URL: https://gofastmcp.com/cli/install-mcp
Title: Install MCP Servers - FastMCP

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Supported Clients
Declaring Dependencies
Options
Examples
Generating MCP JSON
Generating Stdio Commands
CLI
Install MCP Servers
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Install MCP servers into Claude, Cursor, Gemini, and other clients
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New in version
2.10.3
fastmcp install
registers a server with an MCP client application so the client can launch it automatically. Each MCP client runs servers in its own isolated environment, which means dependencies need to be explicitly declared — you can’t rely on whatever happens to be installed locally.
fastmcp
install
claude-desktop
server.py
fastmcp
install
claude-code
server.py
--with
pandas
--with
matplotlib
fastmcp
install
cursor
server.py
-e
.
uv
must be installed and available in your system PATH. Both Claude Desktop and Cursor run servers in isolated environments managed by
uv
. On macOS, install it globally with Homebrew for Claude Desktop compatibility:
brew install uv
.
​
Supported Clients
Client
Install method
claude-code
Claude Code’s built-in MCP management
claude-desktop
Direct config file modification
cursor
Deeplink that opens Cursor for confirmation
gemini-cli
Gemini CLI’s built-in MCP management
goose
Deeplink that opens Goose for confirmation (uses
uvx
)
mcp-json
Generates standard MCP JSON config for manual use
stdio
Outputs the shell command to run via stdio
​
Declaring Dependencies
Because MCP clients run servers in isolation, you need to tell the install command what your server needs. There are two approaches:
Command-line flags
let you specify dependencies directly:
fastmcp
install
claude-desktop
server.py
--with
pandas
--with
"
sqlalchemy>=2.0
"
fastmcp
install
cursor
server.py
-e
.
--with-requirements
requirements.txt
fastmcp.json
configuration files declare dependencies alongside the server definition. When you install from a config file, dependencies are picked up automatically:
fastmcp
install
claude-desktop
fastmcp.json
fastmcp
install
claude-desktop
# auto-detects fastmcp.json in current directory
See
Server Configuration
for the full config format.
​
Options
Option
Flag
Description
Server Name
--server-name
,
-n
Custom name for the server
Editable Package
--with-editable
,
-e
Install a directory in editable mode
Extra Packages
--with
Additional packages (repeatable)
Environment Variables
--env
KEY=VALUE
pairs (repeatable)
Environment File
--env-file
,
-f
Load env vars from a
.env
file
Python
--python
Python version (e.g.,
3.11
)
Project
--project
Run within a uv project directory
Requirements
--with-requirements
Install from a requirements file
Config Path
--config-path
Custom path to Claude Desktop config directory (
claude-desktop
only)
​
Examples
# Basic install with auto-detected server instance
fastmcp
install
claude-desktop
server.py
# Install from fastmcp.json with auto-detection
fastmcp
install
claude-desktop
# Explicit entrypoint with dependencies
fastmcp
install
claude-desktop
server.py:my_server
\
--server-name
"
My Analysis Server
"
\
--with
pandas
# With environment variables
fastmcp
install
claude-code
server.py
\
--env
API_KEY=secret
\
--env
DEBUG=
true
# With env file
fastmcp
install
cursor
server.py
--env-file
.env
# Specific Python version and requirements file
fastmcp
install
claude-desktop
server.py
\
--python
3.11
\
--with-requirements
requirements.txt
# With custom config path (claude-desktop only)
fastmcp
install
claude-desktop
server.py
\
--config-path
"
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages\Claude_xyz\LocalCache\Roaming\Claude
"
​
Generating MCP JSON
The
mcp-json
target generates standard MCP configuration JSON instead of installing into a specific client. This is useful for clients that FastMCP doesn’t directly support, for CI/CD environments, or for sharing server configs:
fastmcp
install
mcp-json
server.py
The output follows the standard format used by Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP clients:
{
"
server-name
"
:
{
"
command
"
:
"
uv
"
,
"
args
"
:
[
"
run
"
,
"
--with
"
,
"
fastmcp
"
,
"
fastmcp
"
,
"
run
"
,
"
/path/to/server.py
"
],
"
env
"
:
{
"
API_KEY
"
:
"
value
"
}
}
}
Use
--copy
to send it to your clipboard instead of stdout.
​
Generating Stdio Commands
The
stdio
target outputs the shell command an MCP host would use to start your server over stdio:
fastmcp
install
stdio
server.py
# Output: uv run --with fastmcp fastmcp run /absolute/path/to/server.py
When installing from a
fastmcp.json
, dependencies from the config are included automatically:
fastmcp
install
stdio
fastmcp.json
# Output: uv run --with fastmcp --with pillow --with 'qrcode[pil]>=8.0' fastmcp run /path/to/server.py
Use
--copy
to copy to clipboard.
fastmcp install
is designed for local server files with stdio transport. For remote servers running over HTTP, use your client’s native configuration — FastMCP’s value here is simplifying the complex local setup with
uv
, dependencies, and environment variables.
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