Paste a config from any MCP client and get it back in the format another one reads — including the format changes nobody documents.
Config files are for the people who already bought. MCP Showcase gives you one link that shows anyone what your server does, without configuring anything.
The target decides the file, the format and the field names.
From any client. The source format is detected for you.
The result is in the target's own format, ready to paste into the right file.
MCP standardises the protocol, not the configuration. These ten clients read different files, in three different formats, with different key names for the same thing. The table below is the whole problem in one place — and the reason a config copied from one client into another usually parses cleanly and connects to nothing.
| Client | Format | Root key | Remote endpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Desktop | JSON | mcpServers |
via local bridge |
| Claude Code | JSON | mcpServers |
url |
| Cursor | JSON | mcpServers |
url |
| VS Code | JSON | servers |
url |
| Windsurf | JSON | mcpServers |
serverUrl |
| Codex CLI | TOML | mcp_servers |
url |
| Gemini CLI | JSON | mcpServers |
httpUrl |
| Cline | JSON | mcpServers |
url |
| Zed | JSON | context_servers |
url |
| Continue | YAML | mcpServers |
url |
mcpServers. VS Code reads
servers, Zed reads context_servers, Codex CLI reads
mcp_servers. Wrong key, valid file, no servers, no error.url for most, serverUrl for
Windsurf, httpUrl for Gemini CLI when the transport is streamable HTTP.mcp-remote, which is a
completely different config shape.Everything here serves people who already decided to use your server. MCP Showcase is for the ones who have not: point it at the same URL and it produces a live playground with documentation for every tool, so evaluating your server takes a click rather than a config file and a restart.