Connect an MCP server

This quickstart walks through connecting your first Model Context Protocol server to Syntic Code, from registering it to using one of its tools in a session. We will use a local server launched over the stdio transport, the simplest case, but the same steps apply to remote servers over SSE or HTTP.

Step 1: Add the server

The fastest way to register a server is the syntic mcp add command. Give the server a name and the command that launches it. Anything after -- is passed to the server process as its arguments.

syntic mcp add filesystem -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /path/to/project

This writes an entry into your Syntic Code configuration under .syntic/. To make the server available only to you rather than the whole project, add --scope user.

Step 2: Verify the connection

List your configured servers and confirm Syntic Code can reach the one you just added. A healthy server reports the tools, resources, and prompts it exposes.

syntic mcp list
syntic mcp get filesystem

If the server fails to start, the output shows the error from the launch command, most commonly a missing binary or a bad path.

Step 3: Use it in a session

Start a session and ask Amara to do something that requires the server. The agent sees the newly available tools and calls them as needed, requesting your approval before any action that changes state.

syntic
> List the largest files in the project and summarize what each one does.

Next steps

You now have a working MCP connection. To add remote servers, manage credentials, or understand every configuration field, continue to the Reference, which covers the full schema and all three transports in detail.