MCP Dynamic Discovery

MCP Dynamic Discovery — Zero-Config Tool Integration

When to activate

• Integrating with external tools (Slack, Jira, GitHub, Figma, Linear, databases) in a new workspace.
• When you want to reuse existing MCP configurations from Claude Desktop, Cursor, or other IDEs without manual copying.
• Connecting to local services (PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker) that expose MCP endpoints.
• Minimizing setup friction for team members checking out a repository.

When NOT to use

• Purely offline coding sessions with no external APIs or integrations.
• High-security environments where dynamic discovery of local configs or outbound network connections is restricted.
• Shared systems where other users' configs shouldn't be read.

Instructions

The MCP Dynamic Discovery skill automates the detection, import, and wiring of Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers located on the user's system into the active Claude Code CLI session.

       Local Configuration Directories (Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf)
                               │
                               ▼
               ┌───────────────────────────────┐
               │    1. Scan Configuration      │
               │ (Search configs/SQLite DBs)   │
               └───────────────┬───────────────┘
                               │
                               ▼
               ┌───────────────────────────────┐
               │  2. Extract Servers & Tools   │
               │ (Parse commands/envs/tokens)  │
               └───────────────┬───────────────┘
                               │
                               ▼
               ┌───────────────────────────────┐
               │      3. Dynamic Injector      │
               │ (Merge into .claude/settings) │
               └───────────────────────────────┘

1. Config Directories to Scan

Scan the standard operating system paths where AI clients store MCP server configurations:

• Mac OS:
  • Claude Desktop: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
  • Cursor global storage: ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/User/globalStorage/saantiagoo.mcp-connector/mcp-servers.json
• Windows:
  • Claude Desktop: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
  • Cursor global storage: %APPDATA%\Cursor\User\globalStorage\saantiagoo.mcp-connector\mcp-servers.json
• Linux:
  • Claude Desktop: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Auto-Discovery Script

To discover and list servers, run this quick check command:

# Locate and view server configurations
if [ -f "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json" ]; then
  echo "Found Claude Desktop MCP configs:"
  cat "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json" | grep -A 5 -B 1 '"mcpServers"'
fi

3. Merging Settings

Once target server definitions are extracted, write/merge them directly into the current repository's .claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "discovered-postgres": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-postgres", "postgresql://localhost:5432/my_db"]
    },
    "discovered-slack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-slack"],
      "env": {
        "SLACK_BOT_TOKEN": "xoxb-xxxx-xxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Connection Verification

Run /mcp in Claude Code to verify that the newly wired servers are alive, their connection statuses are green, and their schemas are successfully exposed.

Example

Claude Code dynamically configuring Slack and Figma tools during a session:

1. Prompt: "Connect to my Slack and Figma tools so I can send the QA report."
2. Action: Claude searches typical system locations and detects a configured Slack token and command inside the Claude Desktop config.
3. Result: Claude Code merges the server definitions into .claude/settings.json and prompts the user to refresh the session:

   ✅ Dynamically discovered 2 MCP servers from Claude Desktop:
      - 'slack-server'
      - 'figma-server'
   
   Writing configurations to local .claude/settings.json...
   Run '/mcp reload' to activate the new tools.
   

4. Verification: The user runs /mcp list and sees Slack channels and Figma file inspection tools ready to use.