSE (Server-Sent Events) — Claude Code connects to a URL over HTTP. This is the transport for remote MCP servers — servers someone else hosts, or servers you run on a VPS or in a container.

The distinction matters because the config fields differ. Most setup guides only cover stdio, which leads to confusion when you try to add a remote server and the command/args pattern doesn't apply.

Remote servers are increasingly common: managed MCP platforms, shared team tooling, and services like Claude Connectors expose their functionality over SSE endpoints. For a deeper look at how MCP fits into Claude Code's broader extension architecture, see Claude Code's Extension Stack.

If you're building your own remote server rather than connecting to one, see How to Create an MCP Server for architecture and implementation details.

Practical Steps

  1. Locate your Claude Code config file — ~/.claude/settings.json (user-level) or .claude/settings.json in your project root (project-level). Project-level config overrides user-level.

  2. Add an mcpServers entry with type: "sse":

    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-remote-server": {
      "type": "sse",
      "url": "https://your-server.example.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}
    • type: "sse" — tells Claude Code this is an HTTP remote server, not a local subprocess
    • url — the full endpoint URL the server exposes
    • headers — optional; include auth tokens or API keys here

  3. Restart Claude Code — changes to settings.json take effect on the next session start.

  4. Verify the connection — run /mcp in Claude Code to list active servers and confirm your remote server appears with a green status.

  5. Scope the server if needed — project-level config limits the server to that repo only. User-level config makes it available everywhere. Choose based on whether the server is team-shared or personal.

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